starter not engaging on a 560 sec
 

When i tried to start my car this morning on the first attempt it did not crank but when i tried again it started with no problem, after getting to work and trying to restart it it just sounds like a blender in the start position and will not turn the engine. I dont think the starter solinoid is engaging, is there an easy wasy to test/bypass it?

any suggestions are appreciated.

It sounds like the solenoid is not engaging or 'bendix; drive is stuck. You'll have to remove it and either replace it or overhaul it.

you need an exchange starter.

I spent the entire day today trying to remove the starter, i got the bottom bolt no problem. but the top one is nearly impossible to get to anywhere near it. is there any tricks for the SEC that may work? i just got done reading a long topic about the notorius top bolt, but nothing specific to the SEC

You're going to need a 10mm allen socket on a 3/8" swivel joint and a 2ft extension to be able to easily get at it from under the car.

and then the fun begins------putting it back! if ever there was a job that simply screamed for a rack this is it.worth at least 10 four letter words.

ha! you're not kidding. I'll never forget doing this on my 380SEL 6 or 7 years ago in the middle of january in the driveway. It was below freezing out and I got rust in my eye and hated every minute of it. To make things worse, in my haste I had reconnected the remote wire to the wrong teminal on the solenoid (this one had 2) and the sucker wouldnt engage when I was done! I ended up taking the whole thing back out thinking my new starter was junk before I realized my mistake. :(

now wasn't that fun!you wouldn't have missed it for the world.

I got it! I guess it wasnt that tight, it came loose after a few grunts using the following setup: 10mm hex key to 3/8" drive, 3/8"to 1/2" drive, 3" extension, universal joint, 10"extention, ratchet handle. the rachet handle ended up right between the cat and tranny. the biggest problem i had after that was disconnecting the positive terminal, which i ended up cutting. turned out the bendix seized somewhere in the middle on the shaft it slides down. bought a rebuild at autozone for 90$ and im good to go.

Thanks for all the help!

Josh