Starter Motor Help!

[SanRemo78]

Hi, on behalf of a friend with an F plate 8v Integrale... Has anyone out there got any advice on how to change the starter motor? Access from below appears to be impossible and very restricted from above. How many bolts hold it onto the bellhousing? Are there any support brackets at the back of the starter and heat shields to be removed? Any help gratefully received!
Thanks
Guy

[sparehead3]

Hi Guy,
Same advice as with chugga : check out forums.delphiforms.com/evoforum it'll be on there somewhere. There was also a recent thread discussing garages for 'grale which may be of help.
I know what they look like inside - absolutely bonkers amount of hosepipes and engine - no room for anything

Steve

[chris]

Dear SanRemo  Only just picked up your post - hope you have found someone by now, if not, please post again etc as I would be happy to help you. Briefly, you can change the st. motor by extracting it through "the top".  The trick is to detach the radiator expansion/header tank (top left of engine bay when viewed from the front) from its fixings together with a bracket that houses a relay, a fuse holder etc and move them clear - no need to drain system or anything.  my memory slightly hazy here, but I think there is a bit of trim (bit like sound deadening felt?) that is attached to the gutter at the rear of the engine bay - this might mildly get in the way, but I think I managed to move it just enough to get clearance.  The clever bit :- Once you have got your starter free, (not the easiest of jobs either) you tie some sturdy but not bulky nylon string around the "nose" of the starter (can't remember quite how I tied it, but it must be so that you can pull it nose first vertically. Threading the string through the gap you have made, pull it up carefully, noting that the silhouette of the starter as you draw it up - i.e. a large circle(starter body) next to a smaller circle(solenoid body) will only fit through the gap one way!  Refitting is of course, in the best "Haynes" tradition - a reversal.  Best Regards Chris

[Neil Lewis]

I realise I'm a bit late here but...

Don't get a new Marelli starter but fit the Bosch equivalent.  The Bosh one is smaller/lighter, uses less electricity to operate it and spins the engine faster.  Mine cost about £60 from Cafco and they took the Marelli one back in part-exchange.  So win/win

Oh, and I changed mine from the top too.  Once you have the rad expansion tank out of the way it's quite straight-forward.  You just need a 3/8 drive wrench with a long extension bar.  Did mine in a morning

Neil

[fay66]

Hi Neil,
You're obviously the man Harvey needs to change his Dedra Turbo battery as you already have the tools.

Brian
8227

[l3hou]

I realise I'm a bit late here but...

Don't get a new Marelli starter but fit the Bosch equivalent.  The Bosh one is smaller/lighter, uses less electricity to operate it and spins the engine faster.  Mine cost about £60 from Cafco and they took the Marelli one back in part-exchange.  So win/win

Oh, and I changed mine from the top too.  Once you have the rad expansion tank out of the way it's quite straight-forward.  You just need a 3/8 drive wrench with a long extension bar.  Did mine in a morning

Neil

Do you have a part number for the Bosch unit by any chance?

J-P
PS: For anyone changing the alternator, there is a 90a upgrade to the Delta 16v also

[Neil Lewis]

Do you have a part number for the Bosch unit by any chance?

I probably have it in my file but it wasn't difficult to get; I just walked in and asked for a Bosch starter motor for an Integrale.  The parts shops around here have got used to my "non-standard" ways over the years

Neil

[FanaloneMan]

lol Neil 

Can you tell us what would that be J-P? and unless you run rally spots, would a standard/modified - but not so highly car need one?

 

m

[l3hou]

The standard unit is 65A, so if you have the OEM radio and speakers and don't mind the odd new battery every now and then, the OEM unit is fine.

I've still got the OEM one, but if I was replacing it due to failure, it would take that opportunity to change it for one that is bigger.

If you're running a lot of kit like fans for cooling, aircon, decent hifi, lamps all at once - it will work the old girl hard and cause it to go sooner.

[chris]

Erm.. even much later...  quote:- "Once you've got the rad expansion tank out the way it's quite straight forward"

       Yes Neil, good advice about using Bosch substitute - much the same on S2 Fulvia really but have to strongly disagree on the "quite straightforward" bit, because, unless your 8v (std lhd?) Integrale has been transported from a parallel universe, then this job is anything but so.  (hence my out-of-character typed description!)  -    No, I can only think that you must have removed far more around the left hand bulkhead area than was necessary...    mind you, could go some way to explaining why the whole job took me just over an hour* rather than a whole morning.......

[Neil Lewis]

Last weekend (really) I changed the starter motor on my new integrale and it took 2.5 hours out and back in.  It would have been quicker but I had to crimp a new 6mm ring on the end of the alternator to starter wire.  Unfortunately the Bosch motor was out of my price range (£130 plus delivery to the motor factors) so I settled for a rebuilt Marelli one by Delco/Remy (£105 all in).  The Marelli motor is bigger so it was a bit of a squeeze!

Mines RHD so there's a bit more in the way than the "standard LHD".

I'm not saying it's easy but it is straightforward and I've got some very fetching scratches on my hands and lower arms now!

Just wish I'd known it was going to go while I had the head off for the engine rebuild.  Twenty minutes I guess!

Neil

PS
See you all at the Driving Tests on July 20th.