Starter change? HELP!!!

[onemorespyder]

Here I am again, the new Fiat owner. I have a starter issue on the Spider and am looking for an experienced bit of advice on the peculiarities of changing it out. I have a fresh gear reduction starter ready to install and the posts I was able to access leads me to believe it's somewhat difficult. Any special stuff to make this job easier? Wasn't able to get much info on a search but what I got didn't sound too encouraging.

Thanks in advance, Darrell

[So Cal Mark]

you need a 3' long extension and a 13mm swivel socket for access under the car. Disconnect the battery and use that same long extension to get the nut that holds the cable onto the solenoid. You can reach that nut from underneath the front of the car, over top of the crossmember

[onemorespyder]

Thanks for the response. It sounds like a very long distance operation. ( Did you really mean to say a 3 ' ( 3 ft. ) extension? I guess it's time to go to the tool store. Did I pick the oddest repair to start off with?

Thanks again, Regards, Darrell

[blurple124]

Yea, he meant feet haha. The longer the better, but in all honesty, I just did this with a 10 inch extension, connected to a swivel, connected to an 7 inch extension, connected to a swivel...with a socket on the end....
While this might seem excessive, it actually made the job a piece of cake. I heard a lot of people having trouble with the starter, and I thought it was accessing the bolts. That took me 10 minutes. It was getting the darned thing out of the car that was the bugger!

Based on what Mark told me, turning the steering wheel will open up the linkages and allow the starter to drop out the bottom. My suggestion would be to make sure there is room to get that guy out before you unbolt anything.

[azruss]

I have a 12" and a couple of 6" extensions and able to do the unbolt easily with that. Cant see the top bolt so it is all by feel. The real pain is getting the starter out of the car. If your tie rod is not frozen on, i would pull the joint and get that out of the way. then it comes out easily. definitely threading the needle.

[blurple124]

I took the intake manifold off...not saying the coolant loss was fun, but I needed to change the gasket anyway, so it worked out. And boy, is that thing easy to remove and install without that manifold on!

[124JOE]

might as well while your in there clean the oil out of the crank case vent and renew the hoses
and clean that side of the block and pick a color to paint it
and scub the steering box wipe down the rail and fire wall clean up the intake...