Starter Replacment,
02-14-18, 11:49 AM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Starter Replacment,
I tried to start my car this morning and all I heard was the starter motor freely spinning, but clearly not contacting the flex plate. Last night when I started it I thought I heard a grinding sound upon the initial start, but it was in a crowded parking lot so I wasn’t certain of what I heard. Now I’m thinking that I broke or stripped the Bendix gear and will need a new starter. The car is a 07 LS460 with 185k miles that gets started at least 6-8 times a day, so I’m happy it lasted this long! I’m pretty comfortable with DIY projects so I’ll at least try to tackle this myself. I just have a couple questions:
I know the starter access is behind the passenger wheel well. Does the exhaust manifold need to come off or not? There seems to be conflicting info on the forum.
If the manifold does need to come off, if there any gaskets or seals that need to be replaced?
Is there a write up or video on this project? I couldn’t seem to find anything on this forum or YouTube.
Aaron
I know the starter access is behind the passenger wheel well. Does the exhaust manifold need to come off or not? There seems to be conflicting info on the forum.
If the manifold does need to come off, if there any gaskets or seals that need to be replaced?
Is there a write up or video on this project? I couldn’t seem to find anything on this forum or YouTube.
Aaron
02-14-18, 03:42 PM
#2
Pole Position
You do need to remove the exhaust manifold on the passenger side and replace the metal gasket. I just replaced the gasket for peace of mind but you might get away with reusing original one if you want.
02-14-18, 06:54 PM
#3
You access it from the bottom. I just did mine a few weeks ago on my 2007. I don’t have access to a lift so I did mine on jack stands. There are some fasteners you may need to access through the well with long extensions. Remove all the splash pans, the sway bar, the sway bar bracket on the passenger side, the dip stick tube, the passenger side manifold, unbolt the passenger side motor mount then raise the motor an inch or so to get it out. You need a good assortment of socket extensions, swivel sockets and I had to use torches on a few bolts or they would have snapped off. The manifold gasket is pretty much a flat piece of metal. The gasket in the flange from the cat to the pipe should definitely be replaced. I think it’s $10 -$12 or something like that. It’s not a technical project, it’s a time consuming one. Count on about 5-8 hours depending on how many “issues” you run into.
02-20-18, 10:02 PM
#4
You access it from the bottom. I just did mine a few weeks ago on my 2007. I don’t have access to a lift so I did mine on jack stands. There are some fasteners you may need to access through the well with long extensions. Remove all the splash pans, the sway bar, the sway bar bracket on the passenger side, the dip stick tube, the passenger side manifold, unbolt the passenger side motor mount then raise the motor an inch or so to get it out. You need a good assortment of socket extensions, swivel sockets and I had to use torches on a few bolts or they would have snapped off. The manifold gasket is pretty much a flat piece of metal. The gasket in the flange from the cat to the pipe should definitely be replaced. I think it’s $10 -$12 or something like that. It’s not a technical project, it’s a time consuming one. Count on about 5-8 hours depending on how many “issues” you run into.
Also, since I will be replacing the other mount should I have heads up on anything or is it pretty much straight forward like the passenger side one? Any help would be appreciated.
02-22-18, 02:08 PM
#5
How did he mess up the mount? When I did my LS430 mounts and my LS460 starter, I put the jack stands where the factory car jack would sit at each the side rails. Get as many motor mount bolts out as possible just leave one in each half until you get the motor supported. Position your floor jack under the motor and raise it slowly until you see it start to move. Stop and carefully remove the rest of your mount bolts. The motor will raise very easy and you'll get maybe a couple inches up but you don't need much to get the mounts out. The motor moves easily without moving the car at all. Move it slowly and watch and listen. Don't raise it any more than what's needed. Having a lot of different tools to attack it from different angles helps and if you have someone with hands like a raccoon, it would really help the cause. Once you get all the bolts out of the mounts, try to spin and tilt it in different ways to get them out. Sometimes it just takes the right twist and they come out from what looks to be an impossible spot. I didn't remove my drivers side while doing my starter so if there's a special added step to doing that side, someone may chime in.
02-23-18, 07:54 PM
#6
How did he mess up the mount? When I did my LS430 mounts and my LS460 starter, I put the jack stands where the factory car jack would sit at each the side rails. Get as many motor mount bolts out as possible just leave one in each half until you get the motor supported. Position your floor jack under the motor and raise it slowly until you see it start to move. Stop and carefully remove the rest of your mount bolts. The motor will raise very easy and you'll get maybe a couple inches up but you don't need much to get the mounts out. The motor moves easily without moving the car at all. Move it slowly and watch and listen. Don't raise it any more than what's needed. Having a lot of different tools to attack it from different angles helps and if you have someone with hands like a raccoon, it would really help the cause. Once you get all the bolts out of the mounts, try to spin and tilt it in different ways to get them out. Sometimes it just takes the right twist and they come out from what looks to be an impossible spot. I didn't remove my drivers side while doing my starter so if there's a special added step to doing that side, someone may chime in.
Any other advice would be appreciated. By the way, the car has been sitting for a while since I do not want to drive it like that and I saw a leak in the front of the car. I am hoping it is the lower radiator hose. Any advice on changing that would also be appreciated. I guess when it rains it pours.
02-24-18, 03:50 PM
#7
I’m curious if changing the mounts will fix you vibration issues. From my personal experience with mounts on my previous LS430,there was no vibration, it was actually a clunking noise. When I popped the hood and put the car in drive and applied the accelerator, I could actually see the motor lifting and then dropping when I let off. One motor mount was actually seperated from the metal base. Even with this, the car didn’t vibrate/rumble. The motor had a “shimmy” to it that stopped after the replacement. Is it a vibration like a rumble sound or does it shake like a bad coil or spark plug? Does it only do that in gear and turn smooth when in park or neutral?
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02-24-18, 04:34 PM
#8
I’m curious if changing the mounts will fix you vibration issues. From my personal experience with mounts on my previous LS430,there was no vibration, it was actually a clunking noise. When I popped the hood and put the car in drive and applied the accelerator, I could actually see the motor lifting and then dropping when I let off. One motor mount was actually seperated from the metal base. Even with this, the car didn’t vibrate/rumble. The motor had a “shimmy” to it that stopped after the replacement. Is it a vibration like a rumble sound or does it shake like a bad coil or spark plug? Does it only do that in gear and turn smooth when in park or neutral?
I notice it does it on drive and reverse. On neutral and park it subsides a lot. Not perfectly smooth like before the installation but less. I hope it’s anything else.
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