This work guide is to detail the replacement of the standard red motor starter motor with a later model (straight 6 commodore) starter motor. The reason for the replacement is that this car has a rusted out exhaust system, the exhaust system will therefore be getting replaced, but a set of virtually brand new Pacemaker extractors in the shed will go on instead of the original exhaust manifold. Once extractors are on the car it can be very difficult to remove the standard starter motor, to even have a chance you have to drop the extractors off the motor and lever them away as much as possible, it’s a pain in the butt. Therefore I am preparing the car with the smaller but more powerful commodore hi-torque starter, with extractors these starters can still be removed and replaced if necessary. Also, their smaller size keeps them a little further away from the exhaust heat.

Before starting any electrical job, be sure to remove the power from the battery. There’s nothing more annoying than working on the car and shorting something out, blowing fuses, bashing your hand in a panicked jerk etc I’ve done it all and learnt my lesson.

The image is a little dark but the next step is to start removing the wires from the starter motor, the main group of wires will be held on by a nut at the solenoid.

The last wire on the starter is a push on terminal, shown here where the spanner is pointing. Depending on your starter that terminal may be facing in a different direction or in a different spot etc

The right tool for the job. Most of the time you can get around jobs with a standard spanner/socket set. With the starter motor though you are far better off with one of these half moon spanners, these spanners allow you to get above and below the starter far more easily to loosen and remove the bolts holding it.

Another dark image but here I am loosening off the top starter motor bolt. With the starter motor bolts I always loosen both a few threads, then alternate through each to half way then removed. This is just so one bolt isn’t holding all the weight.

Here I am loosening the bottom starter bolt; you can see here how useful the half moon spanner is for this job.

A closer look at the bottom bolt, this shows the curve of the spanner and how I don’t even need to get under the car to remove and replace the starter.

The starter motor bolts are only very short but anyone that’s done this job will tell you how much of a pain it can be to remove them, and also how much of a pain it is to get them lined up again to replace them. Sometimes patience can be your greatest ally with this sort of work.

Here is the new Bosch starter motor, these motors are smaller, crank the engine faster and are easier to remove and replace.

When removing the starter motor it is best to support its weight with a lump of wood, this not only makes it easier to get your remaining two hands working on the bolts, it saves you straining to hold the weight of the starter while undoing the bolts and also saves any possibility of the starter sliding around. It also helps to keep the starter in line to make the removal of the bolts easier.

Here are the two starter motors side by side for comparison; the upper starter is the original and the lower is the hi-torque starter, as you can see in this image the hi-torque starter is shorter and thinner, making it far easier to remove and replace if required.

This angle really lets you see the difference in size for the two starters, including the solenoids. You can also see that the two starters are both the same at the drive end.

This image is to show how the solenoids are the same, the push on terminal is bent in the opposite direction on the new one but that has no effect on its functionality.

When installing the new starter it makes it easier to use a lump of wood similar to how when we removed the starter. This helps to keep the starter in line when you start doing the bolts up and again it frees up both your hands to work on the bolts which can be a little difficult to get lined up and started.

I usually get the top bolt in a few threads to help keep the starter in line before going to the bottom bolt. You don’t want to tighten one bolt completely before starting the next as this will make it difficult to move the starter to line up the second bolt and may also cause unnecessary strain on the first bolt and the housings as the second is tightened.

With the first bolt in and keeping the starter aligned I then move to putting the lower bolt in by hand.

Once both bolts are in I tighten them each by hand and then use the spanner to bring them up, never making one too tight without tightening the other. After the starter is locked up you can replace the wires as they went on the original starter motor and you’re ready to go.

A quick look at the engine with the new starter mounted, you can see here the smaller size of the starter gives a lot of free space around it with the original exhaust manifold, this is far more critical with extractors as anyone with a standard starter who has tried to remove it with extractors on will tell you.

A last look at the starter and the wiring back in place. These hi-torque starters are an excellent item and well worth purchasing if you are looking for a replacement starter motor. I’ve had one on my own car for years now and it has faultlessly started the car every time required. This one is on the wifes’ car so it shows my confidence in this item and its reliability.