Starter Motor

[Fazeel]

Hi people i have a B reg Merc 280e model and the starter motor has gone died on it and i spent 4hours yesterday trying to undo the top bolt off but no luck has anyone had the same problem? And if so how did you undo the bolt? Any help appreciated.

 

[television]

Normally shock is the best way or us an impact gun, but we don't all have one.

Are you sure that it has gone, is it the solinoid or the starter motor .

One way is to burn it off with a torch, and the remaining shank will come out easily.

Malcolm

 

[C220GJS]

Am i correct in saying your starter is on the left side of the engine ,looking from the front ?. What is the problem you are having in undoing the top bolt, is it access or has the bolt seized up?.

 

[Fazeel]

Hi, the problem is the cars been parked in the garage for the last 9years and just used to start it up once every two years and i managed to get the car started couple of days ago but the starter motor was getting lazy and when it did start had the car running for 10minutes and i turned it off and it went completly died when i went to start it again.

I wanted to replace the starter motor with a new one, and yes its on the left hand side when your facing the car from infront of you, the problem im experiecing i can not even reach the top allen key bolt for the starter motor theres no room for movement or to fit the allen key into it, would like to know what special tools or way there is to reach it?

Thank you for reponses.

 

[C220GJS]

As far as I can see from the diagram I have, this is an allen bolt with a nut on the gearbox end, can you get to the nut to undo it ,also grind your allen key down in length until you can fit it into the socket,jam it in place and work on undoing the nut if it is more accessable.
First, replace the bottom bolt if you have undone it to take the strain off the top bolt.

 

[television]

I would still have run a cable from battery to the starter first, to be sure, or at least check that you have 12v on the thin cable when the key is turned.

Malcolm

 

[Fazeel]

I'll get it checked out and more sure theres power going to the motor before i take it out, but if it is the starter motor its going to be a nightmare trying to undo the top bolt has someone actually taken a starter motor off for this model and have any handy tips?

 

[C220GJS]

Found this on an American forum, don't know if it's similar to your's but it may help:-

This problem is solved!

"I just wanted to post a conclusion to this for the curious/searchers out there.

A forum member in Illinois (I'll let him reveal himself if he wants) heard my tale of woe and offered to help me out. His workshop is great, with a big mechanical lift, a good set of tools, and a urinal right there in the workshop. Handy!

We tried conventional methods of removing the bolt, heating with a torch, etc. After those methods failed, we removed the air cleaner, battery and tray, the heat shield, and the transmission dipstick.

From there, we were able to get in from the top with a 3" pneumatic cut-off grinder. We used the grinder to chop off most of the bolt head, as much as we could get off without nicking up the bell housing too badly, and then we used a chisel to wack the rest of the head off. After cleaning up the remaining metal a bit with the grinder again, we fed a long punch through a hole in the firewall up against the remaining bit of metal on the bolt head, and give it a solid WHACK, which broke it free, and allowed us to remove the starter.

With the car on the lift, we were able to turn the steering wheel to the hard right, allowing us to remove the starter without disconnecting any suspension components. You have to pull the starter forward, invert it, and then it can be brought forward and angled to the right as you remove it. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.

Interestingly, when removed, the stud of the top bolt could be unscrewed from the old starter by hand. The fusion was all galvanic corrosion between the unthreaded shaft of the bolt and the bell housing. Whoever installed the starter neglected to use anti-sieze compound, apparently.

The old bottom bolt was reused as the top bolt, since it was in good condition, and we used a basic 12mm hex bolt as the bottom bolt. Its not the perfect bolt, but it'll work. Yes, we used copious quantities of anti-sieze compound on both bolts!

Removing the old wiring actually cracked the cover of the old solenoid as well, so that old thing was really taking a beating, between the punch and so on.

The reassembly went well, and after a while, we had it all put back together without major incident. Upon testing, the new starter turned the engine over faster than I thought possible, and it was started before I could even listen for an entire crank cycle".

Hope it helps, sounds like a pig of a job, with luck you might find the starter is ok by doing as Malcolm says.
Geo.
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[Fazeel]

Hi just to let you know I gave up on it and got a friend of mine to do it for me who's a mechanic, whilst I was at work, job done and its running fine! Thanks for your tips guys!

 

[television]

Thanks for coming back the the answer to your problem, did he cut off the head ?


Malcolm