I'm replacing the starter and am wondering if anyone had to disconnect the exhaust (stock 90 RS 305 TBI) to get the starter out??

Thanks

 

YOU WILL HAVE TO WRESTLE IT AND TURN IT VERTICALLY BUT THERE IS ENOUGH ROOM TO GET IT OUT AND IN WITHOUT TAKING EXAUST OFF.

 

THANKS! That's what I wanted to hear...lol.. I haven't tried vertical yet.... on my way to the garage...

 

Take note of my last post time.... I went to the garage, tilted the starter vertical, and it fell right out... THANKS AGAIN!

 

should the new one go in gear first or back first??? and i assume if i put it vertically, i can just put it in and turn it???

 

and i mean just to get it up in there.... i know how it fits onto the motor...lol

 

USUALLY IF YOU CAN GET IT IN BETWEEN THE BLOCK AND THE EXHUAHST MANIFOLDS AND STUFF YOU CAN MOVE IT TO ANY ANGLE YOU WANT. BUT i USUALLY PUT IT IN GEAR FIRST JUST CAUSE IT IS EASYER.

 

Ok, it's in.... but now it still doesn't start. I know it was bad due to heat soak and major clicking in it's last few weeks so I don't mind that I changed it, but what could be stopping it from starting now? I drove it the other night to a friends house and parked, it never started again. The alarm disengages fine so it shouldn't be the starter kill. What could it be?

 

Well My guess is that you may have put the little purple wire on the starter on the wrong post. There are two posts that look the exact same and sometimes the parts store puts the nut on the wrong one. you could try to change that and see if it works It happend to me last time I changed my starter. you may also want to check your fuse box as well as your alarm control box and make sure all the wires are getting good connections on that. I had that problem too. but other than that I cant think of a reason it wouldnt start. does it make any noise at all??

 

I checked all the fuses just now and they look fine. The alarm wires look fine. This is what it was doing a couple days ago and why I replaced the starter. It does make noise in 2 places. There is a black box (relay?) in the kick panel that clicks and something up in the engine bay that clicks, other than that, no noise. Anything else?

 

Like I said the purple wire. its the small one thats by itself on the smaller post.

 

Oh yeah, and about the wires.... There was only 2 posts on the new starter. One was big and fat, the other skinny. The wires had connectors that matched the posts so that was easy and I don't think they are switched. There was 3 on the big post and 1 on the small post.

 

yea you got it. damn I cant think of what else it could be. does the car start if pushed>>?? and is the starter whats making the clicking noise in the engine bay. if so you may want to charge up your battery and try agian

 

It's got AT so I can't push start it. And I don't think it's the starter in the engine bay making noise, maybe another relay or something?

 

Also, if I pull the main power to the alarm, the whole alarm system should be dead right? Which would eliminate that from the problem?

 

if you wanna get it started to narrow down the problem you can jump the two terminals on the starter and see what happens

 

I really could not tell you if that will disarm or activate the ignition kill switch so you may not want to do that. but give it a try it cant hurt anything else. If it doesnt work then just hook it back up

 

There are several no start threads near the beginning of the electrical section, one is about 6 down about no power to ecm. That one says there is a fuse in the red wire close to the battery! Check it out.

 

starters go in gear back.. they need to engage the flywheel to spin the engine.... mini starters are a hell of a lot easier to put on a 3rd gen especially if your doin it in your driveway on your back.. full sized starters are heavy.. you should be able to get a mini starter for about 60 bucks at your local speed shop.. also a very handy little item if you have headers and have heat issues with your starter being too close and overheating.. mini starters give you about an inch and a half to two inches more clearance around headers..eh and i guess u could say it helps with weight reduction on the car too.. lol

 

also it sounds like a ground problem... you might want to try removing the ground wire cleaning the area and putting it back... also make sure you have a strong enough ground... look at your voltage gage on the instrument cluster and verify that your battery isnt dead.. or low hehe... have u rechecked the wires since this problem happened? its possible that one of the wires simply fell off or is loose on its connection.. other then that i really dont know without more info.. does the starters do anything? does it make any noises?

 

It had no change.

 

On my way, thanks.

 

I finally managed to squeeze it in. The mini starters I have seen are more around $200

 

Ive checked all the wires I can see. Everything electrical still works, except the starter.

The battery looks to have enough power. The starter may make a click noise, hard to tell.

 

Anything else that I can try? It was running perfect a few days ago...

 

Still a no go, I need to move this thing pretty quick....anyone?

 

Right, here we go then.
Try these

1) Waggle the shifter a bit when turning the key. Sometimes immobiliser switch doesn't engage.

2) If no luck, put a test lamp on the end of the purple wire and turn the key. Does it light? If not let me know. Do you have VATS? If it does, go to 3 below

3) Get some jumper cables and connect to the starter body and to the negative battery terminal. Now try it. If not, go to 4

4) Get the other jumper lead and CAREFULLY connect it to the big connector on the starter and "flash" the other end to the positive battery terminal. It will spark! Does the starter turn? Note that the engine won't turn if there is no signal to the purple wire.

5) All of the above assumes the battery is in a good state. Put a digital voltmeter across the battery while you try to start it. If the volts go down to 10.5 or below, battery is down on charge.

Let me know.

Andy.

 

What purple wire?

 

ttt

 

The "purple wire" is the one that goes to the small terminal on the starter.

The first thing I'd try is "jumping" the starter. Basically you just take a wire and connect it to the large terminal, then TOUCH the other end to the small terminal. It WILL spark so consider yourself warned. If the engine doesn't turn over the solenoid is no good......I've had this problem on more than one "remanufactured" starter from various parts stores.

If it does turn then the problem is somewhere in the ignition wiring, which includes the VATS module and the starter kill of your alarm.

Of course that's assuming your battery is in good shape and charged up..... a bad starter can kill a battery pretty quick so that may be the problem.

 

really? i got my mini starter at the local speed shop for 60 bucks and some change.. yeah if a ground isnt at fault and all wiring is correct and your volt gage shows around 12 volts and the starter isnt doing anything try jumping it like suggested before you go trying to figure out the wiring it might be something as simple as a defective starter like suggested

 

It turns out that it was the neutral safety switch... and they lived happily ever after.

 

DamN wish I would have thought of that. I think I was gettin to technical. but good to see that you got it all taken care of

 

Yeah, it starts better now than it ever did. I had to take it into a shop due to the asses that run the homeowners association here... I HATE taking my car in, it always comes back different... now it seems they toned down the idle or something and the power steering fights a bit when stopped and turning the wheel..... argh!

Thanks again everyone. :rockon: