Grr.... Starter Frozen to Transmission

[iamwiz82]

I planned on finishing the simple task of swapping out my starter yesterday thinking it would be a 45 minute job, but fate decided to screw with my head. After 2 hours of hammering, heating, PB Blasting, and swearing, I still haven't gotten the damned thing out. The shop manual says one bolt and one nut to remove, which are off, no biggie. Having done a dozen or so starters in my life I figured pop those bolts out and she'll slide right out and I'll be half way home.

No such luck.

It's frozen pretty much as one unit with the transmission as much as I can tell. Any suggestions on how to separate? At this point the starter's aluminum casing is failing, I have chucks all over the place, so just putting it back together for a mechanic's touch isn't possible.

My hypothesis is that the stud has fused itself to the aluminum. Would cranking the engine by hand do any good?

 

[JCH13]

Air chisel might do the trick, especially if you find a good spot on the starter to push/wedge from.

I'd also be tempted to try the good old 'blue wrench' (torch) on the starter housing to make it expand faster than the transmission case and break free.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I've had really good luck with dead blow hammers for stuff like this. I've had many situations where rubber or steel head hammer won't even budge something, but a couple of good whacks with a dead blow gets it going.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_blow_hammer



Basically there are weights inside the head that slide forward when you hit something. Sort of tough to explain but it works well.

 

[manimal]

airhammer or torch like jch said.

 

[Evadman]

I recommend this order to minimize damage to the transmission:
0. find the other bolt.
1. dead blow hammer.
2. torch.
3. air chisel

 

[Bartman39]

I recommend this order to minimize damage to the transmission:
0. find the other bolt.
1. dead blow hammer.
2. torch.
3. air chisel

I would try 0. first...

 

[woodie1]

It sure sounds like there is another bolt hidden somewhere.

 

[Howard]

Welcome back.

I remember one time I couldn't get my rear rotors off and it was because the parking brake was still on.

 

[Ronstang]

Make sure there is not another bolt before you do this.....use the floor jack and a block of wood directly on the starter.

 

[DaTT]

I have never seen a starter with only 1 mounting bolt....

 

[iamwiz82]

I have never seen a starter with only 1 mounting bolt....

One bolt and one nut. I'm sure that is all there is, I used my trusty mirror to confirm that, in addition to the shop manual saying there are only two mounting points.

the air chisel has done nothing thus far even with heat. Sigh

6 and 8 are removed. 10 is the nut to hold the cable to the battery.

 

[LTC8K6]

He said one bolt and one nut.

I took that as a bolt, and a stud w/nut.

 

[iamwiz82]

He said one bolt and one nut.

I took that as a bolt, and a stud w/nut.

You are correct sir, and I think #3 on my diagram there is the troublemaker. I think there is some galvanic corrosion going on between the steel stud and the aluminum starter frame.

EDIT: and I have officially punched clean through the case of the starter with my air chisel. Gah.

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, I guess putting the nut and bolt back on loosely, hooking up the power, and bumping it to twist it are now out of the question?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

penetrating oil?

 

[Rifter]

cut it off the trans with the air chisel

At this point that seems like your only option.

 

[Squisher]

Put a bottle jack under the starter and put some lift to it while you give the starter another forty whacks.

 

[amish]

enough room to get vice grips on #3?

 

[JCH13]

See if you can counter-tighten two nuts onto the stud and get a wrench on it to break it loose.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

What about putting the car in gear and rolling it fwd/back?

 

[iamwiz82]

The bottle jack idea sounds like it could be a good one. Rolling in gear won't be fun, it's a 5,000lb truck and my other cars are a MINI and Miata and it's on level ground . Breaking the stud loose is also an option, assuming that is the problem.

 

[SkullWalker]

When force can't do the job then you need more force. And if that still isn't enough then you need even more force.

Assuming that you have already damage the starter casing I would say try to break the stud and don't mind about the starter. It is probably already useless and cannot be repaired.

 

[JCH13]

What sort of torch did you try and how long did you use it for?

That starter looks pretty massive, it might take a minute or more to heat it up appreciably. I like to heat everything up until spraying some penetrating oil on it barely smokes. I let the oil soak in, then heat it up again and try to crack things loose. Sometimes I have to do this 2-3 times if the bolt/nut/bracket/whatever is really messed up, but it always gets the job done. Going through several relatively extreme heat cycles will really work things loose.

 

[slag]

bump the starter by turning the key and see if it has enough jolt to loosen it

Aside from that, heat and pb blaster are your best friends,

 

[SpatiallyAware]

The bottle jack idea sounds like it could be a good one. Rolling in gear won't be fun, it's a 5,000lb truck and my other cars are a MINI and Miata and it's on level ground . Breaking the stud loose is also an option, assuming that is the problem.

If the starter gear and flywheel gear are binding it might just need to be relieved of pressure. You don't have to actually roll it, just rock back and forth..