Starter removal question

[covelo]

Hi Everyone!

My starter died and I am trying to replace it but I cannot seem to get the old one out. I removed the big 17mm nut on the visible side of the starter and I removed a 15mm bolt on the invisible top side. But the starter does not want to move at all. So I am worried that I removed the wrong bolt. I read in another thread that there is a special kind of hex bolt they put up there to make things difficult for do it your selvers. Could it be that I have one of those? If so, does anyone know what size this likely is and what it feels like so that I can locate it once I buy the proper tool? I can't imaging that they even used hex bolts in 1972 but you always learn something new. Thanks for your help! I hope everyone is well.

--Hans

[sailorkh]

Hey Hans...long time no see

On my bus I have to take off the nut that you can see from the bottom, then I have to take off the engine mounting bolt that is above the starter from inside the engine compartment and push it out from there. It is kinda half moon shaped and wedges in between the starter motor so you can tighten it from in the engine compartment

Hope this helps, and that you are healthy & happy!

[covelo]

Thank you! That sounds like the solution. None of my manuals mentioned that nut in the engine compartment. I'll report back tomorrow.

[Lanval]

You might look here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... er+removal

I would imagine that the vanagon starter is a bit different than the bus.

Best,

Mike

[Amskeptic]

Thank you! That sounds like the solution. None of my manuals mentioned that nut in the engine compartment. I'll report back tomorrow.

I think you might have removed the 15mm bell housing carrier bolt, Hans.

The upper starter bolt is a D that slots into the starter, you can only remove the 17mm NUT in the engine compartment to release the upper starter mounting bolt. The lower starter NUT was originally a 15mm NUT. Sometimes you do see people using a 17mm nut.
HTH,
Colin