cessna195

How do you remove a starter form a 1966 442? I could not move the starter forward enough have the starter drop down.

Thanks

John

442oldslawyer

Been there. Sometimes the nose of the starter is too long to let it drop down. Remove the long bolts that hold the starter together and you can drop it down.. It is a bitch. When you replace starter be sure you get the correct one. I will bet you have a replacement. There is about 1/4 in difference in the nose of the starter. John

joe_padavano

Did you remove the torque converter dust cover from the bottom of the bellhousing?

cessna195

My car has a four speed transmission.

TK-65

Luck pretty much, thats how you get them off. My junker has a lakewood bellhousing, the starter falls right out of that car. My dad actually cut a piece of the bellhousing out to get his starter off.

cessna195

Well I had to remove the engine in order to get the starter out. I tried everything before I had to remove the engine. I removed the front engine mounts bolts, rear transmission cross member and lifted the engine with a cherry picker. I now have the engine out and now I can’t find the correct starter. I called Year One and they had about a 4 week wait for a stock starter or a powermaster OEM style starter that they had in stock. They were about the same price so I ordered the powermaster. It arrived yesterday and guess what, it is the same length as the one I took out of the car. The starter I now have is 8 3/8” long from the surface the butts up to the bell housing to the forward end of the starter. My question is where do I get a correct starter? NAPA wants a shipping charge to order one for me and they can’t say it will be the correct length starter. I do not want to install a high torque type starter. Where can I get a correct starter? Thanks for any help.

John

442oldslawyer

I got mine from NAPA. Check the length before install. It should be about 1.4 in shorter than your old starter. That makes all the difference in removing the starter.

Run to Rund

The regular high torque starter which you should have is 8-3/8" from mounting surface to end plate, plus the length of the bearing nub. It will have a snout of about 2-1/4" long. The 66 service manual says to remove the wiring, two long bolts, support strap bolt, and dust cover (from the stock bell housing). It also says you may need to remove the left exhaust pipe if dual exhaust. The shorter starter referenced in the above post is the low torque starter.

cessna195

I did everything above and it would not clear the front cross member. I also removed the fwd. engine mounts, exhaust pipe and rear transmission cross member and lifted the engine with a cherry picker and was impossible to remove starter without removing the engine. The only way I was able to remove the starter was to remove the whole engine assembly. Anyone else have the same problem I had?


John

1969w3155

Have your old starter rebuilt by a local rebuilder.

RAMBOW

Mine looked to be stuck in place by the exhaust, but a couple whacks with a rubber mallet and it just fell out.
Definitley had to remove the flywheel inspection plate though.

all the rebuilts i looked at (napa & oreillys) were missing the threaded hole for the clutch return spring bracket that my original had.

So i had my original rebuilt, they had to replace the nose cone in mine because the bearing hole was egged out- but they had a perfect matching nose sitting on a shelf.

after rebuilding, it went right in without a problem.

This was on a 330, but had the high torque starter.

cessna195

1969w3155, The starter I took off the car is the long type and I had to remove the engine to remove the starter. There was no other way to remove the starter. I tried everything. You cannot move the starter forward enough to get the starter out of the bell housing. I need a shorter starter.

John

Run to Rund

There is a third length, the diesel starter. It is huge, but the 8-3/8 is the regular high torque. I recommend www.robbmcperformance.com for the best mini starter with very good power, smallest size.

wishful

You have made me a believer, I tried everything I could at home, believing it to be a relatively easy job. I had it towed to a shop (a well known shop with dozens of certified mechanics) He called me within an hour and said the transmission had to come out. He had four people look at it. I also tried the other steps mentioned in this post. Can someone definitively tell me whether or not I have to remove the engine or transmission to remove a starter? With the wealth of experience on this site I’m sure someone will do so. Also a 4 speed car. Thanks

edzolz

Why did you not start your own thread instead of opening up the one from 2010?

wishful

No particular reason, I couldn’t find anything else on the site or web, and I just started writing without thinking about it seriously.

rocketraider

Even though new poster missed the dates on original thread when he found it on a search, this is how 12 year old tribal knowledge gets resurrected and passed on.

I was lucky that when I had my 66 45 yrs ago, the correct starter was still readily available, and there were three local automotive electric shops who'd rebuild what you had. The guys in the NAPA store's machine shop would do it for you too. There's one electric shop left, it's changed hands, and their failure rate is abysmal. Whether that's from using inferior parts or the operator's skill set, IDK.

Worst mess I ever got into with a starter was a 67 Firebird 400 that someone prior to my ownership had replaced motor mounts on- with 1/2" STEEL PLATES WELDED TOGETHER. Stock mounts were available and that's what went back in it after I had to jack up the engine and remove the homemade solid mounts to get at the starter. Probably my first experience with POS.

lunaboy

I recall having to bump the starter over once to unjam the teeth years ago to remove.

joe_padavano

Look, resurrected thread or not, no Oldsmobile made requires you to pull the engine or drop the trans to remove the starter.

stellar

X2 I've removed a lot of olds starters and never had to pull an engine or drop a trans. You just need the right combination of cuss words in the proper sequence. It has been awhile, but if I remember correctly,the rear of the starter needs to be pushed up while pulling it back rotating it and coming out drive end down first. To install reverse the procedure and the cuss words.

Vaquero65

Iīll drill a 1/2 inch hole in carīs front crossmember. Just because Itīs a pain in the .... everytime you need to remove this starter, why not drill a hole through the front crossmember ?, so I can access right to starter headbolt from under craddle. Right now I remove all nuts to the front and passenger side engine mounts, And place a wood block underneat transmission and engine carters, and lift with a jack both until I can place a 3/8 "ratchet wrench with a 13mm socket, but sure this is a almost impossible in a parking lot, I donīt know if I am afecting structural stiffness of the car front crossmemeber but sure Iīll gladdly do it. Also donīt forget to reinstall a 0.075" steel shim to give the starter sprocket a proper distance from flywheel teeth.