Author Topic: starter motor (Read 4321 times)

sif · « **on:** September 01, 2018, 05:10:18 PM »

Hi I just thought I would post a little advice for anyone considering fitting a new starter motor. DON'T. Take it to a garage. Get rid of the car, scrap it, push it over a cliff, blow it up. Just don't try to change it yourself. I have dismantled every thing possible. The bottom bolt comes out easy. The top bolt took several hours, all my patience and all the things I have learned in 30 years of lying underneath old nails in the pouring rain. Even with the cable slack ( that alone took over an hour. Hondas cable clamps dont work when the metal clips go rusty. I basicaly had to destroy them to get a bit of slack in the cable ) I cant see any way to remove the starter. The dipstick tube is in the way. The oil filter is in the way. An engine sensor is in the way. Some obscure cabling is in the way. Its undone but it wont come out. I think they actually started with the starter motor and built the rest of the car round it, laughing as they did so. I still have no idea if I will ever be able to fix it. I do know I will never buy a Honda Jazz, and probably any Honda, ever again. I am going for a bit of a lie down now.

culzean · « **Reply #1 on:** September 01, 2018, 06:00:37 PM »

Quote from: sif on September 01, 2018, 05:10:18 PM

Hi I just thought I would post a little advice for anyone considering fitting a new starter motor. DON'T. Take it to a garage. Get rid of the car, scrap it, push it over a cliff, blow it up. Just don't try to change it yourself. I have dismantled every thing possible. The bottom bolt comes out easy. The top bolt took several hours, all my patience and all the things I have learned in 30 years of lying underneath old nails in the pouring rain. Even with the cable slack ( that alone took over an hour. Hondas cable clamps dont work when the metal clips go rusty. I basicaly had to destroy them to get a bit of slack in the cable ) I cant see any way to remove the starter. The dipstick tube is in the way. The oil filter is in the way. An engine sensor is in the way. Some obscure cabling is in the way. Its undone but it wont come out. I think they actually started with the starter motor and built the rest of the car round it, laughing as they did so. I still have no idea if I will ever be able to fix it. I do know I will never buy a Honda Jazz, and probably any Honda, ever again. I am going for a bit of a lie down now.

Starter motors on most cars are a PITA to work on, buried away in the depths of the engine. Personally apart from a Vauxhall Carlton I have never had to replace one, and I learnt a few new swear words doing it - that was when I was younger, don't know if I would attempt it now

Never had a starter motor problem ( or any other problem ) on any of the Hondas I have owned, I reckon starter would be as bad on any car, don't think Honda are particularly the worst.

sparky Paul · « **Reply #2 on:** September 02, 2018, 08:32:21 AM »

I can see where you are coming from, between the engine and the radiator is extremely congested on the Jazz. Some of these jobs require a contortionist, but they can usually be done.

After the undertray, the oil filter certainly has to come off, and probably one or two other bits under there. I'm not sure about slack in the cable, if you mean the starter wiring, you have to disconnect these in situ before you start - I would think removal would be virtually impossible without doing this first.

I have a feeling that the brushes are getting tired on ours, that first rotation of the starter is sometimes sluggish or delayed by a fraction of a second... so I may be having this dubious pleasure soon.

sif · « **Reply #3 on:** September 02, 2018, 07:39:06 PM »

Well, its out. The most fidley job ever. Like Sparky Paul says, it wont come out with the cable still attached. Somewhere on the net it says drop the motor out and then remove the cable. This is not true. You have to undo and remove the cable first. Getting this off, and the top bolt, will take ages, crack the nuts with a ring spanner and then one click at a time with a 1/4 drive 12 mm socket for the cable and a 14 mm extension socket on a 3/8 drive with possibly a 4 inch extension for the top bolt. Its that picky. I did get it off without removing the oil filter but I would reccomend taking the little mounting bracket off the motor , otherwise its really hard getting it out past the bottom hose. The exposed copper cable to the solenoid had just cracked apart, def. the problem. Tomorrow is refitting, more fun.