Dangit, my starter got fried and left me stranded a ways from home. Then AAA took almost 5 hours to get it right, only to send me a surly tow truck driver with an attitude problem. Picked the wrong Marine to pull that sh*t on, learned his lesson lickety-split. So I ordered a new starter online, about $80 on eBay, and when I looked up the R&R on YouTube I thought I had fell into a whiskey vat and died (cremation would have taken three days...).

TWO BOLTS to R&R the starter and TWO NUTS to R&R the power and ground cables? And I don't have to disassemble half the car to get to it? Hotdamn, my lucky day, went to the store and bought a scratch-ticket, blew $10.... nothing. Oh well, can't win them all. LMAO!

 

I had mine replaced within the last year (second replacement) by the dealer and they told me it was one of the easier things to replace. Is this your first replacement?

 

Yeah, I'm a starter virgin. <pause> BWAAAHAHAHAHA!

 

You're lucky the original lasted so long.

You probably already tried this, but did you give the solenoid a whack?

 

I don't think that's going to solve the wiring that smells like it's cooking because it is overloaded. I think the motor went south. At 163k miles I think it's safe to say I need to do something more than a whack to be safer than sorry.

 

Yeah, the starter is a slam dunk to R & R.........located right at the bottom of the engine; just remove the skid plate. You can also replace the breather for a much longer one depending on your environment.
Lrcat

 

"TUBE - BREATHER REDUCES WATER INGRESS WHEN WADING OPTION)"

Hmm. Well, Tropical Storm Isaias missed me, so I think I can pass on that for now.

 

Ah-yup. It was the starter alright. It definitely looked like it had seen better days and had been changed at least once before -- it was not the original OEM starter. Took me a bit to install the new one thanks to no lift, but I finally got it in, reinstalled the engine bottom cover and gave it a go. Smooth as silk, no burning smell. That's how I spell relief.

 

Nice job, especially without a lift!