Help!! I am trying to replace the starter in my 89 240 but can not get the last bolt out. Can anyone send out some helpful hints. Someone suggested lowering the tranny crossmember but not sure how to do that either! Thanks!!!!

Lindsay

Okay, everyone else has given a solution based on hacking wrenches or a series of extensions and ratchet U-joints. Believe it or not, there is an easier way! Here goes:
1: Jack up the front of the car and put it on jack stands.
2: Put a small jack under the transmission cross member.
3: Remove the two bolts on each side of the cross member.
4: Lower the jack that is under the tranny cross member.
5: use a straight extension, socket, and ratchet to get to the top starter bolt.

Assembly is the reverse order of the above. This approach allows for a 1 to 1.5 hour starter swap vs. the 3+ everyone else has mentioned. If you choose this route, make sure your engine mounts are in good shape... I'd hate to see the engine get cocked in the frame!

jorrell

Up until a few weeks ago, I had success using the swivel 19mm socket on long extensions described by Doug and David.

Art:

I'm interested in your comment: "I even gave it a try with an impact wrench, which is a no-no, using tools not meant for such abuse." Are you referring to impact wrenches/sockets in general, or were you using non-impact sockets (like in your picture) with an impact wrench.

I tried using my impact wrench and impact sockets to remove my starter, with no luck. I must admit that one of the main reasons I equipped myself with a compressor and impact wrench was exactly for these types of situations - to loosen nuts/bolts that were extremely tight, without needing to create enough space / elbow room to get a breaker bar in there (not to mention the muscle pulls, etc. - anyone who saw me would tell me to stick with my desk job!).

If a breaker bar with impact sockets isn't suitable for these jobs, then what good are they? If it's just to spin nuts/bolts in and out, I suppose an air rachet would do.

BTW, any ideal what kind of ft/lbs. it takes to break free some starter bolts? I thought my impact wrench was rated for 380 ft/lbs. I can't imagine that the bolt was that tight, or I don't think I could have budged it with a breaker bar.


--
David Armstrong - '86 240(350k km?), '93 940T(270k km), '89 240(parts source for others) near Toronto

You are right on the money.

Here are the details: The starter I was grabbing was on an 89 I had on one jackstand, not very high either. And no, I had no desire to spend three hours; the starter was needed on another 89 that same evening, where the 3/8 extension arrangement you saw in the photo had served me well moments before with only a ratchet instead of the breaker bar.

Not really having enough swing to properly use the 1/2" breaker, I exchanged it for the air impact gun - no impact sockets. I turned my face away and gave it a couple tentative braaaps, before coming to the predicted conclusion most of the impact was being delivered to the joints and the universal's pin, instead of the bolt.

Now it did take me fifteen minutes hunting up that box wrench, and another five or ten making room for it, but nowhere near the time it would have taken me to raise things high enough to let the transmission hang down for a straight shot at that bolt. Not in my work area anyway. After such simple success, I snapped the photo thinking it might help someone else to remember the top-access option.

Your question about torque: I treat the ratings I see on impact guns with suspicion, thinking they are mostly unverifiable and used to sell, and possibly quite variable with wear and actual voltage or air pressure available at the tool.

My unschooled imagination envisions this graphical curve of torque vs. time, showing the loosening torque of a starter bolt increasing with time, eventually intersecting a slowly decreasing strength of the bolt.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

I think it was angle socket that stopped your impact gun. I have a cheap Coleman impact gun, and I just used it to whip off a rusty old starter. The bolts usually are not that tight. I think the difference was the engine was on the floor of my garage, and I had a direct shot at the bolts with no extensions or swivels.

Upper starter bolt? Getting this one loose took me three hours! I think the series of tools I used went in this order. A 3/8 drive socket, 3/8 drive high-quality universal joint, about 1 foot of 3/8 drive extensions, a 3/8 to ½ adapter, about one foot of ½ inch drive extensions, ½ inch drive breaker bar, about 1 foot of pipe. The series of extensions ran alongside the transmission. All four wheels of the car were sitting up on 10 inches of solid fresh wood. The car was in gear, emergency brake on, and wheels chocked. While I loosened the bolt, my friend held a wrench on the nut from the front side under the hood. My intake was off at the time. I don’t know if this helps, but I hope so.
--
Thanks everyone for all the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, turbo bars and wheels, M46; 86 244, B230, 150k , auto; 81 242 Turbo, intercooled, M46, 122k.

I assume you're talking about the upper mount bolt. (I also assume you've disconnected the battery negative cable, right?)

- get the car on jackstands, high enough to allow you breaker bar leverage under the car. Use great care and test - rock the car on the jackstands before crawling under it!

- connect the 6-point 1/2" drive socket (forget size) to a universal

- use multiple 1/2" extentions and run them alongside the transmission, extending all the way to near the back of the transmission

- attach a long breaker bar to the extension at the back of the transmission

- ensure that the socket is well seated on the bolt before you attempt to break it free

--
David Armstrong - '86 240(350k km?), '93 940T(270k km), '89 240(parts source for others) near Toronto

You mean the top bolt?
Everybody on this topic in previous threads always talks about using a complicated set of socket extensions and flexible joints. I just use an offset ring spanner (not sure what that would be called in US) put on backwards, so that the handle is angled away from the firewall. If the handle is too long and fouls on something, cut it shorter, and then lever or hit the end to get the bolt started. started.