Hi Rob,

It took me two hours to get the new starter installed.  Pretty much a
straight swap.  The wire from the alternator just barely reaches to the
post on the hitachi starter, and the thick wire from the battery is very
difficult to bend and reroute to that post.

After you get your old starter out, push the new one up into position, but
first connect all of the wires.  Then bolt it into place.  That's probably
the hardest part of the job.

I used jack stands, but I didn't lift the wheels into the air.  Just
raised the van high enough to give me some working space.  I hate the
feeling of having a van in the air over my head when I'm pulling with all
my might on a rusty bolt!  I would have used ramps, but my starter was
dead and I didn't feel up to a push start.

I'll write up my procedure as soon as I have time:

http://wiki.vanagabond.com/bin/view/Vanagon/ReplacingStarterHowTo

Cheers,
Matt

On Thu, 26 May 2005, rob campbell wrote:

> From: rob campbell <rob@quimp.com>
> To: Matt Barclay <mbarclay@OPENFBO.COM>
> Subject: Re: Stripped CV Joint Bolt
> Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 11:53:22 -0700
>
>
> Hi-
>
> I just bought one of those starters as well.
>
> I am pretty new to engine work and wanted to know what was involved in the
> swap, and if I need any special tools in advance.  Are there any other
> systems in the way, or is it a straight swap?  My Bentley is still in storage
> so I will be consulting it, but if you had anything to share from your
> experience, I'd like to know.  Also, I assume its easier to do this from
> underneath?  Were jackstands sufficient, or did you need ramps?
>
> thanks-
>
> rob
>>
>> The joints are repacked and reinstalled, and I just survived the 70 mile
>> highway drive from Olympia to Seattle!  Yay!  (And just installed a new
>> Hitachi starter from GoWesty)
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Matt
>