How To Install A Car Starter

How To Install A Car Starter

 

You know how it goes.  One day, you go to start your car so you can leave for work, but your car is silent.  The radio still works, the headlights turn on, the ignition may click or be silent, but nothing else happens.  Your car is letting you know that the car starter has died an untimely demise.  The good news is that you do not need to pay a mechanic a small fortune to replace your dead car starter.  You can do this task yourself, and this article will show you how.

 

Things You Will Need:

             ·    Replacement starter

             ·    An assortment of wrenches

             ·    An assortment of sockets and the appropriate wrench

             ·    Jack

             ·    Wire brush

             ·    Two jackstands

             ·    Two wooden blocks or bricks.

 

To Install A Car Starter:

 

Step 1:  Locate your car starter.  Many older vehicles have them located on the bottom side of the engine block, in plain sight.  But, many newer cars have them in other locations, or in crowded locations, requiring removal of an exhaust pipe to replace the car starter.  Find your car starter before doing anything to determine if this is a job you can handle, of if it would be better suited for your mechanic.

 

Step 2: Assuming your car starter is in a location easy for you to work with, start by disconnecting your battery.  This eliminates the chance of you getting shocked.

 

Step 3:  Place wooden blocks or bricks behind the rear tires.  Set the parking brake firmly.  Jack up the car on one side, using the flat spots on frame immediately behind the front wheels.Place a jackstand under the end of the axle.  Lower the car onto the jackstand.  Repeat on the other side of car.

 

Step 4:  Remove the electrical cables from the car starter using the appropriate sized socket or wrench.  Usually there are only two wires- a positive and negative.  Remove the positive first, then the negative.  You may want to mark the cables accordingly with a marker or bit of paint.

 

Step 5:  Again using the appropriate sized socket or wrench, remove the bolts holding the car starter in place.  There should be two or three of them.

 

Step 6:  Before installing your new car starter, clean all threads on the bolts, and the electrical connections with the wire brush.  Good connections can prolong the life and efficiency of your starter.

 

Step 7:  Check the engine block for oil leaks.  If you have a leak near your car starter, it may leak oil into the starter, voiding the warranty.  You can replace the car starter, but immediately fix that oil leak!

 

Step 8:  Be sure the place on the block where the car starter fits is clean, so the starter fits securely.  Bolt the new car starter firmly in place.  Do not over tighten.

 

Step 9:  Connect electrical wires to new car starter exactly as they were connected to the old one, starting with the ground wire.

 

Step 10:  Reconnect the battery wires.  Start the car to be sure the new car starter works properly. 

 

Congratulations!  You just saved yourself an expensive trip to the mechanic.