XJS V12 Starter motor removal - advice sought

[bearman68]

I have a lazy starter motor and it needs to be removed for a good talking to. Having gently lowered the gearbox to gain access to the motor, I cannot see for the life of me how to remove the top bolt. Has anyone done this? and if so, would you like to offer advice?

Many Thanks

[XJ Flyer]

When I did the job on a series 3 the engine and box were out of the car so it was easy.I don't understand why you wanted to lower the gearbox.The starter is fitted in front on the engine side of the engine gearbox joint.As far as I know you need to disconnect the rack and lower it then remove the exhaust downpipe for access to it in the car.Then replace it with one of the modern gear reduction type starters and throw the massive original in the nearest skip.

Edited by XJ Flyer on Saturday 10th August 22:54

[tortop45]

The best way is disconect the steering coloum undo the rear front sub frame mounts ,engine mounts and swing the hole sub frame down out the way by using the front sub frame mount as a pivot,that way you can get to all the bolts and wiring on the starter.Its a real pain i no but unless you lift the engine theres no space to get the starter out.good luck.......

[Xtriple129]

Idid the job on mycar back in the days when it was new. Started offby taking the bonnet off and using lots of extensions and wobble drives.

[bearman68]

tortop45 said:

The best way is disconect the steering coloum undo the rear front sub frame mounts ,engine mounts and swing the hole sub frame down out the way by using the front sub frame mount as a pivot,that way you can get to all the bolts and wiring on the starter.Its a real pain i no but unless you lift the engine theres no space to get the starter out.good luck.......

This sounds like it might work. At the mo I'm struggling to get to the top bolt. Having dropped the gearbox has allowed the rear of the engine to pivot down, and allow greater access to the motor. However, I'm still trying to understand how the top bolt works I've had all sizes of sockets on there, and they seem either to slip or not fit. Grrrr.

Thanks for the replies guys - I'll let you know how the bloody thing pans out in the next few days.

[tortop45]

bearman68 said:

tortop45 said:

The best way is disconect the steering coloum undo the rear front sub frame mounts ,engine mounts and swing the hole sub frame down out the way by using the front sub frame mount as a pivot,that way you can get to all the bolts and wiring on the starter.Its a real pain i no but unless you lift the engine theres no space to get the starter out.good luck.......

This sounds like it might work. At the mo I'm struggling to get to the top bolt. Having dropped the gearbox has allowed the rear of the engine to pivot down, and allow greater access to the motor. However, I'm still trying to understand how the top bolt works I've had all sizes of sockets on there, and they seem either to slip or not fit. Grrrr.

Thanks for the replies guys - I'll let you know how the bloody thing pans out in the next few days.

This way does work,ive done it my self.Not sure with the wiring thou,my cars is a xjc coupe v12 where the wires go on to the solinoid they are not just a push on fit but a phillips screw nearly impossible to do with out dropping starter first,yours being an xjs might be diffarant .

[rougemont]

On the later v12's the top bolt uses an E18 socket ,with the down pipe off and rack lowered it will come out, lovely job!!

[bearman68]

Hi guys. OK the starter motor came out in the end.

1) Disconnected both the exhausts at the manifold junction. (ie left the manifold on)
2) Removed the rear engine mount (including all the stuff around the propshaft
3) Lowered the engine as much as possible (making sure nothing went through the rad)
4) Removed the wires to the now much more accessible starter motor.
5) Removed the lower bolt (14mm A/F)
6) Removed the top nut /bolt fastening E18 - critical bit of info the E18. (thanks rougemont)

Starter motor came off, and it turned fine on the floor, but the engine still seems to be turning over slowly. (after refitting the wretched thing)

Removed all the auxiliary belts, a little better, but not much. Going to scratch head for a while now, so any ideas, most welcome.

Thanks again

Thanks for the r

[tortop45]

Just replace the starter with a new one or a recon as you don,t wan,t it to let you down,as you no now its a pain to do.powering it up on the floors fine but its not under load ,mind you you could have a dodgy main power lead from the battery or a suspect battery.

[XJ Flyer]

tortop45 said:

powering it up on the floors fine but its not under load ,mind you you could have a dodgy main power lead from the battery or a suspect battery.

The supply from the battery to the starter,at least on the old series 3,is made up of three seperate cables which are linked together at two connection posts which are situated on the bulkhead each side of the engine.Any or all of which have the potential to cause problems when it comes to transmitting the type of current loads required if the cables are in a bad state and/or if the terminals at the connection posts aren't secure with good electricity conductivety.The cable which connects the battery cable to the starter cable runs across the bulkhead behind the insulation which is difficult enough to replace with the engine out of the car let alone with it in.Maybe all that is different on the later types.

Edited by XJ Flyer on Friday 16th August 01:47

Edited by XJ Flyer on Friday 16th August 01:48

Edited by XJ Flyer on Friday 16th August 01:53

[tortop45]

Just bypass the main power lead to the starter from the battary with a jumper cable to see if thats at fault,then you no where to look ,if not that could be a bad engine earth...

[bearman68]

OK, spent a bit more time on it again today, and GOOD NEWS.

Found the main engine relay to be defective, not allowing juice to the injection system. Replaced this with the fuel pump relay, and bypassed the pump relay with odd bits of wire, and lo and behold it starts.
I'm now thinking there is not so much wrong with the starter motor - it started a dozen times with no issues, so I'm going to leave well alone. Just the gearbox and all the drive train to bolt back together now (and the belts to put on, and an MOT to get, and the rear brakes to change........ etc etc)

Thanks again