Porsche Repair: 1978 924 starter motor, bolts and nuts, hex head

Question
The car has stopped starting, had a look under the engine and found a loose wire, which i have worked out is the live wire.

Thought id have a go at taking the starter off so that i could replace the wire, but cant work out how to remove it.

Could you give me a rough guide on how to do this please?

Answer
Hi Rob,

Sorry, I don't have a 924-specific reference showing me the starter itself, so here's the general idea:

AFTER removing the battery terminal wires and raising the car onto jackstands...

Slide underneath and typically you'll see the starter motor secured to the engine by just two bolts...but they'll be big ones.  If they are hex head they'll likely be 17-19mm or if the are allen head they'll probably be 10mm.  Once you have it off, you'll see how simple it is.  In the meantime, those Germans have a nasty habit of hiding bolts or nuts from view.  Sometimes you'll have through-bolts, meaning there is a hex head on one end and a nut on the other.  Often there will be a bolt screwing right into the mounting surface at the engine/transmission.

I don't suggest air tools because it's hard to get them up there in such tiny places.  What would be great is if you could get a socket on the nut you like, attach the socket to a long-handled breaker bar and use its leverage to loosen the nut.

When you have the bolts and nuts loosened and the starter is wiggling, be careful for two things:

1.  Don't drop it on your head.
2.  Watch to see if there are spacer shims  (thin metal) that mount between the starter and the engine.  They have to be returned to their original position when you re-install the starter.

As far as the wires go...sometimes its easier to remove them before and sometimes after the starter is loose and on it's way out.

When you re-attach the wires, consider these two ideas:

1.  Use dielectric grease smeared on the connections...to protect the connection from water and grime.
2.  Find a clever solution to secure all the wires, and especially the one that came off originally, to either the starter or the engine.  I know the wires are already secured, but I'm talking about strain relief.  The only connection you have now runs from the starter to the battery... in between there's lot's of vibration.  If you can secure the wires to the vibrating engine after they connect to the starter and before they go up to the battery, this problem will never happen again.

The caution here of course, and why you will have to be clever, is that you want the wires to also be protected from engine heat and chafing.  Think about it.

I hope this will work as your: " rough guide on how to".

Dave