HOW TO: REMOVE REPLACE STARTER MOTOR ON 1997 ACURA 3.0 CL
TOOLS: A couple of sockets, ratchets, extensions, combination wrenches, brakleen, WD-40, and beer.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: 2-3 BEERS
The starter took a poop the other day so you know who had to change it on their day off. The whole process would have only been 2 beers if not for the factory cross threaded bolt.
1. Disconnect battery; remove battery hold down and plastic tray.
2. Remove power/ground cable bracket from battery tray, remove tray, and tray stay.
3. Remove oil dipstick, and wires on back of starter motor.
4. Remove the large bolts which hold the starter to the transmission.
5. Remove starter motor.
6. Compare old starter with new one, make sure they look about the same.
7. Clean and inspect bolts for unusual defects. (If any of the bolts were cross threaded from the factory, proceed to CROSS THEAD BOLT ISSUE below.)
8. Inspect mounting surface for any irregularities, clean debris as needed, careful not to contaminate flywheel area and oil dipstick tube.
9. Drink a beer.
10. Install new starter motor, torque bolts to manufacturer specs.
11. Replace wires on back of starter motor, and oil dipstick.
12. Replace battery tray stay, battery tray, and affix power / ground cable bracket.
13. Replace battery plastic tray, hold down, and power / ground cables.
14. Pop another beer and start her up. FINISHED.
Don' forget to keep reciept for core exchange refund if you purchased a remanufactured unit, I got about $30 back. I would have installed a new unit, only $60 more, but there were none available in Hawaii at the time.
CROSS THEAD BOLT ISSUE:
Since one of my bolts was cross threaded and I don’t own a tap die set, I made due with a small feather edge file. Call it ghetto but it did the trick and sometimes, “You gotta do, what you gotta do”.
I used a feather edge file to clean and remove any remaining aluminum metal particles from the thread of the bolt, careful no to damage the thread.
Next, I needed to remove all the metal particles from the bolt hole. I made my own tap with the existing bolt.
1. I filed 3 grooves perpendicular (across) the thread of bolt at approximately equal intervals, every 120 degrees about a ½ inch accross the thread.
2. I cut 3 more relief grooves, in the face of the bolt, every 120 degrees staggered to the 1st set of grooves.
3. Spray a little WD-40 on the thread end of the bolt and hand-thread it into the bolt hole until you feel a little grinding resistance.
4. Remove bolt and wipe metal particles from the bolt that have stuck to the oil and have filled the relief grooves.
5. Consume beer and repeat process until bolt will hand-turn freely to the required position for affixing starter motor.
6. When finished proceed to step 10 in above section.
Disclaimer: 1997 ACURA 3.0 CL Starter motor remove & replace info is provided at the sole responsibility of the user. The names ACURA, CL, brakleen, and WD-40 are all excusive trademarks, etc, of their respective manufactures.
How To: Remove Replace Starter Motor On 1997 Acura 3.0 Cl
Re: How To: Remove Replace Starter Motor On 1997 Acura 3.0 Cl
Linear Mode
