Thread: TD5 Starter Motor

Originally Posted by Greylandy

Has anybody removed a starter motor on a TD5 Defender? There are two bolts and a nut that secures it to the gearbox housing. The problem I'm having is getting access to the nut at the top of the starter to undo the thing. Any suggestions?

Apparently it requires a special tool, i'm sure someone here has done it but can't remember who.

I had mine done recently, the labour cost wasn't very much, from memory it was around $300 recoed including labour.

Baz.

I did mine myself and i'm no great mechanic at all! Did lose a fair bit of skin though.....
You mention 2 nuts/bolts, i thought there were 3, one hidden at the top of the housing??
One of 2 ways you can do it, either from the top (as i did) but if i had to do it again, would go in from the bottom of the engine(to get to the top nut, on top of the starter). It is a bugger to get hold of the top nut, but a socket with the right extension will do it. Must say an extra person coming over the top of the engine with a flashlight guiding you to locate the nut is a good idea. The nut is visible from the top but to get your hands and socket in there is difficult, so i located the socket and extension from the top and then got under the car to undo it. Once it was off it was easy to open and clean and replace the contacts on the solenoid - starts well now...
Either way space is limited and it's a bugger, but surely if i could do it - anyone on this forum can

Originally Posted by x-box

I did mine myself and i'm no great mechanic at all! Did lose a fair bit of skin though.....
You mention 2 nuts/bolts, i thought there were 3, one hidden at the top of the housing??
One of 2 ways you can do it, either from the top (as i did) but if i had to do it again, would go in from the bottom of the engine(to get to the top nut, on top of the starter). It is a bugger to get hold of the top nut, but a socket with the right extension will do it. Must say an extra person coming over the top of the engine with a flashlight guiding you to locate the nut is a good idea. The nut is visible from the top but to get your hands and socket in there is difficult, so i located the socket and extension from the top and then got under the car to undo it. Once it was off it was easy to open and clean and replace the contacts on the solenoid - starts well now...
Either way space is limited and it's a bugger, but surely if i could do it - anyone on this forum can

Yes, there are two bolts and the bottom and side, and the hidden nut at the top which is a complete bitch to get to.

Louis can you remember what size socket you used to undo the nut at the top? The two bolts were 13mm, I assume the nut will be the same?

Originally Posted by Redback

Apparently it requires a special tool, i'm sure someone here has done it but can't remember who.

I had mine done recently, the labour cost wasn't very much, from memory it was around $300 recoed including labour.

Baz.

No special tool is mentioned in the workshop manual. I'm strating to think I should have done the same but noooooooo .. I want to be Mr. DIY!!

I suppose you can drop the front prop shaft to make access easier ...

Sorry Henry, can't remember the size, it was either a 13 or one smaller at 12 - i was cursing too much at the time to worry about size .
All i do remember is that during the process i was wondering why i would do this, but afterwards i decided to do it myself again if ever needed. It's only the top one that's a bit fiddly, but apart from that no problem

The nut on the top is 15mm AF as oppsed to the two bolts at the bottom which are 13mm. A socket with a wobble type extension can just about do it. I found it easier to feel it than to see it. Most of the time spent on removing mine was taken up in getting the right size spanner. Taking off the acousting cover made it a bit easier to see but no easier to remove

Thanks guys, I will continue the fight tonight and let you know.