Trying to remove "Stuck" Starter Motor - need help :)

thehillsarecalling · Postby **thehillsarecalling** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:49 pm

Hi All,

My starter motor has died, and I'm trying to remove it's sorry carcass from my engine bay. NA 1.6 this is, with 22 years on the clock.

So I've undone the two bolts holding the unit onto the back of the engine, and removed the 1x bolt & bracket at the back (ie closer to the front of the car) of the starter motor.

Next step, catch the starter motor as it falls out. Only it didn't. It's wedged in tighter than a......and not even Thor's hammer can dislodge it. I've been beating, pulling, prodding and massaging the unit from all angles for the last hour and a half, and nothing is getting a result.

The engine still rotates by hand, so I know the cogs haven't gotten shredded and I can only assume that the starter motor arm is still straight and not broken or stuck etc. The starter motor was turning the engine yesterday (albeit very slowly and with much coaxing), so I'm pretty sure there is no damage to the flywheel etc that could be causing the thing not to come out smoothly. Before you ask, yes, the starter is shagged. It's not wiring / corroded terminals / bad contacts / flat battery / crappy ground etc

Any ideas on how to dislodge it? It's still so firmly stuck to the motor I feel like I'm trying to push a rock with a feather. If noone has any bright ideas, my next step is to put the bolts back in enough to ensure the thing doesn't fall out of it's own accord, get the car push started, warm her up to operating temp, shut down and then try and beat the thing some more.

Less violent methods will be seen in a favourable light. If nothing works, I'm just about ready to remove the whole engine / trans and angle grind the thing off.