Hello everyone. I lurk around here but thought I should fill in some details of my 1995 D1 starter story (225Kkm, original owner) since I never seem to be able to add anything worthwhile when I do any other jobs (the detailed posts are so great).
Mine was running perfectly. Then I got two "slow" starts out of it before it wouldn't go again. Though the battery was nice and new, fully charged, it just spun slow, much slower than normal. Then nothing. Not even a click of the solenoid. That's how mine failed.
I checked all the regular stuff (back probing the relay)..cleaned the grounds (everything looked great, not the first time they've been cleaned up) but I needed to pull the starter to reach the trip wire to see if I had voltage all the way down since nothing else brought it to life. I used a 3/8" drive 8mm allen key socket on a 8" extension to undo the top bolt. I pulled the two center plug leads so I was able to reach through the Exhaust manifold to get the allen socket into the fastener from the top, then undid it from the bottom. I jacked up the chassis a bit so it looked like I had room to get the starter out over the front axle. Easy enough. Not the easiest starter I've done, but not the hardest. There is lots of whining about this job so I was prepared for the worst. Not that bad. My solenoid trip wire had cracked insulation, I think from the removal since it's tight and I had to partially remove the starter to pull the wire off.
I bench tested the old unit and found my solenoid had a dead short though the actual motor still went.
My local parts store had nothing in stock (no surprise), yet could only source a new unit ($500+). 2nd call was to the rebuild shop (should have been the first) and they had one already done for me. However, seems the 95 should have a 1.6kw (short body) on it. Mine has the 2kw (long motor) even though it is a 95 and I'm the original owner and the starter is original (right down to the original black zip tie around the solenoid).
Of course it all went together and seems to spin much faster than I ever remember it doing. A success of course. A failure in the driveway and a successful job is always nice.
So...the point of the post, it's not as bad a job as some people say. Jack the chassis up and remove it over the front axle. Pull the plug leads to gain access from through the manifold to position the allen socket, undo from below. Clean all your grounds nice. Hunt down a rebuild shop but take your old one out first and compare case sizes. Go for the big one. Mine was something like a bosch 110001 or something even though it is a 95. Lots of 1s and zeros. The smaller case did not. The big one matched many models, but at least a 96D1 onwards. No magic here, same information other than I reached through the manifold and only got a couple of slow starts before it packed it in.
Mine was running perfectly. Then I got two "slow" starts out of it before it wouldn't go again. Though the battery was nice and new, fully charged, it just spun slow, much slower than normal. Then nothing. Not even a click of the solenoid. That's how mine failed.
I checked all the regular stuff (back probing the relay)..cleaned the grounds (everything looked great, not the first time they've been cleaned up) but I needed to pull the starter to reach the trip wire to see if I had voltage all the way down since nothing else brought it to life. I used a 3/8" drive 8mm allen key socket on a 8" extension to undo the top bolt. I pulled the two center plug leads so I was able to reach through the Exhaust manifold to get the allen socket into the fastener from the top, then undid it from the bottom. I jacked up the chassis a bit so it looked like I had room to get the starter out over the front axle. Easy enough. Not the easiest starter I've done, but not the hardest. There is lots of whining about this job so I was prepared for the worst. Not that bad. My solenoid trip wire had cracked insulation, I think from the removal since it's tight and I had to partially remove the starter to pull the wire off.
I bench tested the old unit and found my solenoid had a dead short though the actual motor still went.
My local parts store had nothing in stock (no surprise), yet could only source a new unit ($500+). 2nd call was to the rebuild shop (should have been the first) and they had one already done for me. However, seems the 95 should have a 1.6kw (short body) on it. Mine has the 2kw (long motor) even though it is a 95 and I'm the original owner and the starter is original (right down to the original black zip tie around the solenoid).
Of course it all went together and seems to spin much faster than I ever remember it doing. A success of course. A failure in the driveway and a successful job is always nice.
So...the point of the post, it's not as bad a job as some people say. Jack the chassis up and remove it over the front axle. Pull the plug leads to gain access from through the manifold to position the allen socket, undo from below. Clean all your grounds nice. Hunt down a rebuild shop but take your old one out first and compare case sizes. Go for the big one. Mine was something like a bosch 110001 or something even though it is a 95. Lots of 1s and zeros. The smaller case did not. The big one matched many models, but at least a 96D1 onwards. No magic here, same information other than I reached through the manifold and only got a couple of slow starts before it packed it in.
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