Clanforbes
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I know this subject has been covered many times in the past, but everyone seems to mention it's a bugger of a job to get to the top nut.
I have just finished fitting a new starter to my Defender, I needed it done in a hurry so bought a new one with the intention of repairing the solenoid in the old one and keeping it as a spare for next time.
All in all, from dis-connecting the battery to re-connecting it and firing her up, it took me exactly one hour. Most of this was wasted time as I fished out the correct tools for the job, in all honesty, if I had the correct tools to hand I could now swap a starter in under half an hour, probably in about 15 to 20 minutes. The top nut is a doddle if you have the right tool to hand.
A long time ago I learned the hard way that the most difficult nut/bolt to remove on any starter motor is the one you should take out first. If you leave it until the last, then the weight of the starter will be dangling on it and this will often mean that you cannot remove the nut/bolt using only your fingers (assuming you can get them onto it) once you have loosened it with your tools.
For the top nut on the TD5 use a 15mm normal length socket, a universal knuckle, a short extension bar and your ratchet. First, I disconnected the battery (at precisely 1140hrs.) Then I removed the plastic engine cover and used a torch to shine down between the ports of the inlet manifold until I could see the nut in question, then I found I could wiggle my hand in behind the fuel pressure regulator and get my fingers onto the nut quite easily. So, working from the top, wiggle the ratchet handle down past the end of the starter motor's body and at the same time feed the socket, knuckle and extension bar over the top of the starter's body, this does take a bit of wiggling the first time until you get the hang of it (I had to use a set of ramps to stand on 'coz I'm a short arse and couldn't reach from ground level and you will probably let the tools slip and fall to the ground a couple of times like I did, so you get plenty of practice.) Then, using your left hand with the palm facing the rear of the vehicle, wiggle your fingers into the space behind the fuel pressure regulator and guide the socket onto the nut. My extension bar was just a fraction too long (125mm) which meant that it had to sit at a bit of angle. This allowed me to use my right hand to twist the head of the ratchet enough to "crack" the nut. Once the nut was cracked and turned about 180°, the nut became free to turn, though a bit of dirt on the thread soon made it difficult to do it with my fingertips (a spray of WD40 on the stud before you start might help clean it,) but a long screwdriver was able to get it going again and my fingertips were enough to spin it off the stud. Then it was a crawl underneath and the electrics were disconnected using a 13mm spanner. I had crawled out at least 4 times before I realised the remaining two bolts holding the starter on were 13mm also. The higher of the two didn't have enough room for the head of my ratchet to go onto so I had to use a ring spanner to get a good pull on it to "crack" it, this bolt came out by hand once it had been loosened a few turns with the spanner. The bottom bolt was as tight as hell on mine and I had to crawl out again to get a bigger spanner to hook onto the end of my 13mm ringer to give me more leverage. Again it came out easily after a few turns with the spanner. Once again, I had to crawl out because I hadn't put the replacement motor to hand - typical numpty. The old one drops out easily enough past the drive-shaft with a little wiggling and the new one passes back up easily because you saw the way the old out came out. Put the replacement into place and hold it up with your left hand as you use your right hand to pop the bottom bolt (the shorter of the two) back into place and give it a couple of turns until you feel the thread engage. Then pop the higher one back in too and tighten it up, tighten the bottom one up next. Once you are happy you have them nice and tight, pop the little wire with the spade terminal back onto the solenoid then replace the two heavy wires and tighten them up. Toss all your tools out from underneath, I don't have any plastic covers under mine so that was me done under there. Next, grip the nut in your left hand and wiggle your fingers back into place behind the FPR and carefully fit the nut to the stud, tighten as best you can by hand, even use the screwdriver to get that little bit extra on it then it's time to wiggle the socket, knuckle, extension & ratchet back in to give it a wee bit extra torque. Re-connect your battery and fire her up. I re-connected my battery at exactly 1237hrs.
This is the knuckle thing I'm referring to for anyone who doesn't know what I mean...........
I have just finished fitting a new starter to my Defender, I needed it done in a hurry so bought a new one with the intention of repairing the solenoid in the old one and keeping it as a spare for next time.
All in all, from dis-connecting the battery to re-connecting it and firing her up, it took me exactly one hour. Most of this was wasted time as I fished out the correct tools for the job, in all honesty, if I had the correct tools to hand I could now swap a starter in under half an hour, probably in about 15 to 20 minutes. The top nut is a doddle if you have the right tool to hand.
A long time ago I learned the hard way that the most difficult nut/bolt to remove on any starter motor is the one you should take out first. If you leave it until the last, then the weight of the starter will be dangling on it and this will often mean that you cannot remove the nut/bolt using only your fingers (assuming you can get them onto it) once you have loosened it with your tools.
For the top nut on the TD5 use a 15mm normal length socket, a universal knuckle, a short extension bar and your ratchet. First, I disconnected the battery (at precisely 1140hrs.) Then I removed the plastic engine cover and used a torch to shine down between the ports of the inlet manifold until I could see the nut in question, then I found I could wiggle my hand in behind the fuel pressure regulator and get my fingers onto the nut quite easily. So, working from the top, wiggle the ratchet handle down past the end of the starter motor's body and at the same time feed the socket, knuckle and extension bar over the top of the starter's body, this does take a bit of wiggling the first time until you get the hang of it (I had to use a set of ramps to stand on 'coz I'm a short arse and couldn't reach from ground level and you will probably let the tools slip and fall to the ground a couple of times like I did, so you get plenty of practice.) Then, using your left hand with the palm facing the rear of the vehicle, wiggle your fingers into the space behind the fuel pressure regulator and guide the socket onto the nut. My extension bar was just a fraction too long (125mm) which meant that it had to sit at a bit of angle. This allowed me to use my right hand to twist the head of the ratchet enough to "crack" the nut. Once the nut was cracked and turned about 180°, the nut became free to turn, though a bit of dirt on the thread soon made it difficult to do it with my fingertips (a spray of WD40 on the stud before you start might help clean it,) but a long screwdriver was able to get it going again and my fingertips were enough to spin it off the stud. Then it was a crawl underneath and the electrics were disconnected using a 13mm spanner. I had crawled out at least 4 times before I realised the remaining two bolts holding the starter on were 13mm also. The higher of the two didn't have enough room for the head of my ratchet to go onto so I had to use a ring spanner to get a good pull on it to "crack" it, this bolt came out by hand once it had been loosened a few turns with the spanner. The bottom bolt was as tight as hell on mine and I had to crawl out again to get a bigger spanner to hook onto the end of my 13mm ringer to give me more leverage. Again it came out easily after a few turns with the spanner. Once again, I had to crawl out because I hadn't put the replacement motor to hand - typical numpty. The old one drops out easily enough past the drive-shaft with a little wiggling and the new one passes back up easily because you saw the way the old out came out. Put the replacement into place and hold it up with your left hand as you use your right hand to pop the bottom bolt (the shorter of the two) back into place and give it a couple of turns until you feel the thread engage. Then pop the higher one back in too and tighten it up, tighten the bottom one up next. Once you are happy you have them nice and tight, pop the little wire with the spade terminal back onto the solenoid then replace the two heavy wires and tighten them up. Toss all your tools out from underneath, I don't have any plastic covers under mine so that was me done under there. Next, grip the nut in your left hand and wiggle your fingers back into place behind the FPR and carefully fit the nut to the stud, tighten as best you can by hand, even use the screwdriver to get that little bit extra on it then it's time to wiggle the socket, knuckle, extension & ratchet back in to give it a wee bit extra torque. Re-connect your battery and fire her up. I re-connected my battery at exactly 1237hrs.
This is the knuckle thing I'm referring to for anyone who doesn't know what I mean...........
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