Starter Refresh

The starter was one more thing I had no idea of its history. It’s been on the preventive maintenance to-do list for a while but with a lengthy road trip to see Henry approaching, it started to seem more important.

I’d bought a Victory Solenoid Repair Kit last June based on some reading I’d done at T4R.org. I remember thinking at $20 it seemed like a good deal. I didn’t open until April 28 of 2023. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered the box was full of used parts. Now that I’ve done the job, it looks to me like someone just put their old parts in the box and returned it to Amazon.

So I did what I should’ve done from the start and ordered the contacts, plunger, and associated parts from PartSouq. And while I was at it, I added some rubber sway bar bushings since the poly bushings I installed 2 years ago continue to squeak. Can’t beat $6/each and it didn’t increase the shipping charge.

I was prepared for a struggle removing the starter through the passenger wheel well. I wasn’t prepared enough.

Eventually, after removing the upper control arm nut, washer, and bolt, and manhandling the brake lines even more, I was able to extricate the fucker and get to dismantling it.

I’m fairly certain the new parts went it correctly since it’s starting like a champ.

Getting the starter mounting bolts back in was a challenge, indeed. The bottom took about 26 inches of wobbler socket extensions and a universal. The top took about 38 inches of extensions. This is the only picture I got of that awful setup. Fortunately they only require 29 lbs-ft which I think I was able to obtain.