Need to know a feasible plan

[cowgirl]

Hey, Ok so you guys on here probably remember my post a while back about my car not starting. Well, the starter finally went out (not the starter motor but the solenoid) and as I was trying to get it off the car found that the person that owned it before me had lock-tighted the bolts. Got the top one off, but rounded the head of the bottom one...... What can I do? is there any way to just bypass the solenoid and run some kind of switch that will kick the starter motor and start the car? Please help. any advice is great. Keep in mind dont have alot of funds, thats why I didnt just take it to a shop and have them remove the bolt.

 

[mirrorimg]

Which one did you round off? The one on the underside of the starter? Its a pain in the ass to get to that one, plus that one is one of the transmission-block bolts. If it were a lug nut or something accessible, I would say hammer a smaller socket onto it, but this may be out of a DIYer's league. Another nut may needed to be welded onto the end to unscrew it out.

 

[Kuchtaboy]

I was under the impression it's just a bolt holding the solenoid onto the starter and not part of the starter hardware... if that's the case, then I say take the whole starter off and replace it as a unit. They aren't THAT expensive as to where it'd be worth it to keep fighting with something that's not going to happen....

If I'm wrong, and it is the bottom bolt on the starter to the trans, then you might be kinda screwed.

I do like mirrorimg's idea of pounding a smaller socket over it, but if there's any way for you to get a straight on shot of the bolt, maybe try drilling it out too.

 

[cowgirl]

Unfortunatley it is the bolt on the bottom of the starter. The head of it is rounded pretty good, supposed to be a 14mm and the socket just slips. Is there any way to leave the starter there, and run a in line solenoid, or something on those lines? Just a prime example why NOT to use lock-tight on a replacement part. (I was'nt the one who lock-tighted the bolts, it was previous owner). I dont think I can get in there to tap a smaller socket on, its pretty tight in there, and I have also tried going to the underside of the car to losen this bolt, and every where is very tight. Now when I did the starter on my Honda it was the same set up but it only took maybe at most 2hrs, and this one has been all day.

 

[red98teg]

did you try vice grips? and i would def try putting on a smaller socket. that ought to do the trick if you can do it.

 

[cowgirl]

Hmmmm, well ill try anything, and no I didnt use vicegrips but I will have to give it a try. any ideas are very welcome.

 

[red98teg]

is there enough room to get a drill in?

 

[mirrorimg]

There isnt enough room for vice grips unless you have the motor and trans on the ground. There really isnt much room to work with. I had a hard time getting it out with just a socket and extension. Hell, it was the one bolt that was holding my motor together when I went to pull it out, I didnt even see it in there.

 

[cowgirl]

well im going to pick up a set of Irwin bolt extractors tomarrow and hope for the best.... It looks very bleak right now, but my dad swears by these sockets and says that it might do the job. And very right I have very little room to do this in, IDK how many times I dropped the socket today.... LOL. Well wasnt funny then but now it is.

 

[cowgirl]

one more question. Will a starter of a 95 1.8 B18B work properly on my 90 1.8 B18B? Found a almost new on for $30$.

 

[mirrorimg]

Do you mean a '90 B18A1? They should be compatible. I dont think there is any change in the flywheel across the LS b series.

 

[cowgirl]

No, i meant b18b, the engine was swapped. so what would be the determaning factor besides the obvious of wheter or not it will line up bolt pattern and flywheel wise. and what submodels will not work, the 90 is a gs. and i dont mean to sound stupid but as far as the engine goes I dont know the year, the previous owner couldnt even tell me.

 

[Kuchtaboy]

I'm pretty sure any B series starter will work... There shouldn't be any chance between the entire line of engines.

 

[mirrorimg]

There is a stamp on the head that shows which year it is. Its most likely a OBDI motor, so anything from 94-97. The starter from a newer model should work fine (I dont know if there are wiring differences between OBDI and OBDII starters though). Was the transmission swapped along with the motor? (though it probably doesnt matter anyways)

Look at it like this. You currently have a newer engine in the bay, so why wouldnt a starter from the same model year engine not work if the original starter on the transmission did? I dont think the bolt patterns are different, Theres one on top, which is a longer skinny one, and the one that is a pain to get to on the bottom.

In short, all b series starters should be the same, across all trims. (Excluding B20's, I dont know about them)

Edit: I guess im a little long winded tonight.

 

[cowgirl]

thanks guys, I have been compairing on autozone.com, and they are different apperence wise but the bolt pattern is the same, and wireing is similar, the only difference i seen was that the gear was set back on the 90 and stuckout more on the 95. do you think this will be a prob.