Go90go

Uh... PM sent.

~Cheers~

fillup05

I just changed my starter again. last one lasted 3yrs. Mechanic gave me a cheapo rebuilt 1. This time I got a rebuilt from nippon densel which I hear is the best. Easyest way to change is from the left front. You are going to have to take off the front axle to get at it. Truthfully not an easy job, took us almost 3hrs and I had pro help.

PSC

To update my starter situation:

Every time I drive for more than say 5 minutes, I can't do a quick restart.
So if I want to go somewhere I have to stay at least a couple hours for it to cool down, or else I leave somebody in the car with the car running.

I read about a condition called "heat soak," where a starter can be troublesome after the car heats up.
Is this because the starter is faulty or because my engine temp is too high?
My temp gauge is always normal.

The way it looks to me is that if I take my starter off and get it tested, it will work fine, just because it will be cool enough to function.

Should I wrap some sort of heat shield around my starter?

I am taking it in to get tested but if it tests out ok, how can I deal with this problem?

fillup05

Only thing I can say is change your starter. Buy a good rebuilt one since they are all rebuilt. Only thing I can think of to help you is you can hit your starter with something and that works but like I said starter is in a difficult place even to hit.
Just change it, I know its not that cheap but its better then being stuck somewhere and yours sound like it is about to go.

TexasHonda

You're really better off to start a new thread rather than append to a long and convoluted thread about starters in general.

That said, If I understood your posts, you've replaced the starter on your 2.5TL and it fails to start. By fails to start, do you mean turns over good but not strart, turns slowly, dead silence when you turn the key, or "clicks" when you turn the key?

I would suggest purchasing the inexpensive voltage monitor from Walmart (~$15) and monitor your voltage. Charging voltage should be 13-14 volts most of the time. If < 12V, something's wrong w/ alternator, drive belt, drive pulley.

good luck

bpjadhav

I just moved to Boston and my starter died out. Same symptoms - when I tried cranking the car - "Click" and a very faint buzz. Sometimes it would start at the 5th or 6th attempt, sometimes it would take more.

There a couple of dealerships around. I called them for a price check and got the following results:

1. Acura of Peabody - was transferred 4 times between the Parts and Service department. Finally, the receptionist took my name and number and promised me that a service advisor would call me back. Never heard from them.

2. Acura of Boston - "Ummm... we aren't sure, but the labor is about $500-$600 and the part is about $400. So, you are probably looking at $1,000."

Finally took it to a independent Honda/Acura shop and they quoted $700.00. I had to agree, since I'm stranded without a car. I wish I knew someone around here that would "fix" the distributor for me!

KSRunner

'97 2.5TL; dealer wants $1,000 to replace the starter; OUCH! Do I have the car that's easy to get to, or the one where the axle, et al has to be removed?

TexasHonda

I have the 97 2.5TL. Starter is not terribly difficult, but not easy either. Check my posts for one on starter replacement. The only easy bolt to access was so tight I couldn't turn w/ 3/8" ratchet. I had to remove alternator to access under the manifold w/ long extensions and 1/2" breaker bar. The difficult to access bolt is smaller and can be turned w/ a 3/8" ratchet accessed between the runners of intake manifold. Rest is just aggravating handling issues. Wear long sleeve shirt to save your arms.

good luck

kcc1kjh

I just changed my starter today on my 98 2.5 because i was having starting issues, and when i changed the starter im having the same issues..I checked everything but I think i might figure out the promblem and i think it might be a bad ignition key switch. to get it to start i have to go back and forth between 2 and 3 to get it to start. Usually on the 5 to 8th attemp i get it to start. Do any of you guys had this issue?

kcc1kjh

ohh me and my buddy removed the starter with out taking out any parts..just need the right tools and find easy ways..tool that comes in handy is a 3-4 mechnic magnet tool to hold that screew that sits between cylender 4-5 and have the other person tightin it down that bolt..but it took us atleast 1 1/5 hours atleast to get it off

Alexander124c41+

@PSC

Could be that the coolant temperature sensor is busted and locked in the "cold" position... if the coolant temperature sensor is locked into cold, after quick restart it floods additional fuel that isn't necessary to make the motor start, choking the motor.... the sensor again, tends to fail in the "cold" position... replace with thermostat and new Honda Type-2 coolant and see if that fixes the problem....

mjhooge

So, I will attempt to change my starter on my 96 3.2Tl. I read all the posts. But does anyone have steps, or the easiest way to changing it? Driver side, front side, or possibly under the car?

TexasHonda

I got to replace my 97 2.5TL starter again due to a poor rebuilt unit from O'Riellys. It would drag heavy and require stopping re-engaging, but would start.

I went through the same basic procedure as I posted first time, but was able to remove the large 17mm socket size bolt directly w/o removing the alternator.

That 14mm bolt on the inside is cruelly positioned. It can be removed w/ difficulty, but re-installation is a nightmare. I used a small oring to hold the bolt in the starter, which worked well. However, the oring made turning the bolt more difficult and increased bolt alignment/enagement issues (difficult to tell when enaged). I thought I had cross-threaded but oring was slightly binding.

O'Riellys tried to offer a replacement starter that was different, claiming it was the "direct drive replacement". I suspect they were trying to sell the same starter used by the more common 3.2TL. The OEM starter has a gear-reduction. I took a look and it was not even close to being feasible to re-install this replacement. To Orielly's credit, they gave me a full refund on my original defective starter, so I went to Autozone and they came up w/ correct starter. So far it seems to be working fine.

If I ever have to do this job again (I'm hoping not!), I will try removing the intake manifold. After looking, it doesn't look to be too difficult, but proof is always in the doing.

regards

Mr_Outside

About a month ago my starter was doing the same thing, but since EVENTUALLY it started I didn't get it looked at right away.

One day when my girlfriend and I were taking her car to the shop for something my car made some very unusual sound when I started it. I didnt think much of it and when we got to the shop I turned my car off and her a kind of "crashy" noise. I walked across the street to the shop and coming back to my car I could hear a noise coming from it also, there was smoking coming from under the hood. Apparently my battery cable melted. I got a new cable, and a new starter. Altogether it was about $300. After that the starter worked fine until it started with those symptoms AGAIN. I took it back to the shop and they took it to a starter shop where they said they "supercharged" the cylinder in it. Now, it works fine.

Haha, sorry for the dreadfully long post.

Baker831

HOLY SHIT! 250 for labor?

I just finished installing a new starter in my car today. Shit was super difficult compared to other Honda and Acura vehicles. The Damn! starter was in between the engine, cant reach it from underneath or top. I had to completely take off my fuel injectors, and whole top of the engine. I also had to replace the maifolds while I was at it.

I can see why that job is so expensive, a lot of tidious things you must get out of the way before you reach the starter. Overall price was


$140 for a brand spankin new starter after I returned the old one.
$35 for the intake manifold and the other one(dont know specific name)

nelocks

Greetings. I am new to this fourm. I have found all the info very helpful, thank you all. Now my question. The contacts for some starters all avalible through comercial auto part stores. I have a 98 TL 2.5. Does anybody know what other cars use the same starter, i.e. Honda, Toyota and so on?

TexasHonda

The solenoid on the 2.5TL is a sealed unit, preventing contact replacement for a "clicking" solenoid. It may be possible to buy or find a a replacement solenoid. However, access as described in previous posts is horrible.

good luck

nelocks

My stater is gone. Going to take her to my local shop on Friday. Total cost for parts and labor $300.00.

meazz1

That's very resonable.

A rebuilt starter at O'Rielly's with life time warranty runs around $130.00 + tax here in GA.

clint999

They had to rearrange everything just to get at my starter.

gokartmozart

I am having my starter replaced tomorrow morning - $600. They are jacking me on the parts. Cheapest place I can find & it is also a place I have been to before and trust.

acura1998

Same clicking problem, it lasts since August 2008 and still going on. I am going to replace the starter soon (it has been almost a year since I have the problem). Does anybody knows a good mechanic in Vancouver BC area?

gen3types

Damm , seems like every has a starter prob on this model. i get no click or anything when i try. starter is shot....

deej0121

Based on info I got from this discussion forum (starter tough to get to), I have never tried to replace my starter myself. I just had my 3rd starter replaced on my 1998 3.2 TL. It has 293k miles on it. Last time I had to have the starter replaced was at about 210k miles. Symptom was that it wasn't engaging & disengaging from the flywheel properly, so it made a metallic "sound".

Blu916

Hello everyone, sorry for asking a question in my first post, but i've blown out google searching for this and came across this forum, thought i'd give you guys a shot. A good friend of mine has a 97 Acura TL 3.2 with about 150k on it. Just the other day the motor started puking oil, i'm the only guy she knows that can turn a wrench and she brought it over to the house, i took a look and it looks like a pretty bad front main seal failure (front crank seal) I know little to nothing about these cars, i'm a domestic V8 owner... and have never had to replace a front crank seal before, anyone have an idea of what is involved in getting the front end apart and getting to it? Any tips or tricks will be highly appreciated and i thank you all in advance for any advice provided as i know Rear Mains are a pretty penny generally from a shop, i'd assume the same for a Front as well and she cant afford it. Again any help will be really appreciated and thanks in advance!

andrew070489

^ post this in the 1st gen problems and fixes..

Blu916

Ok Thanks

acura1998

Still have the problem (more than year and a half) , I live with it. I will replace the starter when it is dead completely.

281TL

i just replaced my starter on my 96 tl 2.5 honestly it was a headache to change.honestly i didnt have to remove the alt,intake manifold or anything.

i just moved what ever was in the way of the 2 bolts holding it to the transmission. which were basically coolant or vaccum hoses.and removed a bracket that was has holding , i believe the starter in place. not sure since it was already loose.

bought a starter from autozone for 127 lifetime warranty. bolted the positive cable then the ignition cable back on and done. if i had to do it again. it would probably on take about 2hrs. and i did it by myself.

i believe its easier on the 2.5 then the 3.5. goodluck out there guys..

tempetom

Several things: It would be nice when you post about the starters if you'd say 2.5 or 3.2. There's a very big difference. I decided to do my wife's 3.2 almost 2 weks back and had a jack/jackstand accident. I'm stubborn and decided to treat it myself. It's slow to heal and should have had it stitched, but that's under the bridge. I supported it in many places and took off the wheel and the fork in the suspension completely, and drained the differential. I didn't have the proper ball joint removal tool and didn't want to use the pickle fork and got a proper tool at Napa for about $26. Got the bj separated and called it quits while the finger tried to heal. Today's 11 days in and the finger's better, but not good. My son came over and we removed the fender, inner deal and the black plastic deal on the side that I'd damaged when the jack squirted out on me and my finger got in between the stand and the black plastic deal. I guess I'll learn about fender replacement or repair soon. We started pulling the driveshaft out of the differential .That was going well until we hit a snag. I finally noticed that the bj had popped back into the wheel part. After we separated it again it came right out of the differential. You have to pull it out about an inch to get it clear. Next comes either removing the exhaust piece that no one tells you what it looks like or as some brave, ambidextrous soul did, removing the starter. We fooled with it but my son has big hands and I'm still impaired and I see no way to get the top mounting screw out of the starter. Tomorrow, we are gonna take out the exhaust piece. It doesn't appear to be that big a deal. I wish the manual would show what the piece looks like, but it's not small, but looks easy to remove (maybe 9 or 12 screws or nuts?). I haven't been on this site long enough to know how to post pictures, but I plan to take pictures of all the parts we removed (except for the fender lol)

Go90go

There was no need to remove the exhaust when I did mine... Oh, and it was still the 3.2 motor when I replaced it in the car. The 3.5 had it swapped outside of the car for obvious reasons.

~Cheers~

tempetom

I'll have to think about the exhaust removal. I have a socket and short extension on the screw now and a line-of-sight to the end of it. I may try putting a uni and long extension on it to see if it'll work. It may just be easier to remove the pipe, but we'll see. I'll report back if we get on it today.

tempetom

We got back into the starter replacement yesterday and couldn't get on the rearward bolt very well. We decided to simply remove the exhaust pipe. Did I say simple? One of its nuts was behine a heat shield which was a bitch to get off by itself. We looked and tried to get the last nut off the flange and noticed the remaining starter bolt was pretty well exposed. We got it off pretty easily (but nothing's easy on the job). We pried it out of the engine and disconnected the solenoid and power connections and got the damned thing out and called it a day. It actually got too hot to work since the sun was hitting us in the afternoon. Tomorrow we'll try to get it back in and get the damned heat shield back on.

tempetom

We tried to put the new starter in today. The bullshit manual I have said to simply install the starter and hook up the solenoid and power wires to it. There's no way anyone can do that. We next loosened it and put the electrical connections on it and hooked up the end brackets, Now it wouldn't set properly into the engine. We hooked up the battery and tried to jazz the starter, but no dice. At least the solenoid clicked loudly which was a relief. This ain't a job for guys in their 70s, but we'll try again tomorrow.

tempetom

Yesterday, we removed the starter and started over. I guess somehow the previous day we had got something interfering with the starter when it went in. My 79 year old friend put it in and I had mentioned that maybe he shouldn't tighten the main power cable to it til it was ready to go up. After we got it up, I asked if he had tightened the power connection and he said he was pretty sure he had. We tried to start it and it would only spin the pinion on the starter. Today, I took the starter bolts off and noticed the connection was goose loose. We tightened and cautiously thought we might be out-of-the-woods. Not so, it still did the same thing. We took it all way back out and took it to Auto Zone and it worked as it should have. I brought it back home and did the same test and it did what it was supposed to. We're thinking that the end of the pinion may be pushing against the flywheel too much? I've not seen any reference to using shims to eliminate that binding, but next time we try it, we're gonna try using some. Anyone ever have this problem? At least I've verified my original starting problem of no click then easy start. I wish the main power connection was accessible with the started bolted up, but I can't do it that was even though the manual says to. The solenoid connection can be done by removing the connector on the back of the starter from the end, but it still may be hard to do it after the 2 bolts are in.
I guess this isn't a job for old farts, but what the hell, we have nothing but time (within reason)?

Go90go

I got the main cable off with not much issue (just heat, cramping, and road grime falling into my eyes) with the starter on the car. I had the problem twice: once when the nut came loose, and once when the ring terminal itself broke in half. I have a 4 gauge JL cable there now, haha.

There is a shim that looks like the letter P that you are supposed to have on the lower right bolt, if you're looking towards the front of the car.

~Cheers~

tempetom

Thanks for the info on the shim. When we tightened the rear bolt, there was always a pretty large gap under the lower front starter flange. We always just tightened it but that probably cocked the starter just enough to bind the pinion when it tried to slide into the flywheel. I made some special shims, but then found all kinds of shims I used to use on older GM vehicles. They'll work great and all I'd need to do is cut em shorter and bend a tab on em. I hope someday all this crap helps somebody else do theirs. I also pray that the goddam starter will engage now. No work today since it raining and pretty nasty out even though I'm doing it in the garage. Putting the car back together will be a pleasure if I ever get to do it.

tempetom

On my previous post that I wasn't able to edit, I meant the bolt at the bottom from the front. If I get a chance, I might go to a high quality hardware company and try to get the same size and length bolts with hex socket (Allen) heads. That would really help me on the back one where my wrench keeps coming off. I guess it's been on and off too many times. I'll get hardened bolts obviously if I do that.

Go90go

You should invest in a set of ratcheting wrenches. Saved me a bunch of times where cramped spaces didn't allow for a ratchet to fit too well.

~Cheers~

tempetom

I got 3 sets of Craftsman metric ratcheting wrenches a year or so back when K-mart closed out them at a store here. I got em for about $15 (list $100). No way I could get enough torque with them where the rear bolt is located.
I don't want to start a wrenching contest, but all of us have our own limitations I guess.