Starter Mount

[Lextreme II]

As you guys might noticed already or will notice. The Lexus V8 starter is located between the two heads under the lower intake. This design save space but a nightmare for mechanic or at least DIY guys like us. Not too long ago I had the honor to change one and it was a handful and took about 5 hours for the job. Not only its time consuming but also require special tool to remove the starter.

Now I have an oppertunity to install a new engine in the near future and decided to alter the mounting position to reduce future nightmare if I have to change the starter. What I did was to get two 1/2"-1" longer then stock 10 mm along with the matching nuts. Instead of screwing the bolts from the rear of the engine. I got two fully threaded 10 mm going from the front to rear. If I have to remove the starter again, I don't have to unscrew the bolts from the rear. The two nuts behind the engine will be welded to the block so it won't move when tightened. Its pretty simple mod but surely solve lots of time in the future if removing the starter is require.

I double check using a socket removing the 10 mm from the front is not a problem at all. Here are some pictures:

 

[Smitherz]

Not a bad idea at all. I'm just going to cross my fingers and pray mine never goes out. I like to live life dangerously =] I've never had any starter problems on my 1996 3rz engine and it's been beat for many years through the dirt.

 

[gloverman]

It must be the EGR pipes that make it hard as we do them in about two and a half hours for the whole job when fitted in a car but if we are doing a conversion we rebuild the starter, alternator and powersteer pumps before fitting the motor. None of ours have had EGR systems(*** import motors) Cheers

 

[Smitherz]

I finally got around to mounting the starter just the other day on my engine. I made sure to add the new hardware just like Mr. Lex showed above. It looks pretty nice and gives the option of removing the nuts from the back or the bolts from the front in order to remove the starter. Great idea.

Stock starter bolt on the left. New nut and bolt on the right.


It's ready for the manifolds now

 

[Lextreme II]

Smith,

You should weld the nuts....oops... you have aluminum block.... Nice pictures.....

 

[Smitherz]

JB weld! Hehe. A wrench can easily hold them. It will be years before the brand new starter wears out.

 

[cebby]

You could weld the nuts to a C-shaped plate that clears the starter hump so it's easy to position...

 

[cribbj]

I'm curious about this mod since I've only worked on my 1UZ while it's on an engine stand, not in a car (yet).

If these starter bolts are such a pain to get to and remove, for those of us with aluminum blocks, wouldn't another alternative be simply drilling out the M10x1.25 threads in the starter itself, then installing longer M10 bolts from the rear, and nutting the starter in place from the front?

Would cap screws (Allen head) help the access problem from the top, or would it be better to stay with a standard hex head?

 

[Smitherz]

Damn you're making me think before I finish my first cup of coffee this morning. :scratchchin: Well have you played with the wiring harness that attaches to the starter ground, solenoid and knock sensors yet? If you have long bolts coming in from the back I'm pretty sure that you would have to pull the starter forward a couple inches to get away from the bolts still. The wires for all that stuff are VERY difficult to remove from the starter since they are mostly underneath the unit. I wouldn't want to pull or try and bend them from their natural state since they are brittle from old age typically.

Yeah thinking about this I would NOT want to have to pull the starter forward at all because you will be swearing at yourself at that point. It will be a hassle. You will waste a lot of time monkeying around with trying to get the wire fasteners off the starter since you won't be able to pull the bolts out from the back in order to lift the starter up to remove them. I wouldn't use allen bolts since they are difficult to remove from the side. You have to be able to insert the wrench in them and they will be in a very confined space... and cost more unless you already have them. If you insert the allen bolts from the rear you will really be screwed if you don't have enough space to insert the wrench, heh, get the vice grips out!

The way I did it is super quick and easy plus you won't have one problem removing it if you have to. That's all I know... I need more coffee... I'm working every waking minute to finish up a huge project so I can put my 1UZ in that's been patiently waiting for me for weeks!!!! I try not to open the garage and get a glimpse of the engine =\

 

[cribbj]

Bringing this thread back because I'm swapping my manifold around a bit, and it's a good opportunity to do this mod.

Problem is that I need some decent quality 50mm long M10x1.25 bolts that are fully threaded, and they don't exist @ McMaster Carr. I can find them in class 8.8, but if I understand the metric grading, these are roughly equivalent to Grade 5 stuff that you find at the local Home Depot.

Bumping up to Class 12.9, I can only find these in socket head, and partially threaded.

I'm tempted to drill out the threads in the starter flange, then just use some high quality M10x1.5 hardware and be done with it.

Anyone know where to find some good M10x1.25x50mm bolts that are fully threaded?

 

[Lextreme II]

http://www.yoyodyneti.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=2791

http://www.attiwillsonline.com.au/F...EW+%26+NUT+HIGH+TENS+M10X1.25X50MM.phtml/add=

http://www.x-tremepowersports.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=40673

 

[cribbj]

Thanks David, I'd found the Yoyo website before, but even I'm not crazy enough to pay nearly $40 for 2 Titanium bolts!

The 2nd website is in Oz, and the the third one shows only a partially threaded bolt in the 50mm size <sigh>.

The only fastener house I've found that consistently excels in fine thread fasteners is Stig's Stainless in the UK: http://www.a2stainless.co.uk/ They're not cheap, but at least they have the stuff. My first 1UZ has a ton of their SS fasteners on it.

 

[Zuffen]

8.8 is plenty enought for the starter.

I've drilled out the thread in one of my starter mounts due to a past incantation where the starter was under the engine.

If I had my starter out again I'd drill out the 2nd hole and use bolts facing forward and use nuts on them. To do that I would need to remove the gearbox, flywheel and adaptor as it all gets in the way.

In fact I would weld the bolts to a small piece of steel to stop them rotating and keep them in position. Then changing the starter would be a piece of P.