Starter Hell!

I spent all afternoon, after sawzalling the exhaust brace off (!) , using my 1/2" air gun on both starter bolts! I likely spent an hour on each bolt ...They are still on tight Damn!

kgw

 

Well, the bolts are soaking in PB overnight...Heard mention that the aluminum block and the steel bolts fuse good sometimes! I know about aluminum and steel from my sailing days, but I actually didn't know the Taco v6 block was aluminum, thought it was just the heads...

 

Bolts are in the Aluminum Bell housing

Even here in the great Brine belt my bolts broke loose easy

 

So its the bell housing, ha! I'm in SoCal, but the truck's PO used to tow it behind an RV, so who knows where it's been...It does have a very clean chassis, so who knows why they are stuck. If they come out, I'm putting teff-gel on the threads: prevents this from happening between steel and aluminum. Just about to do battle

 

Absolutely nothin'! I'm reduced to making sure I have the right bolts!! Yes, I do...

 

btw, don't the bolts just pass thru the bell housing on their way to the starter?

 

So. Shall I bust out the 3/4" air gun? It's a lot bigger and will likely be harder to position, but! maybe it will be able to pop these suckers out!

 

Good god man. One hour with an impact. I'm surprised the head is still on it. If you go 3/4" you may indeed rip it off. Keep after it with penetrant and persistence. Maybe some heat cycles too. That suuuuucks!

 

All I ever used is my 3/8 ratchet .

You are going the correct way sometimes being upside down it does get confusing .

Just what engine and transmission ?

 

Yes, snapping the heads off the bolts is not the way to go! More torch (MAPP torch) today, and more PB will be the cheaper way! Yes, I'm going the right way , although sometimes while using the 1/2" gun, I will accidentally do a quick reverse... 5vz engine, and the 340F auto. Ah well, after a leisurely cup of coffee, it's back at it!
Thanks for the help, btw!

 

It might be the Automatic transmission Never seen one close up and in person I have no idea

Best of luck by now I would have cut the heads off and yanked the starter out.

 

This afternoon, I put the torch on the bottom bolt, and it spun right out with the air gun: cool! The top bolt, not so much !! I found no way to get the sawzall near it, perhaps if I removed the sway bar... Or get a longer cold chisel. I'm getting beat up on this one: its "Pilates for Shade Tree Mechanics."

 

Still whittlin' on the top bolt! Took off the sway bar so I could get a bit closer to the bolt. Been sawzalling, and chiseling for a while today: just about to hit it again after a respite for lunch...
Back at it! Got the bolt head diminished mightily, so I used the Dremel with a cutoff wheel to get the remnants of the flange Now I can actually wiggle the starter motor.

Going to see if I can get the starter pulled away from the bell housing a bit, because with the bolt still attached to the starter, I'm not sure I can pull it all the way out! May have to sawzall the bolt a bit. Hey, I'm making headway!


The diagonal from the lower left corner is the sawzall blade, with the last 1 1/2" on the bolt head Space.The.Final.Frontier.

 

Did that truck come from the Rust Belt or spend days parked in the surf??

I never had a starter bolt that hard to break loose.

 

Hehe...It looks, on top and underneath, like you would expect a southwestern urban truck to look.

 

At 12:40pm, a day that will live in infamy:

I got the damn bolt out!

 

Replaced the contacts and plunger, and will go get mounting bolts in the morning. I am not inclined to get the case-hardened bolts that I "took out." Just grade 8...any objections?

 

BTW, the threads in the starter did not seem to be the issue, but the bolt heads against the aluminum bell housing on the other hand...Plus the troublesome upper bolt has the exhaust tubes a mere 1/2" away.

 

Happy to report that the Taco is up and starting! Replaced the contacts and plunger...