AE86 build update! (And a little how to on access to the starter)

Got the damn starter out! I had to do something which I didn’t really want to do and disconnect the exhaust at the catalytic converter to be able to move it out of the way.

Normally you’d remove the exhaust manifold but since I have all the stock metal heatshields and stuff, it was difficult to do so with the tools I have. So I decided “f*ck it” and disconnected the downpipe at the cat.

From there, it was pretty straight forward, take off the O2 sensor, unbolt the manifold from the engine, and pull it off and fiddle around with it until you can pull off the starter. I had my little brother hold the exhaust in place so I can get my starter out.

To remove the starter, you have to remove a plug and unbolt a nut to remove the key switch connection and power supply, respectively.

After this I plugged the holes of the exhaust outlets with some paper towels so I don’t get stuff like spiders forming webs in there just in case (although you’d have to be a pretty dumb spider to build a web in the middle of all the soot and dust)

This is also a good time to do a little maintenance like replacing the exhaust gasket and changing the oil. The exhaust gasket part is a bit self explanatory but with the exhaust out of the way, you can also get easier access to the oil filter so that’s kinda nice.

After this, I dashed off to my local auto parts store (O’Reilly’s) to get the starter tested. turns out the drive gear that is responsible for turning the flywheel to start the car was slipping, which explains why the car started sometimes and not some other times, so that’s a relief. Because if the starter is in good working order it means I have to go around replacing/fixing connections or I have a big electrical problem. Now to order a starter!