I'm having starter problems and I couldnt get it to start, even by tapping on it while my girl was turning the key. Now I have to get it towed to my house for me to replace the starter myself or to a local mechanic to do it. Since I'm lowered with 18's and full bodykit, should I get a tow truck to drag it or on a flat bed to my house, or to the mechanic? I'm somewhat mechanically inclined, I did my springs/struts, full exhaust bolt-ons, etc. though I did have a little trouble with the underdrive pulley. Someone please reply asap, need to know by tomorrow morning. Thanks.

 

I wouldn't trust them to drag it, but that's just me.
I'd go for the flat bed.
All my opinions.
Do what makes you feel comfortable!

 

Yea, I don't trust them to drag either, unless they just lift the front off the ground by a little to where my exhuast tip and my rear bodykit pieces don't scrape the ground. My first thought was a flat bed, but I would just like to hear from others. Thanks for the reply.

 

dont let them tow it... it will tear up your car!!!

 

replacing the starter is easy as cake. if you can do springs/struts then you can do that for sure. when i replaced mine all i had to do was take 2 bolts out. here are directions. my mechanic wanted to charge me like $150 for labor and all that was saved for not even 30 minutes of work. http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/starter.html


Trevor



p.s. your white neons look hot!

 

Hmm, should I go and buy a starter tomorrow (Sunday) from somewhere and just try to install without having to get it towed then? I have the same feeling that they might damage my car no matter what kind of tow truck.

 

Wow, I didn't know it was that simple, that's really nothing then. Thanks for the link. Do you happen to know what size sockets I would need, if not, thats okay, I'll be bringing my whole set anyway when I try to replace it. I guess its off to getting a new one. I know there are shops closed and some that are open on Sundays, where could I possilby get a new starter and relatively cheap? Thanks for the compliment on the neons.

 

hmmm its a pretty easy job save the trouble and do it at home springs and trut install aint so bad you can do it

towing the car always presents problems and it costs a grip... if they damage the car during towing I think your insurance company will make them pay but that''d be an extra hassle

 

I would never tow it other than a flatbed. Ive seen a car that was litterally dragged by a tow truck. The bumper was about to come apart and ever once in a while, there would be sparks from the muffler or something under there grinding on the road

 

Hey Ben, I can get you a starter from NAPA with my discount. I just got one for Bruce. PM me and I'll get you the Information.

 

Oh man, I just pm'ed you.

 

Ben,

You'll need a 10mm wrench for the intake, a 12mm one to get the power lead off the solenoid, a 14mm one for one bolt on the starter, and either a 17 or 19mm one for the other bolt. In 1/2 and hour you'll be done.

 

Hey thanks. I'm planning on getting a starter today, is there one I should stay away from or look for? Or are they all the same?

 

it's a hit or miss with rebuilds...get one w/ a good warranty.

 

All the auto parts stores are pretty much the same. The big thing I would look for is a lifetime warranty. I've known people who have had to take advantage of this. This starter design in general is pretty bad and didn't work out as good as they intended.

 

Thanks. Okay, I just got back from a local Autozone store and they're asking for $139.99 for a Duralast-Import Starter w/ $45.00 core charge and a lifetime warranty. Sounds pretty cheap compared to the Beck/Arnley Starter from NAPA for $243.97 w/ $90.00 core charge. I'm not sure of the warranty for that one but I thought that for paying much more it might be a better one, but I'm guessing with the lifetime warranty on the other one, I should be okay? I also checked up on my car and it seems like everything is okay, just need to get a 17mm deep socket for the starter removal. Looks kind of tight spaced and easier said than done.

 

Sve your money and go with the Autozone one. Worst case is it dies and you spend another 1/2 hour replacing it.

 

My experience with starters and alternators is that it's totally hit or miss with them. It's very unlikely though that it will last as long as the original. Your remanuf. is basically as good as the store selling it to you, because there are so many places that do the remanuf so be it NAPA, Nissan, or Pep Boys they could have come from the same distributor with different packaging. It's not a surprise for one to completely break a month later--ie warranty is important. But the cheapest one from a name-brand store would be the way to go.

 

Draging the car would be your safest bet. A flat bed has to steep of an incline for a lowered max with a kit. I remember my I30 scraping on the way down, it was lowered 2 inches but had no bodykit.



The starter is a extremly easy part to replace. Just remove your MAFS and intake, then there are just a few bolts on the starter that need to be removed.

 

I wanna thank all of you guys for the support. I went ahead and bought the cheap one from Autozone that came with a lifetime warranty. I thought it was $139.99, but it was actually that plus the $45, (sorry, I'm slow) and then the $45 was returned when I gave them my old one. The hardest part about the whole removal was the 17mm bolt farthest from the front of the car, I first used a torque wrench and I was able to hear a popping sound figuring it slightly turned, but I didn't have any more room to remove the wrench and put it back on to try again. So, I went ahead and went back to the store and got a breaker bar with a swivel joint and I was able to get it even looser and remove it by hand. After that, everything was a piece of cake, though I can't say it was a half hour of work, more like an hour due to getting the breaker bar and also having to remove the front strut tower bar to get room to torque the bolts. I've been on the org for the past 12 hours with only 4 hours of sleep and now I have to go to work 3 hours late, but if it wasn't for you guys, my car would probably be dragging to my mechanic right now. Thanks fellas.

-Ben

 

glad it all went well.


Trevor

 

I'm glad everything worked out.

 

Glad it went well ben!

On a side note - what's the consensus for towing the car? My car is lowered and i'm getting a fiberglass front bumper put on next week. I'm sure at some point the car will need to be towed. Everytime I've gotten it flatbedded (maybe twice) the incline was very steep like emax said and the stillen front lip took a beating. Of course it popped right back out and I didn't care because the paint is ****ed up on it but a fiberglass bumper would shatter with the same treatment. Is dragging the way to go?

 

A lot of my friends use to tow cars around for AAA.

I had to ahve them tow my car a few times. I personally am not a big fan of Wreckers.

I would request for a Flatbed and let them know that you have a lowered car and ramps will be needed. They will usually bring a set of wooden ramps so the incline isn't as steep.