2020 is starting off with a bang. The bang is the wrist and knuckles hitting cold metal. My ’98 XK8 has a failing starter and it was getting worse. With the New Year’s break and a nod from a very patient wife, it was time to change it. I did the research on the forum and the shop manual. Had the crazy length of extensions set to go within a few mm of what they say, all ready to go. Bottom bold, lose, not removed, power cable off, ground, well sort of stuck, penetrating oil working away right now.

Top bolt, still sitting in the original position. I tried threading the extension through, angular cast braces in the way, mount in the way. After 6 hours of working from both sides, working from one side, trying open ends, box, ratchets, extensions with UJ and without UJ, trying everything I know to get to this upper bolt. No luck. I pray that this is not an indication of 2020.

Anyone have suggestions on how to get the upper bolt out?

Thanks

 

Just subscribing to the thread. It was hard enough to remove the top starter bolt when I had the whole motor out of the car for other repairs. Thankfully I haven't had to attempt it in-situ, but I'll be curious to read everyone's suggestions and your ultimate solution.

 

NevadaXK8,

I haven't done this job yet, but my Workshop manual makes particular mention of the starter motor upper bolt. See excerpt below. Maybe it'll help you.

 

As noted in the text, it seems like the Snap On half moon wrench (spanner) would useful here. Looked up the tool for those who don't have a half moon set (like me), the cost for the set is around $300 to civilians (like me) for the set and $50 for the one wrench with the 13 mm head.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/Half...-21-mm)/CXM605

Expensive, but as an alternative to 6 hours, you've reduced the price to minimum wage (and there's probably a harbor freight half moon wrench). Drilling the head out with two ujoints does not seem like a good option.

 

Could the " half moon" tool be a tool commonly know as a "Crowfoot" wrench? They also are helpful in other situations The 8 mm is same as the 5/16 and a few other are compatible with metric.

 

No, the half moon has a bent handle that curves around like half of a circle with box ends. Crowfoot has the box end or open end head, allowing you to angle a ratchet (or other tool) in at an offset from the bolt.

 

Amazon has a 13mm ratchet half moon wrench for $28.27, says I can have it tomorrow.

 

After some bruised wrists and scarred knuckles, the top bolt gave way. I could not get the combination of UJ and extensions to work regardless of how they were assembled. There was always something in the way be it a brace, mount or the engine itself. I spent a lot of time trying to fish this devise through to the upper bolt of the starter without success.

The top bolt did give way to a small ratcheting box end wrench. It was obvious that if I had a half moon wrench as was kindly recommended by the people responding to my post the job would have been far easier. It came down to a matter of time; this car is a daily drive and had to get back on the road.

The small wrench worked, turning the top bolt about 3 to 4 degrees per turn so it took a while. By using a bit of weight and leverage from wedging myself under the car, the top bolt loosened up initially and after about 25 minutes the bolt was out. I had to back the starter out while turning the top bolt by losing the bottom bolt at the same time in order to keep the wrench in a narrow area to get the maximum swing on the wrench (if 3-4 degrees can be called a ‘maximum’). Getting the starter motor out was not too bad, reading some of the other posts on the forum as a guide. Then putting the new starter back into place was just some jockeying and trials of pushing this way and that.

Replacing the top bolt was truly a fingertip job. First two fingers on the left hand specifically. The starter was put into place and the lower bolt started far enough to keep the starter lined up. The starter still sat at a bit of an angle to allow very limited fingertip maneuvering. The top bolt found its way into the hole in the starter, then while it sat quietly, the starter was gently (so as not to have the top bolt bounce out) the starter was lifted into place and the bottom bolt tightened. By fingertip the top bolt was then started into place, again by fingertip. Once started, the bottom bolt was then loosened to allow the ratcheting box wrench to be used to draw the top bolt in. The bottom bolt then tightened. Electrical connections made, car off the jack stands and done.

If you take out the time spent on trying to thread the wrench around, the time spent cursing and hurling explanative at some unknown British production engineer and miss-tries, I would say it was about a four hour process from beginning to end. Had I had the half-moon wrench and abandoned to idea of getting the extension and UJ combination through the maze, the project would have contained far less frustration.

So advise to those that wish to do this – items required BEFORE you start: 13mm ratcheting end half-moon wrench

What I fear is a friend who is on the forum was kind enough to listen to my whining, comparing this exercise to working on other British cars, mostly Lotus. He pointed out that Jaguar is the antithesis of Lotus and warned that the starter motor replacement was just Jaguar’s warm up to the rear quarter windows and the convertible top latch repairs. I have a lot to look forward to. I will add I love the XK8.

Many thanks to those that replied, truly it helps.

 

Good job and congratulations!! This follow up will help if I ever have to deal with it too.

Thanks for taking the time.

John

 

Congrats !, and again, thanks for posting. It's nice to read a story with a happy ending - after a long struggle.

 

Dear sir I've been trying to get the tol bolt out going on a week glad you had better luck than me, I was taught by a shad tree macainic but for this car 1997 xk8 you better have a big oak tree plus collage who put that bolt there was not a
macanic as much as im not a good speller GT

 

It may sound extreme,,, but it's not nearly extreme as what I was jus reading

ITs not a fun job but for me it was about finding the exact right extension, or combination of extensions, and fishing them in from the end of the starter facing the front of the car. No rachet on the extension and socket and slowly slide/fish it up over the topside of the starter. Then, with a finger or a large screwdriver with a chunk of tape wound on the end to have a soft touch, look up and guide the socket onto the top O the bolt. Same in reverse, just take a bit of black tape and put it into the end of the socket and PUSH the bolt head into the socket end so you have a secure fit (so the bolt won't fall out) while you go fishing. Put the lower in and snug it up to hold things inplace on install.

There are some large torx bolts that hold the shelf for the motor mounts, bolts into the block..., on my next go round, hopefully in about 15yrs, I was thinking I would jack up the car, then support the motor, then remove the bottom MM bolt and take out the 3 or 4 large bolts that hold the MM shelf. See if I can pull the whole MMount out of the way in a few short minutes - see if that's easier. Something's gotta give.