We needed a new starter on the family car
Good morning folks. Happy New Year! The family car broke down. Luckily this time, it is just a starter motor. Earlier this week, the family car had difficulty starting for my wife on her way to work. We knew this was coming as it has been slowly degrading for the last several months. This was one of my first repairs as a teenager and this is also a golden opportunity to allow our budding mechanic to take on a bit of a larger job.
The Parts needed
The good news is that this job only required one replacement part. The starter Motor itself is not super cheap, but, by doing the work ourselves, we did save some money. Prices ranged anywhere from thirty-five dollars to seven hundred. I did a bit of searching and comparing between the factory sources and the local parts chains and came up with a good number that was still under a hundred bucks and managed to provide us with a factory branded starter. Keep in mind, this car has over two hundred thousand miles and I am a total believer in the parts that have proven to last that long. I certainly could have purchased a rebuild or an off brand to save even more. I have done this before when the wallet made steeper demands on what I could afford. The real truth is even in those situations, I rarely had to replace the off branded parts a second time. I also have had to replace faulty factory parts to find a good one. No one is exempt from this stuff. It truly can be a gamble each time.
The Prep
I spent yesterday after work cleaning out a space to put the car in the garage in case the weather did not cooperate. It is December for crying out loud. That being said, I am liking this spring weather in the winter. Whoever is tracking this sort of thing, please put me down officially to keep the nice weather all through the winter. I will certainly accept a longer riding season and fully plan to get the bike out on January 1 to honor an old friend and ride in the New Year as long as it is not raining. Yes, I have done this in 12 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. It is important. I may only go around the block, but, I do what I can to get out. Down to the work. We jacked the car up and slid some ramps under the tires for safety.
The Work
We watched a quick refresher video online to show us a few tricks that were very helpful. The video covered the wrench sizes we used so we had them staged and ready. Next, I had my daughter pull out the creeper for the old man to slide around under the car, and off we went. Each time we take a car adventure, I have her do as much as possible and only assist when some ancient wisdom is needed or if some brute force is required to crack things loose. Today was no different. As she grows, the bolts come loose easier for her. I only had to assist with the larger bolts that hold the starter to the engine. Personally, I am glad that this car had the starter in such a place where we did not have to remove the exhaust pipes to access it. She disconnected all of the wires, kept track of all of the nuts and bolts, and was able to remove the bad part with ease.
The new starter
After we had the old part out, we inspected it to assure we had the right size replacement and all looked good. I was very proud that she remembered to simply reverse the order and the new starter went in quickly and trouble free. The very last 10mm bolt gave us a bit of heartburn, but, I will accept that any day. Let’s get it started! Once we felt comfortable that we were done, we reconnected the battery and gave it a good few starts to make certain that the new part is working better than the old one. Of course, it did. I feel like this is a great way to spend time learning together and accomplishing something positive as a family and for the family. Time well spent ending out 2021. Have a great New Year celebration!