starter bushing hell

[treed2@u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

Okay, so my starter has been sticking lately and continuing to run after I
take out the key. Every time this happens I have to disconnect the battery
to stop it. Well I killed the engine in traffic yesterday and there were
cars going 40+ mph on both sides of me so I couldn't get out. Sixty
seconds later the starter is still cranking and smoke starts pouring out
from under the hood. Shit! I managed to get out there and unhook the
battery but first I had to blow out the flames from the burning insulation
on the wire from my battery to the starter. Everything was red hot so I
had to push the car to the side and let it cool down before limping home.

At that point I decided it was time to buy a rebuilt Bosch starter (and
make a new wire) so my car wouldn't catch on fire. So I did and there was
a big neon warning label attached to it saying "You must replace the
starter bushing or the motor will quickly fail yada yada yada". So, not
wanting to waste the money I just spent on a new starter, I fished around
in the box for the new bushing and discovered it was cracked in 3 pieces.
Took the pieces back to the store and they gave me another new bushing,
part number 113 301 155. Didn't think to check if it was identical, but it
looked about the same.

Dropped the starter out and used a 1/2" tap to extract the old bushing.
Cleaned up the recess in the tranny case and then tried to hand-fit the
new bushing in the hole so I could tap it in to place. No go.. it felt
like the bushing was too big for the hole. I chamfered the end of it a bit
with a file and that helped but I still couldn't get it started in to the
hole at all. I was dousing the bushing with WD-40 every time before I
tried to put it in. I tried tapping it in using a socket.. but I was too
afraid to smack it hard since the bushing looked so brittle. I put it in
the freezer and then tried to push it in with lots of oil.. nothing.

Well finally I tapped on it pretty hard and broke it.. one hour after the
parts place closed until Monday.

So I'm gonna go pick up a 2 or 3 bushings on Monday morning and try
again.. but I wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

First of all, is this the right bushing? The outer diameter of the one I
broke today is 13.5 mm and the inner is 11 mm. I only have a small
fragment of the one that I got out with the tap and its outer diameter is
13 mm and inner is 11 mm. Not 100% on that data though because like I said
its only a small fragment (just a half circle).

ETKA lists two part numbers for the bushing:
028 911 257 for starters 3, 4A
and
113 301 155 for starters 4, 7

Well my old starter was an 055 911 023J and the rebuilt is an 037 911 023.
According to ETKA, 055 911 023J is a "starter 6". Obviously, that isn't
very helpful in determining which part number is the correct one for my
starter.

The shaft diameters of the two starters appear to be the same. I can't
measure the bore of the recess in the tranny itself because its too deep
to get my calipers in. I tried to stick a bolt in there and then measure
the bolt and I got 13mm but I suppose that measurement could be .5mm off.


Okay, and second of all.. how are you supposed to install this thing when
the transmission is in the car. I wish I'd known about this when I just
had the engine and tranny out a week ago - I would have done it then
instead!

The methods I've read about include "just tapping it in" and heating the
tranny with a torch while putting the bushing in a freezer then trying to
tap it in to place.

Anyone have a better method?

I didn't expect this to be such a pain in the ass. I figured I'd just pull
the starter and put the new one on. Grrr..

BTW, is the front motor mount bracket supposed to have TWO nuts welded on
to it? Mine only has one on the top hole in the bracket but I noticed when
I was at a junkyard that the 8v there had two nuts. I'm wondering if one
of my nuts broke off (har har).. I've been missing the bolt forever and
there's an SAE bolt+nut+lock washer temporarily holding its place while I
put off buying a new bolt of the correct size.

Thanks I appreciate any help or suggestions..

-Toby

--
'87 16v