Removing the starter ('08 4.0L)

[nramacciato]

Hello all,

I've been having trouble removing the starter. I'm able to get two bolts off on the right side of the component itself, but I'm not sure if I'm missing anything else as it's not becoming loose. It's such a pain to even reach it, so I'm kinda lost. Does anybody have any tips? Or maybe clear photos of where all of the bolts are located? Google isn't very helpful.

Thanks.

 

[Explorer_PL]

Removed them few times on my 2 explorers. There are 3 bolts for sure. 8mm and 13mm. One of them is a stud with a nut welded where one of the cables go and then you put another 13 mm nut. So the first nut holds the starter, the second on top of it sandwiches the eye from the cable.

So you have 1 more bolt to get off.

Also, removing the wheel and the inner lining make this job very easy.

Make sure you disconnect the battery.

 

[nramacciato]

I had thought about removing the wheel & inner lining. I'll be sure to try that tomorrow. Hopefully that solves my issue. Thanks for your post, I feel reassured that I can finally get this done

 

[Explorer_PL]

If you have the new starter, see how the bolts are positioned. Maybe the 3rd bolt is just for the cable ?

 

[nramacciato]

I don't have it w/ me right now since it's being delivered tomorrow, but I'll certainly check out the positioning. Thanks for the tips.

 

[nramacciato]

Update for anyone interested; got the starter replaced. Our main problem was getting a rusty old bolt out. Took a while, but it finally budged. So happy.