Changing out the starter motor

[Chris Eggleton]

Just finishing changing out the starter motor on my 3200GT. Quite frankly the manual is rubbish! The sequence of actions is wrong on many of the steps, and several pipes and connections do not have to be disconnected. I will do a step by step post soonest but basically,
a. the first step (not mentioned) is drain coolant; isolate battery (mentioned);
b. disconnect throttle body hoses
c. then follow the steps in the manual to disconnect the injector electrical connections, and loosen the bolts holding the inlet manifold to the block;
d. lift inlet manifold, fuel rails, and tag and disconnect the vaccum lines that are preventing you lifting the manifold off the engine, self evident, BLOCK the holes in the engine now revealed to prevent anything going into the combustion chambers
e. unbolt the water manifold from the block, again tagging and marking the hoses to allow removal from the engine;
f. now you can unbolt the starter motor, earths, and electrical connections;
g. clean the valley - it is full of broken electrical wire spiral covers and generall grit;
h. replace knock sensors (as required), apparently a good thing to do now you have come this far;
i. clean everything else, with degreaser, rags and a wet and dry vaccum;
j. reassemble using new parts, gaskets, as required.

 

[Lozzer]

Just finishing changing out the starter motor on my 3200GT. Quite frankly the manual is rubbish! The sequence of actions is wrong on many of the steps, and several pipes and connections do not have to be disconnected. I will do a step by step post soonest but basically,
a. the first step (not mentioned) is drain coolant; isolate battery (mentioned);
b. disconnect throttle body hoses
c. then follow the steps in the manual to disconnect the injector electrical connections, and loosen the bolts holding the inlet manifold to the block;
d. lift inlet manifold, fuel rails, and tag and disconnect the vaccum lines that are preventing you lifting the manifold off the engine, self evident, BLOCK the holes in the engine now revealed to prevent anything going into the combustion chambers
e. unbolt the water manifold from the block, again tagging and marking the hoses to allow removal from the engine;
f. now you can unbolt the starter motor, earths, and electrical connections;
g. clean the valley - it is full of broken electrical wire spiral covers and generall grit;
h. replace knock sensors (as required), apparently a good thing to do now you have come this far;
i. clean everything else, with degreaser, rags and a wet and dry vaccum;
j. reassemble using new parts, gaskets, as required.

If it's starter motor only you don't need to remove the water spider from the block, you only need to undo one of the heater hoses to change it out. Knock sensors yes, it needs to come off for one of them.

 

[davy83]

I would change the knock sensors for sure. Watch there is a heavy earth strap on the bellhousing side of one of the starter bolts which is an earth to the car body and its easy to miss this if you are working from the engine bay. The underside of the intake manifold is one huge cover, check the screws are not loose and loctite and tighten as required. The water spider also its worth replacing the hoses with silicone as these short hoses get brittle and are worth replacing.

 

[conaero]

If you do the knock sensors go extremely easy on their bolts, they snap off in the block, then you have a big problem.

Soak…heat…..etc

 

[Chris Eggleton]

If it's starter motor only you don't need to remove the water spider from the block, you only need to undo one of the heater hoses to change it out. Knock sensors yes, it needs to come off for one of them.

Loz, if you can get the starter motor out without removing the water manifold you are a better man than me. I admit that removing anything off the engine comes with risk of leaks etc. but I found it difficult to see how I could manoeuvre the starter motor around the legs of the manifold, so took it off, and replaced both knock sensors as Dave Shanks suggested. The valley was also full of crud so I gave it a really good clean.
The new Bosch starter motor Dave recommended is a *******! It starts the Maserati from cold in seconds, and it definitely spins faster than the old unit. Interestingly, the motor I purchased from Autodoc was a reconditioned unit, from Ukraine (doubtless before the Russians started bombing them), but whatever it seems like a really great upgrade.
Someone has also mentioned the earthing strap on the starter motor retaining bolts: mine had two straps, one each side of the longer/larger centre bolt. This was a tad difficult to tighten and keep at a sensible angle but not insurmountable, just annoying.
No trouble with knock sensor bolts all came out easily, no heating or penetrating fluid required, as did the inlet manifold screws, although one was a bit tight and I replaced it with a new one, as the allen key drive was a bit damaged. I did not replace the screws with stainless steel torx head, as I couldn't locate a suitable replacement, and stainless screws are not magnetic so locating them, and removal would be inconvenient without the use of the magnet on a stick.
Incidentally, whilst I had the inlet manifold off, I managed to replace both A/C lines, one had gone porous, and was sweating air conditioning gas/fluid. This job is to be avoided if possible, it takes significant patience, and the car in the air to get at the fire wall and compressor/reciever dryer connections. Having said that it is possible, something I doubted, and was advised by the local air conditioning shop that they would have to remake the lines and re route around the front of the car: at vast expense. So all good, 'Mario' the Maserati back on the road!
Lastly, the manual alluded to some plenum cover plate and associated gasket: my car had neither. Once the inlet manifold was removed you were into the valley??

 

[philw696]

Loz, if you can get the starter motor out without removing the water manifold you are a better man than me. I admit that removing anything off the engine comes with risk of leaks etc. but I found it difficult to see how I could manoeuvre the starter motor around the legs of the manifold, so took it off, and replaced both knock sensors as Dave Shanks suggested. The valley was also full of crud so I gave it a really good clean.
The new Bosch starter motor Dave recommended is a *******! It starts the Maserati from cold in seconds, and it definitely spins faster than the old unit. Interestingly, the motor I purchased from Autodoc was a reconditioned unit, from Ukraine (doubtless before the Russians started bombing them), but whatever it seems like a really great upgrade.
Someone has also mentioned the earthing strap on the starter motor retaining bolts: mine had two straps, one each side of the longer/larger centre bolt. This was a tad difficult to tighten and keep at a sensible angle but not insurmountable, just annoying.
No trouble with knock sensor bolts all came out easily, no heating or penetrating fluid required, as did the inlet manifold screws, although one was a bit tight and I replaced it with a new one, as the allen key drive was a bit damaged. I did not replace the screws with stainless steel torx head, as I couldn't locate a suitable replacement, and stainless screws are not magnetic so locating them, and removal would be inconvenient without the use of the magnet on a stick.
Incidentally, whilst I had the inlet manifold off, I managed to replace both A/C lines, one had gone porous, and was sweating air conditioning gas/fluid. This job is to be avoided if possible, it takes significant patience, and the car in the air to get at the fire wall and compressor/reciever dryer connections. Having said that it is possible, something I doubted, and was advised by the local air conditioning shop that they would have to remake the lines and re route around the front of the car: at vast expense. So all good, 'Mario' the Maserati back on the road!
Lastly, the manual alluded to some plenum cover plate and associated gasket: my car had neither. Once the inlet manifold was removed you were into the valley??

Good Job done there.