3200 Starter Motor

MUC3200GT

Junior Member
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127
sorry when I was not so clear, I was refering to the washers for the 16 bolts of the manifold- it looked that some experienced washers which needs to be taken care of while it looks that on the manifold I have, there are few positions with washers while other position dont seem to have them - (however there is a kind of fixed washer in all bolt position however which doesnt break loose as it is really tight)
 

RSM Masser

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2,437
This thread has prompted me to replace my knock sensors (looming MoT and CEL!) I will also replace the 4 short pipes with Silicone - any idea their diameter so I can buy a straight length and cut to size? I have bought the 8 'O' ring seals for the inlet manifold and the 4 'O' rings for the water connections, but NOT the rectangular one underneath the TB (Do I need to remove this?)

I am quite handy with spanners and looking forward to saving the £600 repair costs for this not too difficult job.
 

Roberts Aerospace

SPONSOR: Maseratished
Messages
47
I am quite handy with spanners and looking forward to saving the £600 repair costs for this not too difficult job.

If people are willing to pay £600 for that, I should double my hourly rate!

As you say, it's not difficult if you know what you're doing, just time-consuming. The challenging part of the job is when the hex head bolts round off, so make sure you have some suitably sized extractors on hand to remove them. And, some stainless steel replacements if the originals get mashed up.

Mike.
 

RSM Masser

Member
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2,437
Thanks - I will buy some silicone tube and cut to size. Now my engine has developed a serious misfire and won't rev freely I need to do this sooner rather than later
 

RSM Masser

Member
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2,437
All completed - bit time consuming, air lock in water system took a bit of time to clear.
Now ARGHhhhhhhhh! A leak in the V so it's intake manifold off.
I replaced every pipe so it must be a be a dodgy clip - I replaced all of them as well - or did I forget to tighten one?
Very annoying

Engine ran smoothly though so got to look on bright side
 

Louisemon1

New Member
Messages
12
Thank you so much for this conaero. The instructions are perfect! I left my cabin light on causing my battery to go low and I kept trying to start my car until the motor smoked. The 16 bolts are VERY difficult to undo, I could not do mine alone, I replaced them with new ones after. But apart from that it went well (it took me all day to do). I got coolant in the V and did not change my knock sensors, 2 week later I got a check engine light so I had to do it all again to do the knock sensors. Fortunately my boyfriend had 2 new ones he had never used which I fitted. A pic is below if it helps anyone.2A633039-F651-495B-8D89-CB61C406336A.jpeg
 

Louisemon1

New Member
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12
Pipe 8 goes to air just incase anyone attempts this job and has no idea what to do with it! Mike from the Maserati Shed kindly helped me before I plugged it up.

004_017.gif
 
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conaero

Forum Owner
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34,593
Thank you so much for this conaero. The instructions are perfect! I left my cabin light on causing my battery to go low and I kept trying to start my car until the motor smoked. The 16 bolts are VERY difficult to undo, I could not do mine alone, I replaced them with new ones after. But apart from that it went well (it took me all day to do). I got coolant in the V and did not change my knock sensors, 2 week later I got a check engine light so I had to do it all again to do the knock sensors. Fortunately my boyfriend had 2 new ones he had never used which I fitted. A pic is below if it helps anyone.View attachment 50183

No probs. A lady, doing 3200 mechanics...you have my interest.

I think I know your boyfriend, he would have a certain MC12 would he?
 

Louisemon1

New Member
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12
Ohh, cool, must be business buddies, should of guessed by your perfect instructions! I did not even know what a torx bit was, but I fancied having a go. I found it very therapeutic actually, but it is a difficult job. Yes one of many cars, all inferior to a 3200 :p
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
Ohh, cool, must be business buddies, should of guessed by your perfect instructions! I did not even know what a torx bit was, but I fancied having a go. I found it very therapeutic actually, but it is a difficult job. Yes one of many cars, all inferior to a 3200 :p

Joseph has offered me a go in it, your welcome to offer me a ride in the 3200 also and Ill give you my honest opinion :)
 

rwr

New Member
Messages
5
With our thanks to Neil Wrightson for his permission to post.

3200 starter motor:

Valeo: D6RA64 (Peugeot/Citroen/Lancia)
Bosch reconditioned unit part number 0986016530-93N
The only difference is the casting that bolts it to the bell housing. This is easily swapped with the old one by undoing 4 small torx or hexagon keys and takes less than 5 minutes.

£50 plus VAT

Over the last few days I noticed the starter turning ever slower and slower. I assumed it was the battery and so when it just went ‘clunk' when I turned the key, I was surprised to see that the lights were bright and the wipers went full blast. ‘Bugger…it's the starter then! Now I know that we live in a world where half wits blame others when they do something silly and they sue people who try to help. So the following is NOT advice for replacing a starter motor on a 3200GT or a suggestion of how to save a fortune…but if I was doing it again, I would like my instructions to read as follows.


Where is the starter?
After 3 of us spent 20 minutes looking for it, I eventually discovered the starter motor using a fibre optic camera! It's sat right at the top of the engine under the inlet manifold and other gubbins. You cannot see it from just looking at the engine in situ.

This picture shows the plenum removed, and you can see the water manifold in the middle of the V of the Block. The Starter is to the rear and underneath.

View attachment 302


Where can I get a new starter from?
Eurospares quoted a 240 pounds plus VAT plus carriage ...gulp. I never even asked a main dealer. Waterloo motor factors quoted about 160 pounds plus VAT (better)…...but a 4 week wait and Andrew Page motor factors said: “a maserati, no chance!â€. However when I quoted the Valeo genuine part number that I got off the original (D6RA64) Andrew pages said it showed on their system as a Peugeot/Citroen/Lancia starter…â€oh yes, we have one in stock…50.02 Pounds plus VAT†(Bosch reconditioned unit part number 0986016530-93N). Please read on however as it needs a very small alteration to make it fit.

What tools do I need?
13mm, 14mm, 17mm open ended spanners, 6mm Hexagon key socket, 9†extension bar and a 3/8 drive ratchet (1/2†drive is too fat), medium sized cross head screwdriver and a pair of old side cutters. A magnet on a stick is a good idea and 13mm and 14mm shallow and thin sockets would help. Some kitchen roll and chocolate hobnobs help too.

How long will it take?
Ages, as it's a lot of faffing about. I took 4 hours in a leisurely way, stopping for the odd cup of coffee every now and again.

Is it difficult?
No, assuming you are an average amateur spanner wielder. No special tools are needed and the whole thing can be done with the car sat on the drive.

How to do it?
Now this bit will sound long and complicated. Yes it is long, no it is not complicated. I would start from the rear of the engine and work my way forward, that way you are less likely to miss something and instructions are easier to follow.

  • Disconnect the car battery, ensuring that the windows are down a little (just in case you want to open the doors!) 5 minutes.
  • If you can use an air line or similar, blow clean the top of the engine especially around the bottom of the inlet manifold, where it bolts to the head. Mine was full of leaves. I had no air line, so used a vacuum cleaner and a clean paintbrush to clean it all up. 10 minutes
  • Start at the back of the engine and undo the following;
  1. The four push-on black pipes (very small diameter) right at the back of the inlet manifold. Try to remember where to put them back. (2 minutes)
  2. Using a 17mm spanner undo the 4 fuel pipe unions (2 per fuel rail) above and to each side of the inlet manifold. (4 minutes)
  3. Unclip the 8 fuel injector electrical connectors. (4 minutes)
  4. Unclip the 2 small fuel vapour breather pipes that come from the front of the fuel rails. Use the old side cutters to undo the clips, you can reuse them. (4 minutes)
  5. Unclip the 2 breather pipes on the black box thingy at the front of the engine (to the right as you look at the engine….it has 3 pipes about ½†diameter going into it, you only need to undo the middle and left pipes). Again use the sidecutters gently and you can then reuse the clips. (5 minutes)
  6. Undo the electrical connector to the left front of the engine (as looking at it) that connects to the throttle body. It unclips. (2 minutes)
  7. Undo the large hoseclip that connects the air intake pipe to the front of the throttle body. Pull the air intake pipe forward. (3 minutes)

If all is well, you shouldn't be able to see anything else connected to the inlet manifold apart from both sets of injectors and fuel rails that you do NOT need to remove. If you see any other rubber hose remove it and curse me for forgetting to tell you.

Now you need to remove the entire inlet manifold/fuel injectors/fuel rails and this is easy, as follows:
  1. Undo the 16 hexagon bolts (6mm) that hold the manifold down to the head. Be very careful to remove the bolt AND the washers (you do NOT want them to fall into the head as you remove the manifold. I used a small magnet on a stick). (10-15 minutes)
  2. Now you need a helper and between you (one on each side) lift the manifold straight up about 6†only.
  3. The person on the passenger side now needs to undo an irritating ½†vacuum pipe that is on the bottom of the manifold. (1-5 minutes plus swearing)
  4. With this undone, the manifold, injectors and fuel rails will easily lift off in one piece. Put it all safely on some cardboard or similar, to avoid damaging it.
  5. Now before anything else, cover up all 8 openings into the head. I just put a wad of gently squashed up kitchen roll in each. You MUST make sure that nothing falls down these holes. (take a few minutes here and be very careful…drop something down there and it will make you cry)

By now, you will at last be able to see the starter motor…under some pipes!
  1. You only need to undo the two rear pipes, leave all the others alone. (5 minutes)
  2. Now using a 14 mm spanner undo the middle bolt holding the starter in place. Once part undone (it's almost one flat at a time and takes forever) undo the 2 other bolts that hold in the starter; these for some silly reason are 13mm, each one has a braided earth to it…remember that later! (10 minutes plus swearing)
  3. Now the starter will move, but is held in by its cables. Unplug the small spade connector and using the 13mm spanner undo the main power lead. This takes a while as there is very little space. Be patient. (another 10 minutes in my case)

Now the starter will come out of the space at the back, where you undid the 2 hoses. (2 minutes jiggling it)
  1. Have a well earned cup of tea and a chocolate hobnob. (30 minutes seems reasonable)

Now look in dismay as the Bosch starter turns up and looks different! (in my case 5 minutes wimpering followed by 5 minutes careful measuring and inspecting). Don't panic though. The only difference is the casting that bolts it to the bell housing. This is easily swapped with the old one by undoing 4 small torx or hexagon keys and takes less than 5 minutes.

Refitting is absolutely the reverse of the above and takes less time. To be absolutely certain that nothing had fallen down the head, I used a magnet on a stick to trawl around each of the 8 ports before replacing the inlet manifold.

I spent ages at each stage making sure that I'd not missed anything. Whilst I was at it I inspected all the hoses and stuff under the manifold and would have replaced anything that looked like it was old and cracked.

Yes it took me 4 hours in total, but I saved an absolute packet. The whole thing cost me less than 60 pounds. The Bosch unit is a reconditioned Valeo unit and is absolutely identical to the OE unit (once I'd changed the casting on the end).
This is brilliant! So detailed! Thank you for taking the time to write it all. I'm about to do my starter, based on the way you would do it, (not your advise ), which will be a great help. Cheers!
 

davy83

Member
Messages
2,809
I replaced my starter with a Bosch 0 986 016 530 needed the end parts swapped but fits perfect and been very reliable.
 
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rwr

New Member
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5
Don't forget to drain the coolant via the radiator else you will end up with it all over the engine when you undo the pipes which are hiding the starter motor.
Yes, so I discovered! Such a great design! :)
 

rwr

New Member
Messages
5
Not that I mind one of my pictures being used to illustrate this article, but it would have been nice to get credited!

If you'd asked, you could have had this one, which shows the position of the starter with the water distribution manifold removed.

View attachment 6960

As well as agreeing with the comment about replacing the knock sensors whilst you're there, I would add that the main reason for failure is that the water distribution manifold is only sealed to the heads with rubber "O" rings, which often leak water into the "V" which then corrodes the starter motor and the knock sensors. I always use a flange sealant in conjuction with the rings to ensure that there are no further water problems.

Mike
Mike, I note that, on mine, you have relocated the knock sensors to the top of the inlet manifold. Ugly, but effective, presumably.
 

rwr

New Member
Messages
5
Thanks for this detailed article. I have just replaced my starter motor, which recently died, following your step by step description, and found it easy enough. Now, all put back together carefully, and whilst the starter motor now turns over beautifully, the engine does not even try to start. There is fuel in the rails and it was going fine before this exercise. Any ideas greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

RSM Masser

Member
Messages
2,437
Thanks for this detailed article. I have just replaced my starter motor, which recently died, following your step by step description, and found it easy enough. Now, all put back together carefully, and whilst the starter motor now turns over beautifully, the engine does not even try to start. There is fuel in the rails and it was going fine before this exercise. Any ideas greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Remove a spark plug - check for spark
Also check cam position sensor or crank shaft sensor - all common failures causing no start
Might even be the alarm not resetting - lock and unlock a few times
 
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SteveM

Member
Messages
540
If you don't have spark check Fuse No1 - back of fuse box in front of water header tank - easy enough to check.