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Mon Jul 14, 2025 7:54 pm

I am going through the process of removing my old starter, to replace it with a TDI starter. For reference I have an 87 automatic with the original 2.1L motor. I have removed both bolts, for the long pass through bolt I removed the nut, but the starter housing prevents me from completely sliding the bolt out though it can freely slide about 3 inches.

When I went to pull on the starter it will not budge at all. I hit it with pb blaster, but there does not even appear to be a build up of corrosion between the transmission and the starter. I went to the Bentley for guidance and saw that I should disengage the parking brake, which I did have on prior to reading that. The parking brake is disengaged and the transmission is in neutral, but I still can't get the starter to budge at all. I lightly hit the starter with a hammer to see if I could get it to break free, but I did not really wale on it because don't want to damage my transmission.

Is there something I am missing? I have watched some videos on this procedure and it looks really easy to remove after the two bolts are off

Tue Jul 15, 2025 4:19 am

Interesting point from the manual. No idea how releasing the parking brake would help. It sounds like the starter housing is seized into the bell housing. Probably years of rust and dirt. I wouldn’t worry so much about damaging the starter, but do not accidentally damage the bellhousing. Time, patience, more PB, and careful hits side to side. Prying with a pry bar side to side.

You could also try starting the van with the bolts loosened. The torque might break it free after multiple try’s. The long bolt will keep it from falling off. Maybe driving till it’s hot would help. This is one of those the more time you spend, the less time it will take.

Another idea might be to pull the engine or transmission and that would give you better access to “drive” the starter off. This is just part of working on old cars. Another option would be to drive it to a shop and pay an expert.

The bellhousing section is cast iron. Strong, but brittle. It’s is not easily repaired and they are becoming more rare. Wish I had better news.

One last idea. Maybe a bottle jack and a 2x4. Jack against the starter and it might pop free.

Tue Jul 15, 2025 4:30 am

Wood between a 1.5 kg sledge and the starter.

No hammers. Those are for nails

Tue Jul 15, 2025 10:01 am

Abscate wrote:

No hammers. Those are for nails

Finger nails

Tue Jul 15, 2025 10:54 am

Thank you for the advice! I hit it with a 3 pound hammer after soaking it in PB blaster and was able to break it free.