I need to remove the stater motor in the next few days. I've just had a look - am I right in thinking its held on by 3 bolts, 2 on the transmission side and 1 on the starter motor side?

Also how does the battery connection come off - do you remove this first or unbolt the starter then remove the cable?

yes thats correct, First disconnect your battery, then jack up the car and you can the loosen the cable on the starter with a 13 spanner and the unbolt the starter.

Disconnect the (+) cable from the battery, then remove the cables from the starter motor and tie them with a piece of duct tape and somewhere out of your way. This will make the access much easier.
And yes, the starter motor is attached with 3 bolts, although my memory is hazy about their size. The lower one comes in from the engine side and can also be removed from above. It is not as bad as it seems at the very first sight, just use the long extension piece present in any socket wrench set.

Faster typing

The three bolts holding the starter in place are 13mm, which can be reached from on top if you don't want to jack up the car.

Sizes are easy since FIATs always use 13mm, and never 12mm or 14mm... EXCEPT the two small bolts holding each brake disc/drum in place - they are 12mm. (Off-topic: this is so you can use a 13mm bolt to extract the drum if necessary, the larger bolt threads into the drum and pushes the drum off the hub).

There is a starter solenoid wire as well - a small spade connector on a thin-ish red wire.

As M@nticore says, do remember to disconnect the battery terminals (at the battery) first, otherwise you will have a nasty surprise as you remove the large cable from the starter.

Taking the starter motor apart and refurbishing it is a fairly satisfying little job. New brushes are cheaply available. 600-grit wet sandpaper cleans the commutator up nicely, and the pinion freewheel device benefits from a soaking in engine oil (though as I learned, it pays to keep the armature windings out of the oil, otherwise the oil later spins out into the brushes!) Clean and grease the various other parts, scrub and paint the housing, and it will be pretty much as good as new

-Alex

Hi,
thanks everyone, excellent advice. I'll try get new bushes tomorrow and have a go at the weekend. The starter motor's making the classic grating noise now and again even though the engine hasn't fired.

Probably just the engagement lever needing a clean and a grease... Pinion and freewheel should also slide smoothly on the helical splines.

-Alex

I remember on my first Uno having a similar kind of noise. It was caused by a plastic bush that the pinion runs in breaking up. I just replaced it with another starter motor

Serviced the starter motor at the weekend. It was bone dry, so greased the bushes. Can't believe the difference in sound the starter makes now, its very smooth.

Didn't need to replace the bushes - plenty of life still in them. Nor did I have to jack the car up - the starter came out to the side where the washer bottle is. Once again, thanks everyone for all the excellent advice.

Isn't it nice when it's easy and cheap (or in this case, free!) to effect such an improvement?

Cheers for the update, always good to have a conclusion!

-Alex

I still have some trouble with the starter of a FIAT UNO. Everything was running smoothly and the starter was starting the engine without hesitation. A few days ago, the first sign was that everynow and then the starter would not start, then it was a bit hesitant to start and now does not start at all. I took it off and cleaned the contacts. The brushes seemed to be O.K, they make contact with the rotor inside. Any ideas what I should look at ?

Might be the starter motor for the starter motor... There is a little starter motor on top of the starter motor that engage when you turn the ignition. I can't remember what it's called. Alex? Help! If it's broken, I don't know how to fix it. I've had similiar problems, and just bought a used starter and replaced the whole unit. Very simple and little time spent.

Morten.

Morty Mort said:

Might be the starter motor for the starter motor... There is a little starter motor on top of the starter motor that engage when you turn the ignition. I can't remember what it's called. Alex? Help! If it's broken, I don't know how to fix it. I've had similiar problems, and just bought a used starter and replaced the whole unit. Very simple and little time spent.

Morten.

Click to expand...

'Starter solenoid' Morten It's simply an electrical switch that engages the starter pinion with the ring gear on the flywheel and (I think) allows the full battery voltage to feed the starter motor.

Like Morten, I'd just find a good second hand starter motor and swap over. Probably cheaper and much quicker than trying to fix an old one

Resurrecting an old thread as I am just in the process of removing the starter motor from my 1992 Uno with 1108cc FIRE engine and five speed manual gearbox.

Have been trying to locate the 13mm bolts previously mentioned (two on the transmission side and one on the starter motor side?) but have got a bit confused about which are the correct ones to loosen (battery already disconnected).

A couple of photos are attached which may help - it seems the bolts can be accessed from the top rather than having to jack up the car (the bolt with the spade connector attached being the starter solenoid wire).

A nudge in the right direction would be appreciated .

Cheers,
Andy

PS The car is currently being broken for parts/spares, including the engine and gearbox, but the body shell is corroded beyond repair.

I think I've posted the wrong photos, judging by all the pics of starter motors I have seen! . Correct photos to follow shortly.

Cheers,
Andy