re: starter problem resolved (and replaced)

[C1J1Miller <C1J1Miller@aol.com>]

Car: 1991 200q turbo 20-valve

Problem:  Starter would not disengage quickly enough, making banging noise as
the teeth of the flywheel hit the teeth of the starter gear as the car
started.  Solution?  Replace starter.

Procedure:   Remove battery negative lead. Jack up passenger (right) side of
car, put on jack stand.  Remove power cable (13mm nut), remove ignition lead,
remove the 2 19mm bolts (one threaded into starter, one through into a nut).
The upper 19mm bolt is behind and below the turbo; reachable from above and
below without much drama.  The lower 19mm bolt is above the subframe, and
requires an extension on the socket (as well as a second 19mm wrench to hold
the bolt head while loosening the nut).  After removing the bolts, the starter
just drops out.

Opened starter casing.  The plastic housing holding the three gears
surrounding the main shaft had broken in several places.   Called various
rebuild places; need to look at, probably $50 to 100 or so.  Called Langan
parts in NY (Osman's dealership); factory rebuilt bosch $200.  Called several
other local places (NAPA, foreign car shops, etc. ) and got prices about the
same.  

Called Pep Boys; they had a rebuilt unit in stock for $119.  (Thank you for
the tip, Mr. Kessel).  Bought the starter, turned in the core, put the unit
in, and the car is fine.  Couple hour job; very simple, actually.  

Remember to remove the heat shielding (held on with a hose clamp), as well as
the plastic spacer for the power cables; these are not included with the new
starter.  Also, the new unit said "china" on it (chinese audi parts again?)
and comes with a lifetime warrantee.  I noted that the old one was identical
except for two things:  the hold on nut for the power cables was not as thick
(because of the thickness of the two power cables), and there was a bearing in
the nose end for the shaft that was not on the old unit.

Hope this is usefull to others.  I needed to replace mine immediately as the
noise sounded like I was going to grind off the teeth on my flywheel...very
expensive, I'd guess.

Chris Miller, Windham NH, c1j1miller@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/index.html