I have searched both on the net and these forums, but I have not found anything that addresses this... so... how do you replace the starter? I have a 2000 4WD 4-door Blazer. Everyone says, "Take off the front passenger wheel, take off the two bolts and d/c the two wires, and pull it out..." Thing is, I can't get the starter out from below, nor can I get to the wires. Has anyone out there actually replaced their starter without lifting the engine or doing anything other than taking off the wheel? Is there a certain way to wiggle it out that I'm not seeing? Much mahalo 「thanks」 in advance!

 

are the transmission lines in your way?

 

Partially, but no one has mentioned removing them. Can I just unbolt them from their brackets, ro do they have to be disconnected and trained? I hear of some people lifting the engine or removing drive shafts...

 

remove the brackets and gently move them out of the way, it may be easier to unscrew the lines from the radiator so they move easier

 

Disconnect the positive battery cable from the battery, pull the starter bolts and work the starter out of there. Helps to do this when the engine is completely cooled down. After you have it down then disconnect the wires at the starter.

 

The factory starter is very difficult to remove from this vehicle. I'm sorry to say there is no "easy" way to do it.

You will need to remove the two main starter bolts first. On some there is also a small bracket attached to the rear of the starter that also will need to be removed from the starter as well as disconnected from the vehicle. Do not remove the transmission lines. This will cause more problems for you then it will solve.

Once all bolts and brackets are removed you will need to spend some time carefully rotating and repositioning the starter in order to get at the wires for removal. I believe you need to rotate the starter to the left and then angle the rear end up into the engine compartment in order to expose the wires.
This is no easy task, it takes some time and patience (and small hands) as the wires are short and rather stiff with obviously not much room to work in.
You will not be able to get a wrench in there to remove the wires. A long extension on a socket wrench and perhaps a u-joint swivel is the only way.

Once you finally get the wires disconnected you will have to spend several more minutes rotating the starter around to get just the right angle to get it out. If I recall correctly it will need to be both rotated as well as angled up into the engine compartment before you will be able to get it out of the very small hole that you have to work with.
It will take a while and can be a very frustrating task getting it positioned and turned around just right.

On the up side. The aftermarket starters are smaller and pretty much slide right in without much effort. Though the wires are still a bit of a pain to get reattached.

Good luck.

 

I replaced my starter motor doing it pretty much in the same way as described by awe341. Removing the driver side wheel would have given a bit more access for light & vision to see what was there but it was not too big a job to do. Took me all of an hour & a half to do the swap.
Oh, my truck is RHD, but I think other than the steering column passing above where the starter motor is, all should be the same. i.e. your starter is also on the right hand side - I think.

 

Thanks to all, especially awe341... I'll give it a shot again tomorrow afternoon, got tied up with other things today... I did more digging on the internet, and answers varied on just how easy or hard this was-- all on the same generation of Blazer!

 

Okay, took it to a shop... didn't ask them how they got it in, but they did. Now, for one more thing-- how do I tell if the starter needs to be shimmed? I swear, maybe it's my imagination, but the starter seems to have a higher pitch than usual... it isn't binding, but just a higher whine when I crank her... is that normal?

 

I noticed the same thing on my own blazer after I replaced the starter. It's not much but there is a noticeable difference.

More then likely is is simply caused by the new starter motor being of a smaller size that is causing the higher pitch. The aftermarket replacements are smaller and lighter then the originals. If it's not binding then I wouldn't worry about needing shims.