How do you repair the starter on a 1988 Mazda 626?

Answer 1

Essentially, a starter consists of two parts, the starter motor, and a solenoid. In most starters that fail, the actual starter motor is still good, but the problem lies with the solenoid. The reason for this is because the solenoid acts like a lightning rod, channeling hundreds of amps into the starter motor when triggered by the ignition switch. If you try to start your car repeatedly, or if you run your starter continuously, the solenoid burns out, because it simply isn't capable of transferring that current for such a long time without a cool-down period.

Replacing a bad solenoid is fairly easy once you get the starter out. Getting the starter out, however, can be the trick.

First, DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY! You'll be handling a device that's designed to channel 12 volts at nearly 1000 amps into something. If your battery's connected and anything goes wrong, you don't want that power channeled into you. Neither will your wife, nor the paramedics or ER staff. Do all of them a favor and take 30 seconds to pop those suckers off the terminals.

Now to the fun: Disassembly. To get the starter out of my '88 Mazda 626, I started by removing the air filter housing. There are a half dozen or so screws holding the cover down, including one really pesky one in the far back, under the hose. I just broke that one off, and I'm fine, but if you wanted to do it the right way, disconnect the hose, and go for it. By the way, a beefy phillip's head screwdriver will be a lot easier than trying to use a socket. Trust me on this one.

So, now the top cover of your air filter is off, except that it's still got a bunch of stuff connected to it. I didn't bother to unplug all of that, I just twisted the lid up out of the way, by the firewall, and that was dandy.

Next take the bottom half of your air filter housing out. Trust me, it'll make your life easier, don't try to work around it. It's held on by three size "14" (if I recall correctly) bolts. It should just slide right out, and you can set it someplace out of the way, like on that other project car sitting in your garage you'll get to someday.

The big air hose connecting the filter box and the fuel injector is next to go. This one is surprisingly simple. Loosen the clamp on the fuel injector side. Next, pull the un-clamped end of the PCV hose (that sucker stickin' out of the top of the valve cover, and don't ask me why Mazda clamped one side but not the other) and pull the whole assembly out.

This step is optional, but highly recommended. There's an assembly mounted to your drivers side strut which your fuel filter, ignition coil, and maybe one or two other goodies are attached to. Unplug the fuel/electrical lines (I know you disconnected your battery, so there's no need for me to remind you that gasoline and electric sparks can be nasty bedfellows), and unbolt the two bolts that hold the whole shebang to your strut/shock. (Handy tip: If you don't want to lose those two bolt, just thread them onto another one of the four. This way, they're also close when you put it all back together.) It should lift off, and you can set this up out of the way.

Okay, now, let's find the starter. If you haven't guessed from all the disassembly, it's on the backside of the motor, between your motor and the firewall. Yippee. (sigh.)

Jack the car up, and lay down on your back. Oh, while you're down there, you might want to grab your socket set, so you don't need to go down there more than twice. (Oh, who am I kidding, you'll be back there another 75 times, but at least you're doing more than just looking.) You'll find the starter on the backside of the motor. one way to find it is to trace the positive cable from the battery (and you disconnected it, RIGHT?), but on an '88 626, there's a quicker way to find it. Look for the oil filter. Yeah, the oil filter is also on the back of the motor. While I'm on that thought, maybe changing your oil would be a good idea at this juncture, since you're in the neighborhood. But I digress.

Just to the left (towards the driver side) of the oil filter, you'll see the starter/solenoid assembly. This sort of looks like a big long soup can with a much smaller soup can attached to it. It's held on by three bolts, two cables, and probably a couple decades of grime. The bottom bolt (Which I affectionately named the second least accessible bolt on the car) can only be reached from the underside of the car, so you can go ahead and pop that one off now.

With that bolt off, slide out from under your car, and it's time to get the two "topside" bolts. They're pretty well hidden, but if you find the starter, you'll be able to spot them. One is at about the top of the starter, and the other is towards the side nearest the firewall.

With all three of these bolts out, it's time to get the starter out. I did this from under the car, but I suppose that if your a masochistic contortionist, you could try it from the top side. Lying under the car, I gave the starter assembly a good pull, which dislodged it from the flywheel setup. After this, you can move the starter out of the way, and unbolt the battery cable. Disconnect the smaller cable, and your starter assembly should come right out. Word of advice: don't be directly under the starter while removing it. That sucker is heavy, and again, the wife, paramedics, etc, won't appreciate dealing with your concussion.

Now that the starter's out, take a good look at it. check the teeth out on the gear. Look for any worn, chipped, or broken spots. Use your thumb to rotate the gear, it should turn one way easily, but not the other. If this isn't the case, your starter motor has a problem.

If the gear looks fine, and the motor seems to turn one way like it aught to, take the whole assembly to the auto parts store. If the 626 was your only car in the home, you may need to offer to take a friend out to dinner in exchange for bing your chauffeur for a few hours.

Most parts stores have a starter tester in their arsenal. This is by far the easiest way to see what the problem is. If the problem is the solenoid, buy a new one, and swap it out on the motor. If the whole motor needs to be replaced, just cough up the 65 bucks to do it. Honestly, I'd rather have a fully rebuilt unit myself than to put any of the old unit back, but that's just me.



Once you get all your new parts, installation is basically reversal backwards. Make sure all your parts are back in place, button it all back together, and you're good to go.

Oh, and at this point, it's safe to reconnect your battery, but you knew that :-)