How do you replace the starter on a 1995 Plymouth Voyager van?

Answer 1

I just did my '95 Grand Voyager today. The starter is on the front , bottom of the engine almost dead center left and right. If you are real skinny, you could do this job without raising the front end. I am not, so I had to jack the front up about 4" so I could get under it. (Don't forget to set the parking brake, put the van in park, block rear tires and use jack stands in case it tries to shift or fall. Disconnect the positive battery cable from the battery before starting this job. There are three wires to the starter. Two positive wires are on the left end of the starter facing the front of the van. Remove these two before removing the starter bolts. One is the starter cable (large wire) the other is the solenoid wire (smaller wire). The starter cable is a ring terminal down in a boot on the rear of the starter. I used a 6 point 1/2" socket on it. It is probably a 12mm or 13mm metric nut but I didn't have a metric socket. The solenoid wire terminal is in a plastic housing that snaps into the starter terminal just beside the starter cable. The locking tab for the plastic housing plug can be released by pushing up on the locking tab with a small screw driver and pulling on the plastic housing with a pair of long needle nosw pliers. (I don't recommend pulling on the wire that snaps into the plastic plug) The Third wire is a ground wire that was under one of the starter bolts. I almost missed this when I put the starter back in. There are two bolts holding the starter. They are 15mm. You get to them from the right side (facing the front of the van) The bottom one is just below and in front of one of the trans. huosing bolts. you can get to this bolt from the top of the engine. To remove the bottom one you will need preferably a 15 mm socket and about a 6"-8" extension. (I used a 5/8" 6 point socket as I didn't have a 15mm socket). This bolt is in a tough location because of cables and hoses. Just takes patience to thread the extension through all of the hoses and cables to get it straight on the bolt. Make sure where the ground wire is when removing these bolts so you will know where to put it back. I am not sure which it was under as I didn't notice it when I took out the bolts. The second starter bolt is higher and more to the front. It is in a tighter location than the other as far as getting your fingers in there to take it out. You will probably need to get to this one from under the van. I used a 15mm box wrench. It took a lot of moving the wrench but was not bad. Again there is a wiring harness that runs right across the opening to get into the bolt that makes it hard to reach and turn. When you get the starter bolts out, the starter comes out toward the left side (facing the front of the van). This was the simplest part of the whole job. Check and clean the starter cable and solenoid wire terminals before installing the new starter. This will make sure the new starter has good electrical connections and there is no excessive voltage drop due to corrosion or dirt. The starter goes back in the reverse of the way it came out. There is a metal plate between the starter and the engine. Make sure this is in place and aligned properly when puting the starter back in. ( I knocked it out several times bumping it with the starter. Some good masking tape will help hold it until the starter is seated, then pull the tape loose. With the right tools, this can be done easily in 1-1/2 to 2 hours. It takes a lot of patience as the starter bolts are hard to get at to take out and to put back in. I hope this information helps someone. It took me a while just to find where the starter was located.