Where does the starter bush go?

I reckon I'm gonna need a new starter and it tells me on vwh that I need to fit a new bush and I might need a tool to do it. At £60 for the tool I want to see where the bush needs to go so I can see if I can get away with not buying a tool I'm only goi g to use once. Cheers in advance guys

 

The bush (which is worth changing if you've got a new starter) lives in the bell housing casting and supports the pinion end of the starter shaft. If you've got a neck like ET, it's not that hard to change. I've done it, admittedly with the engine out, so I could see what I was doing.

Try screwing a suitably-sized tap (M8?) into it through the starter hole, then yank it out. Knock the new one in with a drift made from one of the starter bolts with a nut and a washer on it ( (c) L. Pettitt ). Soak it in engine oil before hand, so the metal soaks up oil.

A right fiddle, but doable. Main prob is craning your neck of while you're under the van ...

 

I could get my finger in that hole so I guessing it was not fitted in the first place as an m8 is 8mm right? Could be a result and the reason why the last starter has failed.

 

I'm guessing at M8 - don't take my word for it! I'll go out & check later on my spare box. The bush is pretty thin.

If the bush isn't there, the starter armature could chafe on the starter case, I suppose, as there's no other means of support.

 

Not sure of the size, but I've done it in situ with engine in as snotty describes. Easier than it looks.

 

Just measured mine for you and i get a cm for the inner diameter of the bush
I havent replaced mine thats the measurement of the one thats all ready fitted

 

this is what i do

 

oops, I didn't soak mine in oil when I fitted it. Does it matter?

 

Yes, it's porous and that's the only oil it'll ever get.

 

Next time you have the starter out, give it an oil-canning.

 

Brass is porus?

 

It's not brass. If you fill it with oil and pressurise it by squeezing the ends you see the oil bleeding through it very easily.

 

It's not brass, it's a type of bronze Brass is too hard and would pick up and jam too easily

M10 tap, and if you've got the later box, 215mm clutch, then don't bother with the tool as it isn't really long enough... fine for beetles/splits/pre 75 bays, but a 76 on has an extra 10/15mm in depth on the bellhousing, so the proper tool is a pain to use!!

And it wasn't £60 when I bought mine Was a while ago tho

 

That's not likely to be for a while. It's a subaru starter and I don't expect to be engaging in the same engine hokey-cokey as I used to with the aircooled engine.

 

Subaru starter looks to be one of 2 types, but both are technically self supporting

 

i believe the bush is phosphor bronze (like the end bearing on old Lucas dynamos). It'll slurp up oil

 

Cheers guys everyday is a school day as they say

 

Oil lite bushes are a sintered type of bronze and come pre-inpregnated with oil . If you warm it up you will see it will sweat oil ..they will not absorb any more oil if you try soaking them .

 

right ,you techie guys ,can you come to an agreement re this oil/don't oil? just that whilst waiting for parts to arrive I was gonna pull the starter and throw some oil at same part on my bus (because I am bored ) so ,do it /don"t do it?

 

I googled oiling sintered bronze bushes and found a few discussions

It seems that over time the oil can dry up and become tacky and there was a suggestion to clean the bush with acetone and oil with 3 in 1 oil afterwards
This was advice for an old bush though not a new one

Ive cleaned mine with acetone on a cotton earbud and the muck that came out of it was suprising considering id allready cleaned it with a rag
Ive plugged the end up with a piece of closed cell foam and stood the gearbox on end and filled the bush to the brim with 3 in 1 oil
That should give it a chance to soak up any oil it needs