How do I remove hidden bolt on starter?

[lover]

I have a 96GT and the starter is bad.I removed the one from the bottom but I can't hardly even see the top bolt.Where exactly is it and what tool do I need to remove it? Thx in Advance.....The Foe Hammer

 

[banditmwp]

my best advice...find a brick wall and

There are actually 3 bolts in the starter...one is on the bottom, one 90 degrees around from it, near the solenoid, then another on the top. The one on the top is the real b***h. You have to get about 3 feet of extensions and a swivel and go in from the front of the tire, go below the manifold and above the upper control arm, and just kinda reach up there and guide the socket onto the bolt.

It was a PITA, took me and an ASE certified tech (not a Ford guy, though) over an hour to figure out how to get to it.

Have fun, and lose the bolt when you get it out...I've been running the '96 on two starter bolts for two years with no problems now

edit - if you for some reason want to reinstall that bolt, don't ask me how!!

 

[bdcardinal]

just get extensions and swivels. at the dealer i used a universal jointed impact socket and kept attaching swivels until i could get teh 1/2" impact gun on the end and blast it off.

 

[Back2Mustangs]

A few weekends ago I tackled the "secret" bolt during a clutch swap... Same as u guys, I used about 2 or 2 and a half feet of extensions and two swivels. I went at the bolt from the front, through the hole in the k-member. I put the bolt back in, but man was it a b|tch ...I had the help of a friend also. I think it is deffinitely a job that requires four hands....

 

[damacman]

Come on! My wife has replaced the starter on her 'stang in the past . . . and put all three bolts back in! Use 1/4 inch drive stuff - a mid well snap-on socket and 6" extension and you can remove the top bolt just like that.

 

[SilverSteed]

Good Luck man...as the others said, the bolt does not have to be reinstalled. Get a case of beer and everything will be ok.

Andy

 

[NasaGT]

Come on! My wife has replaced the starter on her 'stang in the past . . . and put all three bolts back in! Use 1/4 inch drive stuff - a mid well snap-on socket and 6" extension and you can remove the top bolt just like that.

Thank you!!! The starter is pretty easy to get off if you use the right tools. 1/4 inch ratchet will make it easy to get that bolt on and off.

 

[Wrtrmike]

Ok, so you used a 1/4 drive socket and ratchet... on a GT how about on a Cobra with the big exhaust pipes?
i can barely squeak a finger around the bell housing to feel the darn bolt (which appears to have been cross threaded in by the dealer when they replace a noisy throw out bearing back in 1999 while under warrantee.)?
i cant even get my hand anywhere near this bolt... I took the other two bolts out and this third bolt is definitely not tight because the starter wobbles around but won't come out. I was able to get a 1/4 drive socket and a wire style flex extension on the bolt but i couldn't budge it...
y'all that used a bunch of extensions, do you recall the lengths and were you used swivels?

 

[wmburns]

What I have done is to use a 13mm flex socket and a very long extension. Feed the extensions through the K-member. Guide the flex socket onto the top bolt. Turn the socket from the front of the motor.