bork Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 My kids 1996 impreza wagon might need the starter replaced. I'm going to check connections and relay in morning. I have an old spare starter somewhere, but how hard is it to change out? Special tool combo set up or any other things need to be moved or relocated? I was hoping to replace in parking lot instead of having towed. I did the beating on starter and the starter would grind over slowly. The battery already been swapped out and voltage checked ok and cables look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan909 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 I've never had an Impreza, just Legacy and Outback wagons and Foresters, but I'd be surprised if there were any difference, because they're all the same engines. Other than pulling the air box and pushing some hoses and wires around, it's a nut and a bolt that holds it to the bell housing. The nut under the starter can be a bit of a PITA to get at, but you can still do it from above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 6 hours ago, bork said: My kids 1996 impreza wagon might need the starter replaced. I'm going to check connections and relay in morning. I have an old spare starter somewhere, but how hard is it to change out? Special tool combo set up or any other things need to be moved or relocated? I was hoping to replace in parking lot instead of having towed. I did the beating on starter and the starter would grind over slowly. The battery already been swapped out and voltage checked ok and cables look good. Easy - two fasteners, the one is a bit blind but not that big of a deal. Sounds like you have but make sure the power supply and cables are good. Also you can replace the $20 contacts inside and be good to go. The starter brushes and motor are almost always fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 Look into the relay mod for triggering the starter motor. It takes the load off the ignition switch when in the start position. Easily a car park job. Disconnect the battery and remove the positive cable from the starter motor before removing it from the bell housing Cheers Bennie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bork Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 Thank you all so much for answers. Does look doable but I'm a little worried my big fat arm, wrist ,fingers wont contort enough to get that lower fastener, with the hoses in the way. I noticed some search replies were referring to a relay mod , but links are so old they dont work. I didn't see anything in the stickies. Anyone have any good link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan909 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 18 minutes ago, bork said: Does look doable but I'm a little worried my big fat arm, wrist ,fingers wont contort enough to get that lower fastener, with the hoses in the way. What about the aforementioned kid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvu Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 9 hours ago, el_freddo said: Disconnect the battery and remove the positive cable from the starter motor before removing it from the bell housing Definitely disconnect the battery. Also I've had a wrench fall between the positive terminal and an ac line. After the sparks stopped there was a nice hole in the tube. Now I prefer pulling the negative side and leaving the positive terminal covered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, bork said: Thank you all so much for answers. Does look doable but I'm a little worried my big fat arm, wrist ,fingers wont contort enough to get that lower fastener, with the hoses in the way. I noticed some search replies were referring to a relay mod , but links are so old they dont work. I didn't see anything in the stickies. Anyone have any good link? You can use extensions to get a socket back there and wrench it extended out to about the brake master cylinder. Then play blindfolded whack a mole until the socket seats on the nut. Just make sure you got the right nut size - shoukd be 14mm. Then you’re not sticking your hands down there really anyway. If you can’t get it back on the remaining fastener is more than adequate. Lol Edited July 31, 2023 by idosubaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan909 Posted August 1, 2023 Share Posted August 1, 2023 19 hours ago, nvu said: Definitely disconnect the battery. Also I've had a wrench fall between the positive terminal and an ac line. After the sparks stopped there was a nice hole in the tube. Now I prefer pulling the negative side and leaving the positive terminal covered. Absotively - I always pull the ground (first) rather than +12. There are some other delightful failure modes as well, such as your big college ring or metal watchband coming between that wrench and ground. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted August 6, 2023 Share Posted August 6, 2023 On 7/31/2023 at 4:01 PM, nvu said: Definitely disconnect the battery. Also I've had a wrench fall between the positive terminal and an ac line. After the sparks stopped there was a nice hole in the tube. Now I prefer pulling the negative side and leaving the positive terminal covered. I routinely avoid the disconnect battery step. I’ve worked on totaled wrecked Subarus airbags without pulling the battery. I’ve removed and replaced airbags in running Subarus to leave the AC on while I’m disassembling the ceiling and interior for the side impact curtain air bags. That takes forever and the back gets hot in the summer. I’ve plugged and unplugged airbags countless times in vehicles that are on. Bad idea I know but there it is I’ve also tied string to a wrench and pulled it right to a brand new fully charged battery posts and nothing but a small spark or three happened. Boring and disappointing. The type of wrench and it’s alloy/hardening or coating matters. The hard part was deciding when it was safe to go push the wrench off. Lol. Of course I’m not recommending any of this, and as an engineer with excessive Subaru experience I am discerning and will disconnect sometimes…and of course one day it will end badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan909 Posted August 6, 2023 Share Posted August 6, 2023 10 hours ago, idosubaru said: I routinely avoid the disconnect battery step. I’ve worked on totaled wrecked Subarus airbags without pulling the battery. I’ve removed and replaced airbags in running Subarus to leave the AC on while I’m disassembling the ceiling and interior for the side impact curtain air bags. That takes forever and the back gets hot in the summer. I’ve plugged and unplugged airbags countless times in vehicles that are on. Bad idea I know but there it is I’ve also tied string to a wrench and pulled it right to a brand new fully charged battery posts and nothing but a small spark or three happened. Boring and disappointing. The type of wrench and it’s alloy/hardening or coating matters. The hard part was deciding when it was safe to go push the wrench off. Lol. Of course I’m not recommending any of this, and as an engineer with excessive Subaru experience I am discerning and will disconnect sometimes…and of course one day it will end badly. Hold my beer - watch this. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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