About six months ago I had to replace the starter on the 90 Bonne. No big thing, about a half hour all told. Just had to replace the starter on son'* Grand Am with the Quad-4. R&R was just a few lines in the service manual. Six hours later we were done. At one point over three feet of extensions and a universal joint were involved.

Part of the problem was that the bolts were not merely tight but one 40 lb-ft spec bolt took several minutes with a half inch impact to free. The 74 lb-ft spec starter bolts were tighter. Not corroded, spun freely once loosened, just absurdly tight.

Second problem was blind replacement of bolts under the unremovable intake manifold. Could either see the bolt or hold it but not both. Good thing son was helping.

It always amazes me when I find impossible service items on the smaller GM cars but it frequently happens. Fortunately the larger cars seem to be made with a bit more room.

aint that the truth. i had to get ontop of the engine of my mom'* 93 taurus just to change the back 3 spark plug wires.

I had to do that. I had to do that to remove the heads. I had to get in, and sit on the fener to get the rear header off, I had to do a lot of **** like that. I was standing in the engine several times, too. Tight, yes, however the heads and headers were out in the front, so there was a good amount of room.


-justin

So basically what you're saying is that size DOES matter!!!

'86 Pontiac 6000. That 2.5L four'* distrubutor was on the back of the motor. And down.

I can relate; I had 2 different Grand Ams that gave me plenty of gray hairs whilst trying to fix them! :(