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1988 560sl starter

5K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  roncallo 
#1 ·
It appears as my starter gave up on me. Anyone out here have a spare in their garage (that is in good condition) that is up for adoption..
 
#6 ·
I gave it a couple hammer whacks to no avail. The weather here is in mid 70s
Early mornings are chilly. Before I left on my 4 months in florida it never failed to start. When i got home I went down to the shop and Put the battery charger on overnight on 2 amps. Next ay (after 10 hours of sleep) I went to shop and turned the engine over and it was a noisy start. I let her warm up and took her for a romp down to the lake and back ..a couple miles, parked her in front of the house, grabbed my po box keys and went to town to pick up months of mail.
I shut her down and got my carboard box of old mail and she almost didnt start but we got back home. Parked in front and shut her dow and went in and went thru the mail.

She hasnt done shit since then. Towed her up to the driveway and giving a push i coasted 35 mph down from house to shop and she coasted right up to car liff.
Got her in the air and did the hammer whacking but no luck. Roncallo is checking the wiring diagrams and contacting me this evening. Have not attempted to remove starter as of yet. Maybe john will give me something to check. I have nothing in manuals on 560sl. Reno4u gave me a disk at droidsters last year, 2015, but i cant find it.

After that 49 hour drive from florida to calif, im not too full of piss & vinegar so im doing some tractor bushogging on my fence lines and driveways. Got the leaf blower out and the weed eater and doing a bit of manual labor.

Is removing the 88 560sl starter a bitch of a task. Anyone have any tips to make it easier.
 
#4 ·
Post a picture of your tool combination you used to access that top bolt
on the Starter.
 
#5 ·
I have not much of value to say, so feel free to stop reading here. :)

I found the starter on the early v8 to be the same as the straight 6 m130, and I think that one was widely used. I'm not sure if it is the same as the later 560 starters. I know the starter on my 1992 m119 500sl is different because I need one.

I came back from vacation, and the battery had drained. Rrrr rrrr rrrr click. Every time after that when I tried to start the car regardless of fresh batteries, click (turning the key to start), click (releasing it from the start position). I am confident the starter was toast (as the solenoid is integrated). On the m119 500sl, getting to the starter requires removing the exhaust (or is a hell of a lot easier if you do). After the hammer, fully charged batteries, jumper cables with fresh batteries plus jump boxes etc, I let it sit through the very very cold weather as I awaited my purchase of a replacement exhaust.

Someone told me that bad starters will often do that when it's cold, but miraculously work when warmer. After weeks of letting it sit in the cold, we had a warm day. I went out to the car, turned the key and "Vroom!" And it's been starting ever since. I'm on borrowed time, awaiting the exhaust and reman starter to be removed from the donor vehicle. It was the week after Easter and cold when we came home, not too far from freezing temps. It was maybe 70 degrees when the starter began working again. Very strange IMO.
 
#8 ·
When using a hammer on the starter you need to have someone turning the key while you are hitting it:smile

This is what i use to remove top bolt on starter
 

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#9 ·
When using a hammer on the starter you need to have someone turning the key while you are hitting it:smile

Getting the timing right on that isn't very easy either. Try having your 7-year-old turning the key for you while you try to hit it with a hammer and catch a whack while he is in the process of turning it. I did hit mine while he was holding it in the start position, but it made no difference. I don't think we ever got the hammer whack to occur at the same time as the clicks. Here's MY video, NOT Dennis's.
https://youtu.be/eMOygRxGmJ8
 
#10 ·
I have always had someone hold the key then hit the starter with hammer. If power is there and impact is made and starter does not move it is bad
 
#11 ·
And often the only way to get a good whack on the starter with a hammer is to use a metal pipe, or something similar to hit with the hammer and deliver a blow to the starter. I could t figure this out the first time trying. I've never gotten the hammer trick to work. I've seen it work on someone's fuel pump though.
 
#12 ·
I called rocallo and he stepped me thru the starter checklist . End result is bad starter. Ordered one from autohaus rebuilt bosch... Saturday will drop rear trans down to allow
Me to get at top starter bolt... I have a 2 foot 3/8 extension and flex swivell to deal with that long reach...if push comes to shove,,,ill use the 3 ft 3/8 extension...

Tks guys..for the comments
 
#13 ·
Today turned out to be a surprising day. I put the 560sl on the car lift and started removing the starter. Removed rear trans support and discovered the two nylon bushings on the shifter lever to trans were GONE. i used the two from my 280sl auto to 5 spd manual and they fit perfect. Removed the starter in about 30 minutes. Laid it on the bench and it was locked up. The rebuilt one i purchased from autohauax will arrive on june 1st.

So looking in my parts I had 3 starters, all from the 280sl. Different part numbers but a identical match laying alongside the 560sl starter. So i took the newer one i purchased for my rebuilt m110 engine off the block and it fit perfectly in the 560 sl. Hooked it up and lowered down the lift, put cables back on battery and it started first try. Took a short 30 mile drive and stopped and started the car 4 times. Therefore I have a bosch 280sl starter
In my 560sl. Who would have thought this would work so easily.

Total time to replace 1 hour and 18 minutes.
 
#19 ·
The ticket is having a lift and air ools. The top bolt took me a bit longer because the bolt was so tight i ha to put a adapter from 3/8 to 1/2 to use my breaker bar to pop that one bolt loose. Then put air ratchet and it was out in seconds.

And how I new it to 78 minutes is because i set the timer on my phone for an appointment i had to go to the dentist cause i lost a crown.

I even took the tie rod off that has the shock abshober on it to get the starter out and back in.
 
#20 ·
No carl couldnt see that top bolt, its a hand feely job. Just close your eyes and pretend its 5 am and you woke up with a hard on and its still dark so you have to feel around to find that warm body next to you.

Yes the trans dropped down enough to find the allen head bolt easily. I wrapped a piece of black tape around my swivel to keep it from flopping around like a chicken with its head cut off.
 
#22 ·
No carl couldnt see that top bolt, its a hand feely job. Just close your eyes and pretend its 5 am and you woke up with a hard on and its still dark so you have to feel around to find that warm body next to you.
...

My daddy would tell me when I had trouble getting a bolt back in the hole
that I needed to put a little hair around it and then it wouldn't be a problem :smile

Thanks Dennis for the info.
 
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