SD22 starter Replacement

[cseger1]

I replaced my starter yesterday with the Napa rebuild unit everyone gets. I thought I would put a post here about what I learned.

SD22 Starter remove and replace:


You need socket extensions, I had three. 2 x 12” and a 6”. One of them needs a wobbler end. You need a 14mm socket and a 14mm deep socket. A 9/16 might also come in handy if you’re having trouble getting the socket over the top bolt. A small wooden wedge made from the tail of a 2x4 cut at about 30 degrees.

Remove the air filter plenum and tube.
From the radiator you can sight an almost straight line to the top bolt. You will see maybe 1/3 of the bolt and a little of the starter mounting flange. Put together about 2.5 feet of socket extension and the deep socket on the wobbler end. I found the deep socket followed the path along the starter body better than using a regular socket. I balanced my new starter on the side of the engine bay to use as a reference for targeting that bolt. It was super hard to get the socket to seat and eventually required me to use a bit of coat hanger wire to reach in and clear all the gunk surrounding my bolt. Once the gunk was gone it seated easily and I spun the bolt right out.

For the lower mounting bolt I used 1.5 feet of extensions and reached in from in front of the crossmember. It was a really easy bolt to get to. Hardest part was jacking up the truck.

Once both bolts are out, the starter goes up and out. It does not clear the oil line for the alternator on my truck so I had to unscrew the fitting at the engine and the starter pushed past the motor mount and oil line no problem. Remove the starter wire from the battery but leave it connected to the starter. It makes a wonderful handle to pull that heavy bastard up with.

Getting that top bolt was so slow and difficult I feared I pull never get it back in. But I used a couple tricks and it went super easy.

First trick, put that big wire on your new starter first thing so you have some extra ways to handle that heavy mofo. Next get that wedge I mentioned earlier. Once you have lowered the starter in place, use th wedge to hold it in place. Jam the wedge between the starter and the motor mount. You’ll need to fiddle some to line up the holes enough to start your bolt back in. I used some electrical tape in the 14mm socket to hold the bolt. I really got it jammed in there. With a couple extensions pushing the bolt through the flange, I twisted the starter around until the bolt threads caught in the hole in the transmission. I tightened it about 80% of the way so that when lining up the lower bolt, I could push the starter around a enough to find the sweet spot.

I hope this helps someone, it’s a really easy job if you get the right tools together.

[waynosworld]

I can get either starter(gear reduction or direct drive) in/out without removing either the air filter plenum and tube or the oil line feeding the vacuum pump, but not the first time, I had to remove the oil line that time, once you have done this a few times you figure it out.

In my case I have a lot more to deal with as you can see in the attached photo below, I have to remove the alternator to even get to the starter thru a hole below the turbocharger, it takes half a day or more to R&R the starter, not something I look forward to.

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I hope you got a good starter with a good solenoid, in my opinion the solenoids on rebuilds are garbage, I now install a relay with a button that supplies power to the starter motor side of the solenoid to force the motor to turn, the newly installed rebuilt starter did not even work properly for a week, I had the same issue with the starter before, and this time I installed a heat shield to keep the solenoid/starter cool as the down pipe and exhaust manifold are fairly close to the starter/solenoid, if all the starter does is click and it takes 20 times before it actually works you will need to do something about it or it will leave you stranded or greasy/dirty dealing with it, I have had people help me push start it to get it home, and that is not easy to do unless your on a hill.

[cseger1]

I used to whack it with a wrench and then short it with a screwdriver any time it acted up. Hoping the new one will be better behaved.

[waynosworld]

I gave up on diesel starters working properly a few years ago, I now install a relay connected to the battery, the other cable goes straight to the starter motor post, when I turn the key if the starter does not turn I hit the button for the relay and the starter motor turns every time, it may not engage but half the time the key works the next time, most the time when I hit the button the engine starts.

I have never had a rebuilt starter work properly for more than a week, the parts used to rebuild them are crap, especially the solenoids.