It seems that my spoiled child has decided that she does not wish to leave the comfort and safety of her new garage.
On the day we took posession of our new home, we also found a truck and decided to park Shug in the garage for a much deserved rest. Afer a couple of weeks of unpacking and riding shotgun, I decided I'd had my fill of being passenger and jumped in my car to run to town. As I walked out with my keys in my hand, I grinned jokingly at my hubby and ask him "Do you think she'll start?" she's never failed me yet, like I said, I was joking.
Well... she didn't. The first thought was that the battery was low since it is the original Motorcraft installed at the factory. When I'd turn the key, whe whirred as thought the starter is turning, but not pushing out far enough to engage the flywheel. Just a high speed whirr and a zing. So, we put some jumper cables on her and gave it a go. Same thing. Then we tried pushing her an inch or two while in 5th gear to knock it loose, again, nothing.
Yesterday Dick raised her up and had a look. When I asked him how hard it looked he came back with "Well.. there's definitely a started under there, I can see it... sort of." then raised one eyebrow and gave me that "This is going to be a knuckle buster" look.
Have any of you out there changed a starter on one of these? If so just how hard is it to get in and out? Any secret lieelt tricks to it? I have the book, and the CD, but they generally just give you the part AFTER they have removed all the parts blocking your access.
In the old days, I would swap starters on my Chevy trucks, that was a piece of cake. I somehow suspect this little gem will be a whole nuther story.
Kate