changing starter on 3.4

i have what appears to be a starter problem which i of course will remove and have checked,i thought it was the battery but it checked out fine,car would start okay for the last few weeks then if turned off would be very sluggish as if starter dragging,of course a bad cell in battery has simular results too,it finally reached a point where i had to jump start it to get it started a few times,then upon trying to do that it wpold not start or even offer more then a few turns slow,there's no clicking such as a solinoid,even the hot cable isn't really heating up much,but the battery checks out so the dragging effect must be a bad starter,question is more to speak my manuels all point out that the oil cooler must be taken down before removing starter,is this a must or can the starter be removed by itself.