I am in the process of changing the starter motor.

I have managed to get the old one detached but I have tried for an hour to drop it down via the little triangular opening in the sub frame. I have watched the Ed China you tube video where he manages to do it and I think he is working on a 4.4tdv8 like mine.......I have had it in every configuration possible and it won't drop.

It appears there is simply not enough clearance above for me to get this thing straightened up so that it will drop out vertically. There are no obvious spaces or voids above the loose starter motor to push it into so that I can straighten it sufficiently to allow it to drop out of this gap in the subframe (Seems to be two separate heat shields which keep impinging any progress)..

I will remove the wheel tomorrow and the heat shields and attempt to get it out that way (sideways).

Was your suspension raised prior to starting ? I had my wheel and heat shield off for easy access, but it came out via the triangle opening you mentioned. If it helps, it took me over an hour, and it felt like it was impossible, until suddenly it wasn't. Pretty sure it came out with the pinion facing downwards, and it needed a twist while rotating, but it's not a job I ever want to do again!

Buckie1967 wrote:

I am in the process of changing the starter motor.

I have managed to get the old one detached but I have tried for an hour to drop it down via the little triangular opening in the sub frame. ...).

Thanks guys.......

The swearing started when I first got under the vehicle and noted one of my newly repaired brake pipes weeping slightly which I paid a mechanic to replace a week ago as the originals were corroded.

I put the cars suspension up high to off road and then drove the front wheels up onto two breeze blocks to help a little more with access. So I am doing this job on my drive but to be fair I have plenty of room under the vehicle.

I did note in the video that the end of the SM that was unbolted (which contains the gearing) came out last when it dropped down out of the triangle part of the sub frame.

Thinking about the suspension height....would this really make a difference attacking the problem from underneath. Wouldn't the subframe leave the same gap above it no matter what the ride height is? I thought this may only make a difference if attempting access from the side via the wheel arch where the antisway bar becomes an issue.

I am going to fit a parallel trigger wire (50amp 6mm2) too, and treat the front subframe to some wire brushing, Neutrarust primer finished off with some Lanoguard.

and then source one of the undertrays which is missing!!!

Update.....I removed the front drivers wheel and the side heat shield (the flexible tin one which is secured with 4 screws, not the metal one above the SM) and this gave a little more head room to manoeuvre the SM so that I could drop it down out of the subframe.

New SM fitted, fresh trigger wire spliced into the existing wire and it started first time on the button so hopefully that is the end of that issue for the foreseeable.

It started to play up when I was away at the Lake District so just glad I was able to get home. I already had a new SM in my garage as it is like a Land Rover parts warehouse.

Many thanks to the contributors on this board it is fantastic and one of the reasons I purchased an L322 due to the wealth of knowledge at your finger tips.

Great work, rewarding job to complete. Mine was okay with intermittent starting for a couple of months, but was getting worse very quickly so not one to sleep on!

Changed the starter on my 3.6 V8 yesterday using this as a guide.
Took about 2-3 hours including break to remove Range Rover from my eye.(this happens a lot here)
I used a new Denso unit which was exactly the same as what came off.
Everything worked as advertised no drama really,starter came out the side with the wheel still attached.
Everything is tight but it will come out, I jacked up the car to make the front suspension drop which definitely made the front ARB give me more room.
I put the suspension into off road and drove up onto a couple of blocks to gain extra height.
I cut an old 17mm spanner in half to get at the positive lead nut, this made things a lot easier as my selection of sockets and ratchets didn’t fit too well.
Will carry out the trigger wire mod next time the sun shines.
Investigated the solenoid on the old starter to find it full of water so I’m surprised it worked at all!

Today I replaced my previous preventative bike starter relay at the starter solenoid with 4mm2 wire direct from the fuse box. On 2 occasions the bike relay had to be removed, firstly to remove the starter motor to fit a crankshaft locking tool then recently to lean the steering rack over to replace the input shaft seal after which I didn't refit the bike relay. The parallel wire is a simpler solution, not adding more electrical complexity and no bulk at the starter solenoid.