Hey guys,

Trying to remove my starter and am having a really tough time loosening both the top and bottom bolts. So far I've been following the Mod Mini video but both bolts seem way too tight. So far I've tried about 3 feet of extensions for the lower bolt running along the axle, but the bolt just won't budge. Any tips here? I'm using a series of wobble extensions, but is it possible that these are not applying torque to the bolt effectively? Same story with the upper bolt, not budging at all.

I also tried spraying both bolts with penetrating fluid but no movement yet.

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, it is possible and probably your problem. Recently I did some work on the MINI (not sure what it was, probably the crank pulley) and had an issue getting one bolt loose. Was using a standard extension on it (whatever it was) and it would not break free. Switched over to an impact extension and it popped loose. Tried multiple times with the original setup before switching the extension. I concluded that extension was not transferring the torque as much as the impact one was. SAF does not make any sense to me but... thats what happened.

Ditch the wobbles and pull it apart as much as you need to so your able to get a solid grip on the bolts...

 

Thanks! We picked up 2 20" 1/2 extensions that should be able to handle the torque and are not wobbles. I'll see how that goes. At this point I think I was taking the wrong path to the starter bolts from the wheel well. I'll probably post some pictures and maybe a video if the new method works.

 

Those bolts are next to impossible to see, but I did mine from underneath and rested the head of the ratchet on the block. After you get it loose, pass it up past the power steering reservoir (I think you'll need to loosen the overflow and the PS reservoir) and out the top, just keep rotating it to get it past this and that on the way up, not easy, but better than some of the alternatives.

 

Heat heat and more heat , if you can get a butane torch and hit the bolts for abit or even the starter to expand the holes around the bolts to free them..starters junk anyways . Heat that sucka up !

 

Alright guys, ended up getting the lower bolt with a good old fashioned 1/2" breaker bar and a few extensions (about 3 feet worth). I was taking the wrong path from the wheel well to the starter. The correct line is directly along the axle just under the oil cooler. With the correct set of extensions you can get them just above the rotor to put a huge breaker bar on the setup. The breaker bar really is needed to crack the bolt loose as it was tighter than the lug nut torque spec!

I'll post a video and pictures of the whole setup in a little while. The upper bolt was easier to use a normal wrench (pointing towards the firewall) and crack it loose by using a pipe or something similar for leverage on the wrench with a rubber mallet. I also soaked both bolts in penetrating fluid even though they had no corrosion whatsoever.

 

My dad and I made a short video detailing exactly how to remove the bottom bolt since this one had us thinking for about a day. Good luck with your starter woes!

 

Just replaced the starter on my 2006 r50. Thanks for posting the youtube video. Helped me plan accordingly.

Top starter bolt was an absolute pain to remove and took some threads from the transmission bellhousing with it. Bottom one was easier to break loose with about 20” of 1/2” extensions. I initially got a super long 3/8” extension but it had too much flex when I put the breaker bar on it.

For the top bolt, the threads were so bad that I had to get a sacrificial bolt from the junkyard and cut reliefs to make a homemade thread chaser.

Good luck to all those tackling this project!

Makeshift thread chaser made from a starter bolt with 4 1”slots made along the threads.