Thanks Sevey, I tried to clear up the ambiguous parts of all the other starter installation threads so a person familiar with a wrench but not a mechanic could follow it step by step. Thanks to those in the past that set the stage for this VERY SIMPLIFIED approach, great work!
You are exactly right, as you ease the motor mount bolts gently inward, there will be a moment when it passes out of the threaded collar and into the rubber mount, at this point the engine will drop down as you see a 1/4" or so. Easy way to know it is clear. Push mount bolts in slowly so they DO NOT drop out of the rubber portion of the mount. If they do, you just added removal of your a-arms and lower front plastics to your project as you can't access the bolts easily to re-insert them. This is where my 18" 1/4" extension worked perfect (wondered when I bought the 12" one when I would use it - added a 6" to it to get 18"). You can slip a 17mm socket on the 18" extension from the opposite side and capture the bolt head and gently put pressure on the bolt as you jack it into alignment and it simply slips back into the threaded collars, amazing again how simple that was.
Back to removal, once the bolts are clear, then you simply jack up the engine, first the suspension will decompress and very little engine up motion, then as the skis come off the concrete blocks (so now your 2x4x8" block on the jack in the only thing holding the sled in the front) the next few jack pulls only moves the engine up rotating easily on the rear engine mount bolt (very long bolt, side to side it appears). You don't need to touch the rear engine mount bolt, it allows rotation as is. Things were surprisingly stable with the three point support and i was comfortable being under it.
KEY is not to try to remove the starter while it is horizontal, if you do you have to push the engine up even more to clear the two casting bumps (red arrows below) for the bolts. The "drop out" of the starter people have mentioned means you have to go 50% more with the engine up, maybe even remove the steering shaft as the airbox starts to hit is, also stretches all the hoses connected I suspect (oil, coolant) and brings the radiator interference into play. All NOT required, instead of "drop out" the blue arrows show what I did, [1] pull starter out of engine by gently prying flat head screwdriver against engine and starter end, mine slid out easily as well lubricated inside [2] rotate starter vertical with the gear up as plenty of room above, then [3] while vertical slide down between bumps (red arrows). Not having to go that extra 1/2" to clear the bumps is huge, means the airbox does even come close to the steering shaft, the front engine mounts don't even move beyond the alignment threaded collars (which I suspect is why some have to mess with unscrewing these collars). Very simple, very limited engine motion required. I had my starter right there next to me, greases gear and o-ring and as I pulled the old starter out, aligned new one with it exactly and reversed the motion to get back up and in position. Wiggled the starter by rotating it every so slightly and the gear meshed into the engine gear like greased lightning, starter mounts aligned perfectly (lower bolt first, then upper). I was actually shocked how simple as I realized I just saved $1000 and it was not any harder than removing my skid! My old starter spins smoothly so likely only needs a brush kit ($36) and now I have a back up. I may look into the starter saver LED that tells you if the starter remains hot after starting as this can destroy it silently as it will be rotating at engine RPM (yikes!). Good luck, nuts anyone would disconnect anything other then front engine mount bolts to do this project let alone remove engine!
You are exactly right, as you ease the motor mount bolts gently inward, there will be a moment when it passes out of the threaded collar and into the rubber mount, at this point the engine will drop down as you see a 1/4" or so. Easy way to know it is clear. Push mount bolts in slowly so they DO NOT drop out of the rubber portion of the mount. If they do, you just added removal of your a-arms and lower front plastics to your project as you can't access the bolts easily to re-insert them. This is where my 18" 1/4" extension worked perfect (wondered when I bought the 12" one when I would use it - added a 6" to it to get 18"). You can slip a 17mm socket on the 18" extension from the opposite side and capture the bolt head and gently put pressure on the bolt as you jack it into alignment and it simply slips back into the threaded collars, amazing again how simple that was.
Back to removal, once the bolts are clear, then you simply jack up the engine, first the suspension will decompress and very little engine up motion, then as the skis come off the concrete blocks (so now your 2x4x8" block on the jack in the only thing holding the sled in the front) the next few jack pulls only moves the engine up rotating easily on the rear engine mount bolt (very long bolt, side to side it appears). You don't need to touch the rear engine mount bolt, it allows rotation as is. Things were surprisingly stable with the three point support and i was comfortable being under it.
KEY is not to try to remove the starter while it is horizontal, if you do you have to push the engine up even more to clear the two casting bumps (red arrows below) for the bolts. The "drop out" of the starter people have mentioned means you have to go 50% more with the engine up, maybe even remove the steering shaft as the airbox starts to hit is, also stretches all the hoses connected I suspect (oil, coolant) and brings the radiator interference into play. All NOT required, instead of "drop out" the blue arrows show what I did, [1] pull starter out of engine by gently prying flat head screwdriver against engine and starter end, mine slid out easily as well lubricated inside [2] rotate starter vertical with the gear up as plenty of room above, then [3] while vertical slide down between bumps (red arrows). Not having to go that extra 1/2" to clear the bumps is huge, means the airbox does even come close to the steering shaft, the front engine mounts don't even move beyond the alignment threaded collars (which I suspect is why some have to mess with unscrewing these collars). Very simple, very limited engine motion required. I had my starter right there next to me, greases gear and o-ring and as I pulled the old starter out, aligned new one with it exactly and reversed the motion to get back up and in position. Wiggled the starter by rotating it every so slightly and the gear meshed into the engine gear like greased lightning, starter mounts aligned perfectly (lower bolt first, then upper). I was actually shocked how simple as I realized I just saved $1000 and it was not any harder than removing my skid! My old starter spins smoothly so likely only needs a brush kit ($36) and now I have a back up. I may look into the starter saver LED that tells you if the starter remains hot after starting as this can destroy it silently as it will be rotating at engine RPM (yikes!). Good luck, nuts anyone would disconnect anything other then front engine mount bolts to do this project let alone remove engine!
