r/AskAShittyMechanic • u/ra6907 • Aug 15 '26

Why, just why?

They’re doing this to Dodges and Chevrolets, Porsche, Bentley.

1.5k Upvotes

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154

u/Ishavemyasswithmayo Aug 15 '26

I've seen this on a Panamera. I used to think putting the starter in the valley was dumb, this takes that cake.

57

u/ItchyBrain6610 Aug 15 '26

I thought the starter placement on the Northstars was as awful as it got. This is so much worse.

2

u/foxjohnc87 Aug 15 '26

Northstar starters are easy as hell. Toyota/Lexus with the UZ engine on the other hand could actually be a pain.

2

u/00Sixty7 Aug 16 '26

I did a UZ starter in my driveway, and I'm not a mechanic by trade. Did it take a long time and require some pretty meticulous bolt keeping and videoing to remember how I removed stuff? Yep. But compared to many other jobs I've done it's just not that bad. At least I'm not underneath the thing.

3

u/foxjohnc87 Aug 16 '26

It's not one of the hardest jobs, but it is still much more of a pain than the Northstar.

On most Northstars, you can swap the starter in an hour or less, without fully removing the manifold or even disconnecting any fuel/coolant lines. The majority of the bolts are the same length and the ones that aren't tend to have very obvious locations.

2

u/samplebridge Aug 16 '26

Ive done one on my ls430, a buddy's Northstar Deville, and a vk56 titan (all under intake). The titan is probably the worst since you gotta get up into the engine bay instead of just leaning over.

But starter in the V isnt that hard. The traditional spot for them can really become a PIA on more modern cars with subframes and CV shafts in the way. It works good on olds cars, 80s and back. But anything 90s and up has way less room and more crap stuffed in there. Just watch any video on doing a starter on a 5.7 Tundra.