How To Replace The Starter On A Honda Element Without Removing The Intake Manifold

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Owing to factors beyond the control of How to Automotive/Brian Eslick, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modification of this information, or improper use of this information. How to Automotive/Brian Eslick assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any information contained in this video. How to Automotive/Brian Eslick recommends safe practice when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jacks and jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemical lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Because of factors beyond the control of How to Automotive/Brian Eslick, no information contained in this video shall express or imply warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not How to Automotive/Brain Eslick. #howtoautomotive #AutomotiveRepair

[martymartian]

One of the best no nonsense videos I’ve seen. Kept to the point without a whole bunch of useless dialogue. I wish more would learn from this his. Great job.

[mwess]

I work on Honda's for a living and I never even thought to try this! Although, I do so many of those starters that I can have that intake off in about 2 minutes and ultimately it's worth the extra room you get. I've never had that 14mm long shank bolt come loose that easy!! But, that's why I'm subbed to your channel, I always love to see how other people take new approaches to the same problem.

[johnlove]

This must be one of the GREATEST HOW TO VIDEOS of all time. He tells exactly what tools to useand how to do it unlike those that just say take it off. Also great because he gives NO BS. Many HOW TO VIDEOS spend more time on unrelated BS than on actually HOW TO turning a 7 minuite video into an hour of wasted time. GREAT

[mattfoley]

2:37 Both starter bolts on mine were so tight I needed to use a 3' pipe for leverage. I did mine from the top as shown in the service manual. Took about 8 hours with frequent breaks and cursing at Honda engineers who designed this.

[tomcoon]

This video was very helpful. Needed a friend to hold the light as it was difficult to see while working under the car. Took 2 /12 hours to complete the job. Thank you very much!

[errettstuart]

I decided to follow your video and go at it from underneath. Since my car was stuck outside it saved me a lot of hassle not getting rained on. Great to see so much detail on how it's done. Thank you for the good video quality. Took me quite a bit longer using basic hand tools but it would have been much harder without your walkthrough. Thanks for sharing!

[ryans]

Glad I came across this video my starter just went out at a gas station about ten miles from my house. Rains coming in and I didn’t want to try and take the manifold off. Luckily a buddy of mine is going to help he’s a dismantler at a salvage yard and has all the small extensions and wiggle sockets etc. hope to have it done and back at my house tonight. Thanks for the vid this will be fun doing it with jacks and stands lol

[froby_flingit]

I am so glad I found this video, I was able to replace my KNOCK sensor today. My original Honda sensor went bad a few months ago, I paid my mechanic some serious $$$ to remove intake and replace, but I bought some cheapo aftermarket sensor and car was pinging under load climbing hills etc, I purchased original Honda Knock Sensor and used your technique and it worked like a charm. Thanks! No more pinging.

[goodnamesareallgone]

Thank you! I just finished and the old Honda started up immediately. I don't know how you got the great camera angles but they helped lots. This was a frustrating job since there's usually room for only one set of fingers in there. The only thing I did different was not to unbolt the support bracket. I was still able to take the starter out, but maybe not as easy. Thanks again...I am so happy to not have to touch the manifold and spend even more money on gaskets.

[pennhiker]

After purchasing a 1/4 flex head ratchet, I found you can pull starter out towards you, lower and twist the starter and you have enough room to use a standard 1/4" ratchet. Awesome video, saved me lots of money. Yeah, I'm still going to keep the flex head though.

[mr.airsoft]

I’m going to be honest, it was a lot more tricky then how it seems in the video, but it can be done, even if it is the original starter in there. Great video.

[chuckjirik]

Tried this with car on jack stands. Offering a couple of potentially helpful hints. Before starting with tools I used PB Blaster on the bolts as I live in the rust belt. Blaster will give you a healthy stream needed in such tight quarters. On the 12 v feed on top, you can use a 3/8 flex head ratchet once you have the starter unbolted and pulled up vertically. Finding a 1/4 flex head ratchet is hard and expensive. Once you have the 12v lead off the old starter, loosely tape back the rubber boot with electrical tape and leave an exposed end of the tape. The will retract the boot so it is not in the way when you are putting it back on the solenoid. Once you have the lead tightened on the new starter, use the exposed end of the tape to unwind the tape and reattach the rubber boot.

Most important, when putting the new starter in while positioning it vertical nose down insert loosely the 14mm long shank bolt with stud into the mounting hole located on the backside of the new starter while the starter is still in the vertical position. Do this before you place the starter horizontally towards the crankcase. Try to keep the bolt from falling out so you do not need to try to blindly insert it after you have done the hand tightened 17mm bolt. I am small, but even with little fingers I could not ffed the 14mm from a horizontal position.

Great video. And new starter installed...but more than one hour.

[robertojames]

Great video, but I'm an old guy with large hands and a touch of arthritis. I struggled for a while but it became obvious that I would NEVER get the starter out from the bottom. I did one from the top some years ago and I remember it being a struggle too, but at least I got it done. This time I gave up after wasting too much time struggling with the bottom method and went in from the top. I had a manifold and throttle body gasket in hand, that's important. My previous difficulty was because I couldn't get the manifold out without removing the large resonator and since that is bolted in from the back, it was a REAL PITA. This time I wised up and took the bolts out of the radiator support member. It's the T shaped piece of metal just aft of the fan module which holds the inboard hood bumpers. There is one bolt on the bottom too, so don't forget that one. You don't have to remove it, just take the bolts out and move it toward the front of the car. Then you have enough room to wiggle the manifold out with the resonator attached. At that point, it's a piece of cake. The starter bolts were quite difficult to break lose and I'm sure I could have NEVER been successful from the bottom even if my hands were smaller.

So if you have small hands and/or a real lift, trying from the bottom won't hurt. You have to take off the lower plastic cover anyway even if you do the job from the top. If you can't succeed right away, don't waste your time. The top method is not all that bad and, for me at least, is the preferred method. Nevertheless, I'll say this video is VERY well made. Congratulations.

[jwoutdoors]

Thanks a lot Brian. Very good video. My starter on my '04 is acting up so I'll probably have to get this done. Ouch! Appreciate the time and effort you put into this.

[al-dulb]

Thank you. Attempting this tomorrow. Wish me luck!

[martymartian]

So I completed the job and saved a few hundred dollars as flat rate was 2 1/2 hrs. Everything was as u said but I have average hand size and I elevated on ramps but what a nightmare. The long bolt between the engine is horrible and it was a bit of contortion work just to find the bolt head. Getting back together was worse including the knock sensor but I electrical taped the socket to the bolt and with many small cuts and scrapes, it’s back together. The starter wasn’t acting like a normal faulty starter and bench tested normal but because the job is so difficult, I decided to remove one problem and replaced it any way. So far it seems like that was the problem. I think while under load, it acted differently.
Thanks again for a well done presentation.
Kelly

[reyjustimbaste]

Hey, i saw a previous video like yours but yours was direct to the point, clear snd simple. love it

[davidf]

Great video man, lift point and recommendations. Good visuals and audio. All around awesome video 🫡

[MobWithGuns]

for anyone reading the comments, this is the correct procedure as outlined in my 07-09 Honda CR-V factory service manual, as the element and CR-V share some of the same drivetrain, if you watch the videos where they take off the intake manifold for the K24, then they are doing it wrong

[dnlmachine]

On the one I just did, the upper manifold bracket fastener was a 13mm, the lower was 12mm.

Stay gold.