With 4 VW's and a tendency to rig a solution rather than getting the right tool, leaving the old bushing in instead of changing it, is a strong temptation. Over the years I have faced that decision several times. I have even spent too much money, when I didn't have to, buying the replacement starter that does not have the need for a bushing. It is almost twice as much as the normal starter. Recently, I had to replace two starters and realized that I would save money by getting the right tool. So I did. I got mine, just like yours, on EBAY and with shipping it was 73.00. Now I will never be tempted to leave the old one in and at the same time...save money! Thanks for the video. One other plus...with VW's you can never have enough of the right tools!
Yep. Sounds like you have enough VWs that it's worth getting specific tools. I probably could have done without it. I expect you don't HAVE to replace the bushing every time, but then eventually it'll get warped, and then you could easily tear up the starter, so maybe yeah. Glad you got the right tool. I'm glad it worked for you. Thanks for commenting!
@@fifty6648 Yes, it most probably is. You can't see it as it is happening and assume the bushing is OK, but it just takes a little bit of misfit to stop the action. I have skipped changing in the past and regretted it.
First, Last and Only. Just wanted to say I dropped a link to this at Uncle Tony's Garage, he is a classic Mopar guy. A friend of his who has a '65 Fury with Poly 318 suddenly had engine problems. He found his timing was retarded by 10 degrees. Tracked it down to the bushing under the spiral gear that drives the oil pump and distributor was badly worn. Tony told the kid "Got to pull the motor" Well I said "Not if you make a tool just like a Bug Stater Bushing tool" Actually made myself one back in '78 or '79 Thanks for the demo.
Fantastic! Thanks for the comment, and thanks for the link! Yeah, it's an interesting tool. It's some interesting machining work. As far as your story, if you're removing something as a one-off, you might be able to just use a long tap. I've seen TH-cam videos of people pulling starter bushings with taps, and it seems to work well enough for a single use.
If the engine and starter are both out, you can easily drive the bushing out with a drift or punch or whatever. This tool is generally when you're replacing the starter and don't want to pull the engine, so you can't get to both sides of the bushing, and it's way down in the recess that accepts the starter. I've heard that if you get the right size of tap, you can thread it in and twist, and it will grab the bushing and then be pulled out. I have never done this. Given that this tool is something like $100 and I used it once and I'll (hopefully) never use it again on my car, it's kind of overkill. If you only own one or two vintage VWs, I don't know that it's worth buying one for yourself. I think the only way I could entirely justify this purchase was if I (or friends/acquaintances) owned many VWs would it be worth buying. Since I had it, though, and I had the transmission and the starter sitting around, I thought it would be neat to show the tool and how it works for those who like to see specialized tools.
Still a faf but I’ve done two before like this: Pack it full of heavy grease and hammer a bolt or punch tool which fits the ID of the bushing, with a bit of luck the hydraulic pressure will push it out after a few hits.
Yes! Using a thread tap into the bushing is much simpler and can be quicker and safer too. If the wrong tap size is used it could ruin the bushing making its extrication much more complicated. Use tap size 7/16" which comes in 14, 20 and 28 threads per inch (TPI) standard sizes. I use 7/16-20. The more course 14 TPI thread will be harder to drive. It will take several turns of the tap for it to thread the bushing and bottom out before it pulls the bushing out. A former VW mechanic told me he used a pneumatic driver that would complete the process in less than 2 seconds but wait for experience before trying this method. A good time to evaluate the starter motor replacement is when the engine is removed for rebuilding. Good luck!
Thanks for watching and commenting! In the very rare case that you have all the room you want to swing your wrench, I don't know of any reason to not swing the wrench all the way around the thing that you're tightening or loosening. But in the vast majority of cases, you just don't have room to swing the wrench very far. I shot the first part of the video reaching down to the puller from the top, but then I realized that was a completely unlike doing this job in the car, because the car body prevents you from getting to the starter bay from the top. That's why starting at 2:43 in the video, I start using the wrenches from below, which is what you'd do if you were pulling a starter bushing from a transmission still mounted in a car. And in fact, even that part of the video is unrealistic, because really the side drive shaft would be right where my arm is, so access is even harder to get to the starter area. In fact, I had a ratcheting 19mm box wrench that I bought specifically for using with the bushing puller, that way you can just thread the wrench on the big nut, and then move it back and forth and it will extract the bushing. So no, not superstition. I did it in the video to pretend that I was working on the car in a realistic way, and in fact, that was using more room that I would have in real life.
Sorry. I don't really want to link to something, as the link likely won't work in a couple of years. As of now, when I do a google search for "vw starter bushing puller" I get valid links to cip1.com and jbugs.com that have that exact tool. Be prepared to pay $80 to $100 for it (that's 2021 price).
With 4 VW's and a tendency to rig a solution rather than getting the right tool, leaving the old bushing in instead of changing it, is a strong temptation. Over the years I have faced that decision several times. I have even spent too much money, when I didn't have to, buying the replacement starter that does not have the need for a bushing. It is almost twice as much as the normal starter. Recently, I had to replace two starters and realized that I would save money by getting the right tool. So I did. I got mine, just like yours, on EBAY and with shipping it was 73.00. Now I will never be tempted to leave the old one in and at the same time...save money! Thanks for the video. One other plus...with VW's you can never have enough of the right tools!
Yep.
Sounds like you have enough VWs that it's worth getting specific tools. I probably could have done without it. I expect you don't HAVE to replace the bushing every time, but then eventually it'll get warped, and then you could easily tear up the starter, so maybe yeah.
Glad you got the right tool. I'm glad it worked for you. Thanks for commenting!
Could this be why my new Bosch starter would whirr but never crank? Maybe after pulling the old bushing I didn't need to install a new bushing at?
@@fifty6648 Yes, it most probably is. You can't see it as it is happening and assume the bushing is OK, but it just takes a little bit of misfit to stop the action. I have skipped changing in the past and regretted it.
First, Last and Only.
Just wanted to say I dropped a link to this at Uncle Tony's Garage, he is a classic Mopar guy. A friend of his who has a '65 Fury with Poly 318 suddenly had engine problems. He found his timing was retarded by 10 degrees. Tracked it down to the bushing under the spiral gear that drives the oil pump and distributor was badly worn. Tony told the kid "Got to pull the motor" Well I said "Not if you make a tool just like a Bug Stater Bushing tool" Actually made myself one back in '78 or '79 Thanks for the demo.
Fantastic! Thanks for the comment, and thanks for the link!
Yeah, it's an interesting tool. It's some interesting machining work.
As far as your story, if you're removing something as a one-off, you might be able to just use a long tap. I've seen TH-cam videos of people pulling starter bushings with taps, and it seems to work well enough for a single use.
Is there no other way to get it out?
If the engine and starter are both out, you can easily drive the bushing out with a drift or punch or whatever.
This tool is generally when you're replacing the starter and don't want to pull the engine, so you can't get to both sides of the bushing, and it's way down in the recess that accepts the starter. I've heard that if you get the right size of tap, you can thread it in and twist, and it will grab the bushing and then be pulled out. I have never done this.
Given that this tool is something like $100 and I used it once and I'll (hopefully) never use it again on my car, it's kind of overkill. If you only own one or two vintage VWs, I don't know that it's worth buying one for yourself. I think the only way I could entirely justify this purchase was if I (or friends/acquaintances) owned many VWs would it be worth buying.
Since I had it, though, and I had the transmission and the starter sitting around, I thought it would be neat to show the tool and how it works for those who like to see specialized tools.
Still a faf but I’ve done two before like this:
Pack it full of heavy grease and hammer a bolt or punch tool which fits the ID of the bushing, with a bit of luck the hydraulic pressure will push it out after a few hits.
Yes! Using a thread tap into the bushing is much simpler and can be quicker and safer too. If the wrong tap size is used it could ruin the bushing making its extrication much more complicated. Use tap size 7/16" which comes in 14, 20 and 28 threads per inch (TPI) standard sizes. I use 7/16-20. The more course 14 TPI thread will be harder to drive. It will take several turns of the tap for it to thread the bushing and bottom out before it pulls the bushing out. A former VW mechanic told me he used a pneumatic driver that would complete the process in less than 2 seconds but wait for experience before trying this method. A good time to evaluate the starter motor replacement is when the engine is removed for rebuilding. Good luck!
Is there a reason you never do more than 60 degrees with your wrench even when you can go 180 or even 360? Superstition?
Thanks for watching and commenting!
In the very rare case that you have all the room you want to swing your wrench, I don't know of any reason to not swing the wrench all the way around the thing that you're tightening or loosening.
But in the vast majority of cases, you just don't have room to swing the wrench very far. I shot the first part of the video reaching down to the puller from the top, but then I realized that was a completely unlike doing this job in the car, because the car body prevents you from getting to the starter bay from the top. That's why starting at 2:43 in the video, I start using the wrenches from below, which is what you'd do if you were pulling a starter bushing from a transmission still mounted in a car.
And in fact, even that part of the video is unrealistic, because really the side drive shaft would be right where my arm is, so access is even harder to get to the starter area. In fact, I had a ratcheting 19mm box wrench that I bought specifically for using with the bushing puller, that way you can just thread the wrench on the big nut, and then move it back and forth and it will extract the bushing.
So no, not superstition. I did it in the video to pretend that I was working on the car in a realistic way, and in fact, that was using more room that I would have in real life.
Please link this tools ... please
Sorry. I don't really want to link to something, as the link likely won't work in a couple of years.
As of now, when I do a google search for "vw starter bushing puller" I get valid links to cip1.com and jbugs.com that have that exact tool. Be prepared to pay $80 to $100 for it (that's 2021 price).