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Spent a beautiful afternoon attempting to get at breather box, it seemed like the only reasonable way was to remove the fuel distributor assembly to get at it, which seemed to require removing starter motor. Was able to get one nut off starter, couldn't find any way to get the other one off. Ditto for the last 13mm nut for the fuel & air assembly. Any wonderful ideas from fellow brickers? Bentley was of absolutely no help - "working from under driver's side of car, remove the two nuts/bolts holding the starter motor to remove. Installation is the reverse of removal." Sounds nice, just doesn't provide the how....
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Jeff,
Getting the top starter bolt undone took me three evenings of one hour each. What I ended up doing was using a 3/8 drive socket on the end of a 3/8 drive swivel with a section of 3/8 drive extension maybe about a foot long, then an adapter so I could add maybe two feet of 1/2 inch drive extensions, then a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. Use the shortest 3/8 inch drive socket that you have for the rear end of the bolt. As you know, it's tight under there, and the shorter socket gives a little more wiggle room. I had all four wheels of the car up on 10 or 12 inches of solid wood, brakes on, in gear, etc. Working from under the car, more or less under the driver's seat area, I worked the socket onto the bolt, with the extentions all running along the driver's side of the tranny. When I had the whole thing all carefully arranged, I called my friend over who held the front nut of the bolt from under the hood. He got a better set-up by working from the passenger-side fender. He held the nut while I broke the bolt loose from under the car, making sure that if I slipped I would hit something soft and bearable instead of something sharp and deadly. It worked. However, on the first try I broke the 3/8 inch swivel and bought a new, Proto swivel, hoping it was stronger than the Craftsman. Next night I was at it again and it worked.
I had the manifold off, and the fuel distributor released (3 rubber mounted bolts) and pulled toward the driver's fender, before I removed the starter. With the starter and manifold on the workbench, the injectors pulled out of their sockets, and the fuel distributor pulled over closer to the fender but with no fuel lines disconnected, access to the breather box was finally available and easy.
I remember that by the time I replaced the breather box, vacuum hoses, cleaned everything, etc., etc., the car was on blocks for weeks because I could only do a little at a time, sometimes due to my ignorance, sometimes due to a lack of time, and sometimes just due to the fact that I quit before I got so frustrated I did something dangerous to myself or started beating on the car with a breaker bar. It all worked out though, and I'm glad I did it.
Good luck. Hope this helps out.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, M46; 86 240, 130K
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Doug,
I appreciate your thoughtful reply. How were you able to get the last nut off of the air flow housing assembly w/o removing the starter? I don't seem to have a good way to get on that one (closest to block, firewall side). Did you use a deep well 13mm and a wobble fitting? For the starter, instead of a breaker bar, could one use a 1/2 drive torque wrench just as effectively? The bottom bolt of the starter seemed to come off relatively easily.
thanks,
Jeff
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I personally would not use a torque wrench instead of a breaker bar. You could easily damage the torque wrench. I'd beg, borrow, or buy a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. I think a Craftsman is about $20, but I haven't checked recently. You'll use it a lot if you do your own work. Also, most of the jobs I've done on our 240's have been a lot more fun than replacing the breather box on a K-Jet. Hang in there and take your time.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, M46; 86 240, 130K
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My notes show that I removed the manifold, then removed the starter, then loosened three bolts and moved the fuel distributor aside toward the fender, then removed the 2 13 mm bolts that hold the fuel distributor bracket to the breather box, then removed the breather box itself. I can't remember exactly what tools I used, but I know I used a flashlight and small mirror quite a bit. Good luck. I think the order of operations made it easier.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, stock, M46; 86 240, 130K
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you should have left the fuel distributor alone and removed the intake manifold. but honestly if you cant remove the bolts from the starter, taking a fuel distributor is more than you should tackle, may i ask why you want to remove the breather box in the first place?
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It's not more than I can handle, just need advice on what tools can reach the upper nut/bolt combo for the starter. The bottom one was easy. The reason for removing/moving parts out of the way is to ensure that the breather box is clean, and also to clean all other parts in the vicinity since I will be putting in a new wiring harness. The manifold is already off.
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"just need advice on what tools can reach the upper nut/bolt combo for the starter."
I think i've used a box-end wrench that just barely slipped between the motor and the firewall and over the nut. Then used a hammer to tap it loose.
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the easiest way to reach the top bolt on the starter is with a long extension and flex socket, i use a breaker bar and a 3' extension, if you have the manifold off, i would still not take the fuel distributor off, i would remove the entire air housing as a unit and leave the lines and distributor undisturbed. if you remove the entire housing that will give you plenty of room to work on the breather.
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I misspoke when I said I was taking the fuel distributor off, I am actually trying to take the entire air flow housing off as a unit w/o disturbing the fuel lines. It just seems as though access to the last nut for the housing is guarded by the starter, which has clearance problems with the firewall.
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