Mean Green Starter Swap as replacement for stock OEM part (in a ’92 range rover)

 

                It is a relatively simple job.  On my ’92 Range Rover the hardest part of the job was getting the tools into the limited space to pull the old bolts, then back in to put the new bolts in.   Two bolts, and a couple wires is all it takes.  Once the old starter motor was removed, with the wires labeled, this is the view from below. (about 15min)

                This is the view looking back into, slightly below,  the opening where the starter motor was located, it is as high as I could get the camera.   You can see where the starter motor teeth match in the back of the engine.   The black wire hanging down with the copper end showing on the left side of the opening is the ground connection.   With the Mean Green in place it was a tight fit, so I used a longer piece of battery cable to make a new connection.   There is a heat shield around the exhaust connection between the headers and the down pipe, not visible in the pictures, that I had to modify.   I snipped the offending edge of the heat shield and bent it out of the way to make room for the new starter motor.  I have been told by some people that they have removed it entirely with out any problems, I chose to just move the corner that was in the way.

                After the new motor was in place with the wires connected I checked to make sure the teeth would connect with the engine by listening when the truck was started the first time.    If the truck starts, the teeth are connecting.  If there is a high pitch noise associated with it, or it the truck does not start right away then the motor may not be lined up perfectly.  There is some play in the connections.   I made sure everything was good and tight before cleaning up the tools.  So far no problems with the new starter.  It starts sooner and easier than before.

                The photo below shows the dirt Land Rover starter motor and Mean Green starter motor next to each other.  They look a little bit different.  The Mean Green motor is slightly larger and has swapped the solenoid and motor orientation.  That is what caused the heat shield from the bottom of the exhaust headers to be in the way.   On the top edge of the photo the old starter motor heat shield is visible.  Mine was not in very good shape, so I chose not to clip it back on the new motor.

                Pulling the old motor out, putting the new motor in, with a couple changes needed, to the heat shield and the wires, took about 1-½  hours.