how do i fit a starter motor to my 1997 renault espace?

Hi Tina,

Well as far as I have been able to find out, it is necessary to jack the car up sufficiently and safely so you can get to it from below.
Then you have to jack up a support on the motor itself, so you can remove the left motor support bracket. This in itself is a long jurney, as one of the bolts is located so that you have to take the bracket apart piece by piece starting from the 4 bolts holding the bracket onto the chassisframe itself, then the rubber carrier, and now you can finally remove the last 4 bolts of the bracket located on the motor block.
Remember before you do any of this, to disconnect the battery, this is very important for your safety !!!
The starter motor itself is held in position with 3 or 4 bolts onto the motor around the cranking flywheel, and then 2 smaller bolts at the other end onto the side of the motorblock.
By the way most of these bolts are number 16, very unlike most other european cars, where you most often see number 14 and 15 or 17 used.
Before you loosen the last bolts, remember to take of the main battery wire and the starter relay actuator wire.
Now you should be able to get the starter out sliding it down the path where the motor support bracket was sitting before.
On a final note, the last of the bolts holding the starter around the cranking flywheel, is located very high in over the gearbox/motorblock, and almost out of reach, so it might take a while before you actually discover it.
Hope this helps you out
br
Steen

TheTroubleCruncher
January 2009