[twinblown]

Hi, I own a 2010 Armada with 75K miles and in the last three months or so I began to get the click ,click, no start occasionally so I decided to go ahead and tackle the starter replacement. For guidance I seen some videos on youtube and I knew what I was getting into. I figured that the hardest part of this job was going to be the mounting bolts of the starter given the location…....boy was I right!
Given the space available I had to use a hammer and a closed end offset Yamaha 14mm wrench to be able to swing the hammer onto it and only then both bolts loosened. There is just no room to use your hand to do so even with a half inch ratchet. I did not have a flex head ratchet which may have helped in this situation. The rest of the job like the plenum removal was easy.
For anyone going to do this in their Armada there is no need to remove the fuel line or the booster line because there is enough slack to swing the plenum to the side and lay it sideways. Save your money and time and don’t purchase the fuel line tool. Do replace all eight plenum gaskets and throttle body gasket.
I had to think of a way to tighten the starter bolts once installed and the only way I did this is by putting a half inch ratchet on each bolt and smacking it with a sledge hammer being careful not to overdo it and confident it would be tight as close to torque spec. It all turned out well for me and started right up after all being assembled, no leaks or problems to deal with. If anyone is reluctant to take on this job in their Armada I can only suggest you remove the “COWL” In order to gain more access to the rear part of the engine and more likely be able to swing a ratchet with ease. Heres a few pics.
Starter removed….. Plenum laying on its side….. Starter mounted and ready for reassembly. CHEERS!!!!

 

[Rumplecat]

I changed mine out on my ‘04 two weeks ago. It made it almost 200,000. I did the same thing when loosening and tightening the bolts on the starter. I sprayed them with Kroil Oil first.


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[rrreyes]

did mine on my 04 qx and what PITA that was. took me 6 hours. 3.5 hours was trying to get the rear bolts off the starter and putting back in.

 

[twinblown]

Update. A month has gone by and so far 100% starts. I went ahead and craked open the starter solenoid to look inside at the contact; the brushes appeared to be in very good condition with plenty of life. Attached pic

 

[Firefighter1406]

Just did this on my wife‘s 2010 yesterday. Took me about 3.5 hrs start to finish. Would be 2 hrs i think if I had to do it again. Hopefully not. I did save the OEM starter that came out of it and am gonna try to find a place to rebuild it. It lasted 142,000 miles. I put an aftermarket one in for now. We shall see. Only real issues I had was 2 of the heads on the intake manifold bolts were rusted so it was hard to get a socket on them. I cleaned them up and moved them to a more easily accessible spot on the intake for future reference. And the other was having to take the intake back up twice after dropping my light down into the vee and my socket and extention the second time. Other then that a stupid design but wasnt too bad of a job.

 

[SE Off Road1]

Hi, I own a 2010 Armada with 75K miles and in the last three months or so I began to get the click ,click, no start occasionally so I decided to go ahead and tackle the starter replacement. For guidance I seen some videos on youtube and I knew what I was getting into. I figured that the hardest part of this job was going to be the mounting bolts of the starter given the location…....boy was I right!
Given the space available I had to use a hammer and a closed end offset Yamaha 14mm wrench to be able to swing the hammer onto it and only then both bolts loosened. There is just no room to use your hand to do so even with a half inch ratchet. I did not have a flex head ratchet which may have helped in this situation. The rest of the job like the plenum removal was easy.
For anyone going to do this in their Armada there is no need to remove the fuel line or the booster line because there is enough slack to swing the plenum to the side and lay it sideways. Save your money and time and don’t purchase the fuel line tool. Do replace all eight plenum gaskets and throttle body gasket.
I had to think of a way to tighten the starter bolts once installed and the only way I did this is by putting a half inch ratchet on each bolt and smacking it with a sledge hammer being careful not to overdo it and confident it would be tight as close to torque spec. It all turned out well for me and started right up after all being assembled, no leaks or problems to deal with. If anyone is reluctant to take on this job in their Armada I can only suggest you remove the “COWL” In order to gain more access to the rear part of the engine and more likely be able to swing a ratchet with ease. Heres a few pics.
Starter removed….. Plenum laying on its side….. Starter mounted and ready for reassembly. CHEERS!!!!

Thanks for the write up! I’m due as well. Been living with the occasional click for some time. Did you go OEM? If not, what did you install? Thanks!

 

[primoV8]

OEM is remanufactured as well. A couple brands to consider and cost less than OEM; AC Delco, Remy, Bosch, Pure Energy are pretty much equivalent amongst each other when it comes to remanufactured starters. When I had the 04, I replaced it with a Bosch. On the QX80, I went with a Remy since that was readily available.

 

[twinblown]

Thanks for the write up! I’m due as well. Been living with the occasional click for some time. Did you go OEM? If not, what did you install? Thanks!

Did not go OEM, its overpriced and there are good quality suppliers of starters and Alternators out there. Fortunately, I know the industry and bought it thru a buddy that knows the supplier. It's a "new" unit; not reman or refurbished. It's been two years and 100% starts

 

[Byron]

I ended up doing two within six months. My Black '04 Armada had been clicking for some time. Then one day, it just would not start. That's my fault for procrastinating too long. I had already diagnosed the starter issue and had bought the new (aftermarket) spare part. I feel I'm fairly mechanically inclined. I don't rush things, but I like completing jobs without messing around. Time is precious. The job took me 6 hours to complete the job. I did purchase a cheap $10 plastic tool to remove the fuel lines - it worked just fine. I did not replace any of the intake O rings but spent a good amount of time cleaning out the valley under the intake and ensuring all surfaces were very clean before installation.
I drove the truck for five months without incident but lost the truck in an accident. (a fella pulled a left turn in front of me, not at fault, thankfully, no one was hurt).
With insurance done, I bought a grey '06 QX56 with 200K on the clock from a neighbour. It had been sitting for a year but was available and would do the job for the family (I have four kids). Within a week, the dreaded click... I didn't mess around this time and replaced the started before it became an issue. Took 4 hours on the second go around. Again, I did not change the intake O rings and had no issues. It worked fine for six months, but the truck's Cajun headers, stainless exhaust and cold air intake were too much for the wife and kids, It sounds great in the driveway, but I agree on the highway, it's boomy in the cabin. The truck now sits in the backyard in semi-retirement. Nearly two years ago, I bought a second '06 QX56 (in pearl white) because a great deal came along, and I did not relish the idea of a full exhaust change on the grey '06 back to stock. The white QX56 (just like the grey QX56) is a US-imported truck. The gauge cluster has been changed to match this country's metric system. It says it's got just over 300K km, but I think it's much higher. This truck has seen a lot of highway miles, and it has all the signs. Mostly in the fact that the paint on any fwd facing surface is well-marked. But it's been a great truck - so what do I bring it up in this thread? Well, last month, it clicked,,, twice...Another new starter is on the shelf awaiting its turn to be installed.
Byron