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I am posting this thread because I always try to document everything I do on my vehicles, and almost never remember to do so. So, this time, I took pictures and have some notes along the way. I know that this is something that has been covered more than once before, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to add to it. I did some research before buying this starter, and the issues/things to look out for as well. I came up with some of my own, and I will document everything here. I took a ton of pictures, so I will try to post the best ones I have, to help everybody else as best as possible. This can be a good reference for replacing even the OEM starter, as most of the stuff is the same.
For starters, as other people have said before, the Denso starter is identified by the green sticker on it. When I researched it, I found that if was made in Japan and must annotate that on the sticker. Lately, all the reviews I have seen have said theirs is labeled "Made in Thailand", as mine is. I did some more digging on this just to make sure, and I have found lots of reviews on amazon, as well as a couple of other sites that have all said the same thing. The part number is the same, and it has the same green sticker, it just says made in Thailand instead of Made in Japan. If anybody who is an expert on this can chime in, I would be happy to update this thread, to ensure it is as accurate as possible for everybody else. When I started it up, it sounded identical to the people who have posted videos on youtube of their made in japan Denso starter.
Moving on, the Denso starter is bigger than the OEM starter, almost twice the size it seems. It's also heavier, and the mounting plate is a little bit thicker as well. When I ordered it, I did not get new hardware. I bought new bolts from ACE in many different sizes, just to compare and see. I ended up using M10x40 for the bolt size. I believe the ones I had in my starter I took out were either M10x30 or M10x35, maybe even inbetween that size. I also bought 2 new lock washers for the bolts as well. Another thing I didn't think of until I already had the starter bolting into place, was the smaller positive wire that runs all the way to the relay in the passenger front fender mounts to this small screw threw a tab sticking out of the starter. It is a phillips head screw driver, and the first thing I thought was that it would be hard to get a decent size screwdriver up in there, let a lone be able to turn it to tighten it down. I also know that it is way easier to strip screw heads than bolt heads, so I didn't like this even more. And then I thought the screw was too short as well. So, back to the hardware store I went. I found a small bolt that was the same thread pitch, and was a little bit longer (not quite twice the length of the original), and used that. This was easily the hardest part of everything I did, trying to put this damn bolt in. It was so tiny, so it's hard to hold on to, plus it's almost impossible to see where it goes in based on how the starter is oriented once installed, so you are trying to thread it into the tab blind, by feel. I had to jack my truck up to be able to sit up a tiny bit to be able to see somewhat up towards the top of my starter to get it started. It was a gigantic pain in my a#$.
The starter I pulled out of my truck was a remanufactured one, no idea what brand or how old it was, but it was a 2 bolt starter (i believe the Mitsubishi one is a 3 bolt). The bolt head was a 17 MM for me (may be different for you based on hardware that's in the starter). Neither were super difficult to break loose but were both pretty tight (do a search if you are bored on the issues people have with the bolts coming loose). Once I pulled both bolts, disconnected the wires on the starter, the starter came right out. Wasn't hard to drop it down and not that heavy (especially compared to the Denso). I didn't take pictures of after I cleaned the base of it where it mates to the flywheel, but I highly recommend that you do so before putting the new starter into place, as to avoid not having a nice, flush seal.
Now, for the install of the Denso starter. I will tell you right now that if you are not experienced in lifting heavy objects awkwardly for an extended period of time with one hand and using the other to try and screw a bolt in, this will suck, A LOT. I had trouble getting the first hole to line up to get a bolt in. Probably took me about 10 minutes of trying before I got it. The top one was way easier to line up. I got the one bolt in on the bottom, tightened it almost all the way so the weight of the starter wasn't resting on the shank of the bolt, and then wiggled it to where I needed it to line up for the top hole, and then threaded that into place. Piece of cake after that. I had to do no modification to make it fit, HOWEVER, i have read that some people have had to take some of the crossmember out to accommodate the bigger starter. Mine is VERY close to the crossmember. Maybe like a 1/4", maybe a hair less. If you run into fitment issues for some reason, I would thoroughly inspect everything first before deciding to modify anything. I am not sure why it isn't fitting exactly the same on every truck, but there is apparently slight variations on some people's trucks. Hopefully you don't run into that issue, as that will add more time to the project. Once you are done tightening the bolts down, connect the 2 positive wires that come from the battery and the relay up top. I had issues with mine and had to do all kinds of crap to finally get them to sit right, but I just put in brand new custom battery cables and the ends were super buff and not very flexible. Shouldn't be an issue for just about everybody else.
That's about it. If anybody has any questions/comments, feel free to add.
This is what it looks like after I took the old starter out. You can see where the starter sat pretty clearly based on the dirt. I cleaned this surface area up really good before I put the new starter in.
This is the hole that was left after the stud ripped out of my old starter, thus being the reason I ended up replacing the starter.
Side by side comparison of the old vs new.
This is a closeup of the gap I have between the front side of the starter and the crossmember. It is not very big.
I have a comment, at the link below I have some similar thoughts as to what B-Rad88 has said. There is input to many other FTE members that readers may find good to know as well.
I have a comment, at the link below I have some similar thoughts as to what B-Rad88 has said. There is input to many other FTE members that readers may find good to know as well.
Nice work documenting your journey through the Denso install. My truck turns over as fast as the 2003 VW Beetle my wife has.
I forgot to put in here that you knew this subject matter pretty well. I was actually about to respond to my post you we're refered to a few weeks back and you posted the link to a site where I could buy it. I ended up getting it on Amazon based on reviews and I had a $30 credit with them already on my account and then they had free shipping. So it was almost $100 less than buying it from the person you posted the link to.
But then, I never got my starter, had to call and Amazon gave me a $15 credit and then the company never got back to me on what was going on. I found their number, called, they said they had an issue with their Amazon store and they sent it out right away. Took 2 weeks to get because of it. But, it's finally all done.
Do do you have an automatic? Did you need or use longer bolts for the starter??
Yes I have an auto. And yes I used longer bolts. The factory ones are supposed to be M10x30 but the ones I had we're in between M10x30 and M10x35. I used M10x40. I put it in my write up and had a picture with all the different bolts I got. It's definitely odd at first hearing it turn over. I think it actually sounds smoother turning over than the OEM one and it spins incredibly fast. My truck has sat for 6 weeks and it started in under 3 seconds (but I had 2 brand new batteries and brand new battery cables).
I totally agree w you about how heavy and awkward it is trying to get the first bolt in. I am in fairly good shape but holding that thing w a flexed arm for more than a minute or two almost seemed impossible.
nice write up.
When I mounted the Denso in my truck, I used a small hydraulic scissor jack with a 2x4 on it to hold the starter up. The jack did not hold it in the perfect spot, but it was close enough that it offered a third hand.
These are great write ups. I still have my original start with over 210K so I'm watching these write ups. I'd like a set of Sous's battery cables also. They looked really good in your pictures posted before. Of course, it will be a turbo next.
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