Starter Relay Replacement:
For several months, my car had been hesitating about halfa second after I turned the key before the starter reacted. Finally onemorning, it wouldnt quit spinning after the engine cranked. The relayhad stuck in the closed position. Sometimes the car just won't turn overat all. The starter relay needs to be replaced to cure these problems,make sure it's not a dead battery first though! This install is on my '92TT 5spd. Supposedly the automatic is slightly different.

Parts Required:

Starter Inhibitor Relay: PN: 25230-89981 (1.)

Procedure:

1. Disconnect the negative terminal from the battery and make sure itis secure enough that it cannot slip and make contact with the batterypost. Fold a clean rag (do NOT use an oily rag) in half a few times andplace it on top of the negative terminal to keep the wire from coming backin contact with the terminal.

2. Pull the e-brake. Loosen the lugs a little on the driver side frontwheel, then jack up that corner of the car. If using the OEM jack, be sureto place it in the appropriate position so as not to crimp the bottom lipof the vehicle (refer to owners manual if not sure on this point) (2.).Lift the car high enough to get the wheel off.

Note: I have heard some people have successfully done this procedureby turning the wheels hard right, opening up area in the rear of the well.I didnt try this since I had never changed one before. I can now see thatit could be done that way, but if I had it to do again, Id personallystill remove the wheel. Besides, this allows inspection of other areasnot seen everyday.

3. Remove the screws (red dots in 3.) (3 x phillips) to allowaccess to the area behind the fender well liner.

Note: If fender well liner wont flex enough to allow access,also pop out some of the plastic rivets in adjacent panel in order to makeaccess easier. The plastic rivets will likely break if removed. To properlyremove them, push the center pin inwards and it should pop free. they canbe replaced with similar push-in style fasteners from a local auto partsstore or call Courtesy for direct replacements.

4. Just behind the round black canister is the Inhibitor Relay (reddot in 4.). Without a light shining up in there, it is tough tosee. Fortunately it is bright blue. Once located, pry the thin square frametab in the middle of it away from the relay (look at the new and noticethe slightly raised square boss). This will allow the relay to be pulleddown out of the holder. It doesnt take much pressure to pry the tab up,a fingernail works fine. Luckily there is only one tab here, unlike mostother modules with them on both sides.

5. Slide the relay down towards the ground and pull the complete assemblythrough the surrounding wires carefully to allow complete access. All ofthis wiring is very flexible so it shouldnt be hard to do. 

6. Remove the relay by pulling on the connectors and the relay itself,not by pulling on the cables.

7. Replace the old unit with the new one and go backwards through theremoval steps to complete the installation. Make sure to torque the lugnuts back to 80 ft-lbs in a criss-cross fashion.


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2 total comments, spanning 1 pages.

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