The starter motor of the trusty Suzuki Vitara is gone. This has meant the embarassing sight of me hitting something under the bonnet with the tyre wrench to get the thing to work. I have changed starter motors on just about every car I have even owned. Its not a hard job, usually, although you get covered in grease and need to be able to yank off a few bolts.
Not so easy in my Vitarara, in fact darn near impossible. Ever tried to remove a 12 mill nut with a small 12 mill spanner, and about 2 inches to work in? After 1 hour of getting off everything I could around it, I cant get it off.
Down to my local mechanic with my tail between my legs. Luckily he is a really nice guy and is going to fix it for me on Monday. I know how the trade works, having sold exhaust systems for 3 or 4 years in a former life. The mechanic makes his money from selling his time, and selling parts. He buys parts for trade price and then sells them to you for retail. Because I have already got the starter motor (at trade price!) he had every right to not want to do the job, but he does most of the ‘big’ work on our cars, so no problem.
Came home, changed the spark plugs, oil, filter and coolant. Yes, no real issue with those jobs, thank goodness!
