How to Change a Starter in a Honda Ridgeline 2007

Weirdly, the starter in my 2007 Ridgeline recently burned out -- literally! The starter motor became less and less responsive over two weeks until eventually it stopped working altogether, emitting smoke and that tell-tale "electrical" odor. I had trouble finding a replacement because it was so new, but eventually found a local shop to rebuild it. The following are the steps I followed to remove and replace the starter.

REMOVE COWLING. Use a screwdriver -- it's easy to figure out how to remove and replace the big black-plastic cowlings, and you'll have much more room to work after they are outta the way.

MOVE TOP RADIATOR HOSE. You could work around the hose, but I found it helpful to get it outta the way. Make sure you have a container handy to catch the small amount of coolant that is likely to drain out.

DISCONNECT ELECTRICAL WIRES. Disconnect battery terminals (10mm). Disconnect starter (12mm).

The selenoid switch connection is worth a mention here. It is very easy to disconnect, as it just pulls off. Later, when it is time to reconnect it, it is a little trickier as it will be impossible to visualize the connection due to its placement. Consequently, it is easy to miss the connection. I found that I had slid the connector on top of the tab, within the housing, causing there to be an inconsistent connection. I was perplexed for a week as the starter worked sometimes and not others. I was relieved to discover my mistake, and the correction was not difficult. It was a little bit tricky, though, getting the connector ON the tab instead of BY the tab.

REMOVE RETAINING BOLTS. There are two bolts that hold the starter to the engine block (14mm). They are not too hard to locate and remove using a socket wrench with an extension. Once the starter is loose, there is plenty of room to extract it with a little twisting and rotating.

ODDS AND ENDS. There is a metal gasket (below, left) between the starter and the engine block that will come off with the starter. It might bend a little bit during the extraction, but will easily bend back. You will want to keep track of that gasket. Also, the starter electrical wire is attached to the bracket pictured below (right). The connector snaps on, and there is a tab to move to release the connection. It is not hard, but it has to be done blind because of the location.

REVERSE THE PROCESS. Putting the new or rebuilt starter back in is probably going to be faster than taking it out. Reverse the procedures for removing the starter, remembering to snap the connector back onto the end of the bracket, as pictured above (it helps to keep the starter wiring harness in place). There is also a little metal bracket that supports a different wiring harness altogether that is secured by the bolt retaining bolt. You will see it when you remove the starter -- don't forget to put that bottom bolt back through that little metal bracket again, although if you DO forget to do that it is likely not a big deal. Remember to reconnect the electricity last. In my truck, and presumably all Ridgelines, I had to enter the code for my radio to get it to work again. The code was found on a credit-card sized card that came with the vehicle (they probably all end up at the bottom of the center storage compartment).

I spent about two hours of actual labor. I like getting to know my car better with little jobs like this, and love not paying hundreds of dollars to somebody else to do what I can accomplish myself.