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Do you mean smaller on size/housing, or with starting power "DIN/Kw"..??
-;ZAYED;-
smaller size, the motor its self is not the issue, its the solenoid that is hitting, it sticks out a fair way, be good if it could be smaller or closer to the block
The starter is on the right side of the engine, would one for the left side fit on the right so the solenoid faces downward or are they totally different mounting?
Is your steering on the right hand side? That would be the only explanation.
Is this a factory error or what?
Yes it is right hand drive.
The car has the starter on the right because ive changed the engine, and was told be a few RHD C43 owners the starter wouldnt hit, and for the first few months it didnt.
98 C43, 15 Alfa 4C LE, 18 Tesla Model 3 DM Perf, 08 Duc S1000, 02 Duc 998, 98 Duc 748, 01 Miata
Probably not the answer that you would like, but I just went out and looked at my spare engine and it would be very easy to have that starter hole machined in on the other side if you pulled the engine out of the car. The threaded mounting holes are already there, so it is literally just a single round hole that needs to be put in that any competent machine shop should be able to do. Actually a pretty clever design by Mercedes now that I look at it.
98 C43, 15 Alfa 4C LE, 18 Tesla Model 3 DM Perf, 08 Duc S1000, 02 Duc 998, 98 Duc 748, 01 Miata
Originally Posted by cm60k
^^Good point^^,
beside that; check steering box bolts & check the mounts brackets, they may not tighten enough..!,,
or some bolt threads went bad..!?!
-;ZAYED;-
It was just never meant to have the starter and the steering box on the same side. Mercedes designed it so that the same casting for the engine block could be used on both LHD and RHD cars and then that starter hole is just machined out based on which market the car is going to. Keeps the tooling costs down as that machining operation is much cheaper than having unique castings for LHD and RHD. I can get better pictures tomorrow since I have an M113 on an engine stand if it would be helpful.
Probably not the answer that you would like, but I just went out and looked at my spare engine and it would be very easy to have that starter hole machined in on the other side if you pulled the engine out of the car. The threaded mounting holes are already there, so it is literally just a single round hole that needs to be put in that any competent machine shop should be able to do. Actually a pretty clever design by Mercedes now that I look at it.
Yes itd be a real pain in the **** taking the engine out. Be great if i could get the left side starter and mount it upside down, can you look at your engine and see if thatll work?
98 C43, 15 Alfa 4C LE, 18 Tesla Model 3 DM Perf, 08 Duc S1000, 02 Duc 998, 98 Duc 748, 01 Miata
Originally Posted by W202AMG
Yes itd be a real pain in the **** taking the engine out. Be great if i could get the left side starter and mount it upside down, can you look at your engine and see if thatll work?
Unfortunately, the only starter I have is in the car attached to the current engine, so I can't try that out for you.
I have attached a picture of the feature I was talking about just in case anyone in a RHD market wants to swap in a LHD engine in the future (or vice versa). Looks like it also has to have the surface face machined smooth, but again, easy stuff for any machine shop. The biggest challenge would be establishing the exact center point for the hole, which would need to determine from the other side.
That being said, I do not think that it is possible to flip the starter. Based on what I am seeing, the axis between the mounting holes does not intersect with the axis of the starter, which is reflected in green in the second image. I've then illustrated what happens when you flip the starter over in blue. You can see that the mounting holes for the starter will not line up with the mounting holes on the block. Did your LHD motor come with a starter motor attached? Based on what I'm seeing, it does not look like a RHD starter motor would bolt to a LHD engine unless you put it in upside down. If that is the case, getting a LHD starter would have the same effect as putting a RHD in upside down. This is all in theory just based on what I am seeing without actually having a starter in hand. In engineering car design world, we generally try to design things so that they can only go in one way (poka-yoke) so that the assembly line can't put it together wrong. It was very intentional on Mercedes behalf that the starter could not be installed upside down. Hope this info helps.
Starter Mounting
M113 Starter Mounting
Last edited by ECTurboGSX; Apr 15, 2018 at 10:30 PM.
Unfortunately, the only starter I have is in the car attached to the current engine, so I can't try that out for you.
I have attached a picture of the feature I was talking about just in case anyone in a RHD market wants to swap in a LHD engine in the future (or vice versa). Looks like it also has to have the surface face machined smooth, but again, easy stuff for any machine shop. The biggest challenge would be establishing the exact center point for the hole, which would need to determine from the other side.
That being said, I do not think that it is possible to flip the starter. Based on what I am seeing, the axis between the mounting holes does not intersect with the axis of the starter, which is reflected in green in the second image. I've then illustrated what happens when you flip the starter over in blue. You can see that the mounting holes for the starter will not line up with the mounting holes on the block. Did your LHD motor come with a starter motor attached? Based on what I'm seeing, it does not look like a RHD starter motor would bolt to a LHD engine unless you put it in upside down. If that is the case, getting a LHD starter would have the same effect as putting a RHD in upside down. This is all in theory just based on what I am seeing without actually having a starter in hand. In engineering car design world, we generally try to design things so that they can only go in one way (poka-yoke) so that the assembly line can't put it together wrong. It was very intentional on Mercedes behalf that the starter could not be installed upside down. Hope this info helps.
Starter Mounting
M113 Starter Mounting
yeah what i mean is take the RHD starter motor and fit it upside down on the other side of the engine, not mount the LHD starter in there upside down.
Theoretically it should fit in fine mounting wise, just wondering if the solenoid will foul on anything?
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