I WANT TO CONFIRM FOR EVERYONE THAT THE KA STARTER IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE SR20 ENGINE!!! DON'T LISTEN TO THE IDIOTS THAT HAVE NEVER DONE THE JOB THEMSELF.
So I spent the last week doing tons of research about the starter on the Infiniti G20T with the SR20 engine. My roommate's G20 started up just fine in the morning last week and when he got to the bank, it refused to crank. First things first I bump started it and got it home. Right off the bat, I checked all relays, fuses and OHMs to all connections thinking it was a security function or some blown fuse or relay, but I finally climbed under it to short the connection on the solenoid only to find that the starter would throw sparks at me and do nothing, confirming my initial diagnosis as a bad starter motor and solenoid. (It would not punch or turn at all, just a silent click of the ignition relay under the dash.
Now to the beef:
I knew the starter had power and a solid connection to the ignition switch, ruling out any electrical connection issue. So I dug deeper using the information here. Thank god there was plenty of good (and terrible) information so I took it all with a grain of salt.
Ultimately, the fact of the matter IS, the KA24DE starter DOES WORK on the SR engine. However, you DO need to change the housing on the front of the KA starter to make it compatible with the SR20. Ill upload pix later once My phone charges up. It took me just over 2 hours to remove, completely Frankenstein the KA and SR starter together, and install the FrankenFreak on the Damn G20. If you can do your own brakes, you can do this job. It's not difficult, but it is frustrating and having a buddy help along the way isn't a bad idea.
Lets get Deeper:
-Get the damn thing up on ramps and remove the battery, Air Filter Box, and all Rubber Intake hoses down to the throttle body. You will have plenty of working space at this point.
-On the passenger side from under the car, there is a perfect gap in the cross-member to slip the starter out, so you will spend most of your time here
-There is a "Y" Bracket supporting the Intake manifold attached to the block and it has a vacuum actuator attached with a 10mm bolt, remove this. It must be relocated in order to pull the starter.
-There are 2x 14mm bolts on the bottom of the bracket attached to the block, remove these
-On the top of the bracket, the left nut is 13mm, the right nut is 12mm, remove these and shove the bracket up towards the top of the engine, jamming it against something to keep it out of your way.
-Now you can access the starter's power cable and solenoid wire, remove both of these. (Solenoid is a clip connection, power line is a 13mm nut with lock washer)
-Go topside where the filter box was located, and directly to the left of the filter box location on the bellhousing is 2x 14mm Bolts, remove these. They hold the starter in place.
-Get back underneath and the starter will slide out of that little space in the cross-member like a good "morning after thanksgiving" poop.
Heres the Gravy:
-With both starters in front of you, you will notice 1 thing and 1 thing only: The Front of the starter that holds the gears and final drive has different mounting brackets. Dont worry! this is the fun part!
-Remove the 2 bolts on the back of the old starter first (so you get an idea of how its done before you disassemble the new working KA starter)
-DO NOT PULL ON THE BRUSH ASSEMBLY!!! PULL ONLY THE STARTER MOTOR HOUSING OR USE A FLATHEAD SCREWDRIVER TO PRY THE STARTER MOTOR FROM THE GEAR ASSEMBLY AND KEEP THE STARTER FACE UP THE WHOLE TIME!!!
-ONCE THIS IS APART, AND YOU ARE CONFIDENT THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT, DO THE SAME TO THE NEW STARTER AND SOLENOID
-ASSEMBLE the FrankenFreak by attaching the SR's FRONT GEAR AND MOUNTING BRACKET TO THE KA STARTER, and tighten it all together.
-Bench Test the FrankenFreak using jumper Cables (Dont forget to connect the solenoid as well using a piece of wire and make sure it turns and punches)
Time for dessert:
-Install the starter and hand tighten the bolts on the Intake manifold Support Bracket
-Connect the battery and make sure it cranks the motor before you go any further
-Success!
-Get under it and tighten it all down to about 45-55 pounds of torque, no more, no less.
-Reassemble the air box and rubber intake hose and all vacuum lines just like you removed them.
-Reinstall the battery and test your success.
-Grab a beer and watch the FrankenStarter do its thing.
-Pay your buddy in beer that helped you
-Success.
I hope this helped someone, because there are alot of dipshits out there saying that this cannot be done no matter what. Well, I just proved you wrong guy, because I just did this in under 2.5 hours in my driveway and it works just like it did before, if not better.
The FrankenStarter IS possible, and easier than spending 140 on a new SR starter.
Grand total money spent: $20 for the used KA starter
Grand total time spent: 2-2.5 hours if you have half a brain at least (I am hungover like all hell, and only firing on 5 out of 8 cylinders) It's not hard at all, sack up you sissy.
Good Luck.
OH And the dumbass that said it cannot be done, doesn't belong on the internet. stupid troll. If you have never worked on these cars or done this job, don't say it takes 5 hours just to remove the starter, you obviously don't belong under a car or in this line of work. Go play with your tonka toys or legos or whatever it is kids play with these days.
CHEERS!!!