This is a how to to repair the dreaded sqeel on the mk4 golf gti 1.8 but i am lead to believe its basically the same for most models
First remove the battery, this is easily done by removing the positive and negative terminals,
Unbolt all the fuse wires and unplug the harness, this is the purple plug below pic and lift the fuse holder up and out of the way.
Unbolt the battery clamp (13mm socket) directly in front of the battery, this is made easier by removing the healight/air intake cover and lift the battery out of the car
Remove the battery tray (10mm socket) and unbolt the battery tray from the airbox (10mm) and lift the battery tray out of the car
now you can see and get access to the starter, you can now unbolt the main battery to starter cable and remove from the car. Unclip the large connector, this is a little stiff but take your time as breaking a wire can be a timely fix. I found using a terminal screwdriver and sliding it under the switch helped to spereate the connectors
Now you will need to remove the nut (13mm) that holds the plastic wire shrouding that was holding the connecotr as desribed preiously. This is a little tricky, you will need to slide your extension bar and socket behind the plastic shroud searching for the nut, bit tricky but you will find it, reomve it and remove the platic shroud, this is done by sliding it to the right, open the shroud and tilt towards you
Once you have done this you will need a 18mm deep socket and a extension bar, its time to remove the top main bolt . This is very easy to get to but its bloody tight so watch your knuckes, its 7 inchs (like myself) long but once free can be easily removed by hand
At this point you have 2 choices, you can jack the car up or just wiggle underneath the front end. You will need to remove the lower engine cover, this is held in place by 4 torqs screws. They will be rusty so before removing them its a good idea to spray them with wd40 or plus gas
Once you have removed the cover you will need to find the bracket that bolts to the starter, unbolt it and let it hang in place
At this point you will see directly above the bolt you just removed is the second (18mm) bolt holing the starter motor to the engine, again this is bloody tight, remove this bolt. Whilst removing the bolt you or a friend hold the starter motor in place, this is for 2 reasons
1. if your doing it yourself it makes it easier to reove the bolt by hand
2. it wont smash you in the face when it drops out (ouch)
you should now be left with this, pat yourself on the back and have a cuppa
NOW THE FUN BIT
to start make sure your going to take the starter apart in a dirt free area if possible. Looking at the starter motor you will see 2 x 7mm bolts on the end cap, remove these 2 bolts, they are quite long so be patient, remove the earth braid and once removed you will be able to split the 2 pieces
remove the 3 small cogs and clean with the toothbrush, remove the main cog (the one with the black rubber caps) and clean this with the toothbrush
pull the holder of the cogs out and you will see a spiral shaft, dont pull to hard as you only want to get access, not remove it, clean the spiral shaft.
Once this is done grease all the parts you just cleaned, the 3 cogs, spiral shaft and the main cog and rebuild this part of the starter
Now grab the other half of the starter (the one that had the 2 7mm bolts going though it) remove the 2 philips screws on the end of this and lift of the cap, under the cap is a clip and a washer, remove these and clean
Remove the big black end cap to reveal the internals, clean the internals as best you can, place some grease on the shaft and on the hole of the cap and the parts you have just cleaned
Rebuild, make sure you grease the washer and clip and replace the cap with the 2 philips screws
once you have done this join the 2 parts of the starter motor together using the 7mm bolts, dont forget to refix the earth braid
Add a little grease to the splines on the shaft and refit back to the car. Refitting is reversal of remove
I accept no responsibilty if you cack up your car, this is how i did it and worked great for me
