Starter motor heat shield
Discussion
Out of curiosity is there such thing as a starter motor heat shield for the Chimaera?
My car had a flimsy piece of tin that a previous owner had fashioned over the motor that I decided to re-fabricate out of aluminium. It is secured to the car using the uppermost allen bolt. It's only crude but I thought it was a good idea to keep in place as I was tidying up that area under the car.
Do other people have something similar installed to protect the starters from the heat of the manifolds? Is there a land rover equivalent that can be bought and fitted?
My car had a flimsy piece of tin that a previous owner had fashioned over the motor that I decided to re-fabricate out of aluminium. It is secured to the car using the uppermost allen bolt. It's only crude but I thought it was a good idea to keep in place as I was tidying up that area under the car.
Do other people have something similar installed to protect the starters from the heat of the manifolds? Is there a land rover equivalent that can be bought and fitted?
Noogly said:
A heat shield of some sort is a very good idea, they are prone to cooking starter motors.
I have found two lightly roasted starter motors in the cellar recently from previous cases of that issue!
To give balance to the above, I fitted a new £60.00 Global Power starter motor some 9 years ago, in all that time no heat shield has been used.I have found two lightly roasted starter motors in the cellar recently from previous cases of that issue!
My cheap starter motor continues to perform flawlessly to this day, to be honest my minimum expectation is a 20 year or 100,000 mile service life (whichever comes first).
In summary my experience does seem to suggest a heat shield is completely unnecessary
On my 350i the manifold was even closer to the starter motor than it is on the Griff.
When cold, or at "normal" engine bay temperatures, the starter motor would turn the engine over relatively quickly.
When the engine bay was really hot, i.e. after a track session, the engine would turn over very slowly, although it never failed to start.
I always attributed that to the starter motor getting too hot, but never actually did anything about it.
I have never noticed the Griff turning over slowly when its hot, but I haven't done a track day in it and also the manifolds are ceramic coated, which I hope reduced the heat loss through the manifolds and helps with under bonnet temps.
When cold, or at "normal" engine bay temperatures, the starter motor would turn the engine over relatively quickly.
When the engine bay was really hot, i.e. after a track session, the engine would turn over very slowly, although it never failed to start.
I always attributed that to the starter motor getting too hot, but never actually did anything about it.
I have never noticed the Griff turning over slowly when its hot, but I haven't done a track day in it and also the manifolds are ceramic coated, which I hope reduced the heat loss through the manifolds and helps with under bonnet temps.
I've got this image in my head of all the sparks and flashes going on while people fit homemade tin sheeting around the live terminal. It's tight and awkward working above the starter motor. I've seen heat blankets used for this but they usually have an aluminium coating. Be careful folks, there's big power just waiting to jump out at you
ChimpOnGas said:
To give balance to the above, I fitted a new £60.00 Global Power starter motor some 9 years ago, in all that time no heat shield has been used.
My cheap starter motor continues to perform flawlessly to this day, to be honest my minimum expectation is a 20 year or 100,000 mile service life (whichever comes first).
In summary my experience does seem to suggest a heat shield is completely unnecessary
It happens, probably not to all cars, but I had it twice on two different cars (a 400 and a 500 Chim), but over more than 15 years in total.My cheap starter motor continues to perform flawlessly to this day, to be honest my minimum expectation is a 20 year or 100,000 mile service life (whichever comes first).
In summary my experience does seem to suggest a heat shield is completely unnecessary
Andy
I simply wrapped my starter in material backed alu sheeting cut to size and cable ties. Sort of holds off some of the residual heat hitting it. Not sure how effective it is but I’ve done 40,000 daily miles so stop/ start as in any daily car and in total starter has done 75,000 miles so I’m not complaining 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I've decided to play it safe for now and leave off the heat shield. Your right there is a lot that could go wrong in that area and I think it's just not worth the hassle, at least at the moment. I'll have a think about a starter motor cover as I have some of that heat shield material spare in the garage.
Just for laughs here is the original that was removed. I thought this was more likely to get into trouble than the one I'd fabricated.
Just for laughs here is the original that was removed. I thought this was more likely to get into trouble than the one I'd fabricated.
Classic Chim said:
I simply wrapped my starter in material backed alu sheeting cut to size and cable ties. Sort of holds off some of the residual heat hitting it. Not sure how effective it is but I’ve done 40,000 daily miles so stop/ start as in any daily car and in total starter has done 75,000 miles so I’m not complaining
Agreed ^ 
Bump on this as I think my starter/solenoid has been destroyed by heat from my exhaust.
What are thoughts on a none metallic heat shield such as this one designed to protect your legs from motorcycle exhausts.
I appreciate that particular one may not be the right dimension or the jubilee clips too small. Also is Carbon fibre (assuming it is just as bad as a metal one?
I see Rimmer Bros list a heat shield on the Triumph Stag starter circled below.
What are thoughts on a none metallic heat shield such as this one designed to protect your legs from motorcycle exhausts.
I appreciate that particular one may not be the right dimension or the jubilee clips too small. Also is Carbon fibre (assuming it is just as bad as a metal one?
I see Rimmer Bros list a heat shield on the Triumph Stag starter circled below.
Since the starter is bolted to the bellhousing, I've been of the opinion that it gets very hot from just heat conduction. Especially on a very hot engine on a hot day. 
The exhaust manifold adds to this, yes, but the issues I've had with several Chimaera and a Griff have been the immobiliser, the supply to the solenoid and the ignition switch, never the starter itself. I'm sure I, and others have changed starters unnecessarily in the past.
Fit a heat shield if you wish, but any heat deflection is probably marginal. All IMHO of course.
The exhaust manifold adds to this, yes, but the issues I've had with several Chimaera and a Griff have been the immobiliser, the supply to the solenoid and the ignition switch, never the starter itself. I'm sure I, and others have changed starters unnecessarily in the past.
Fit a heat shield if you wish, but any heat deflection is probably marginal. All IMHO of course.
I don’t think a heat shield as such will do much but wrapping the starter in heat shield will.
All the r/h side exhaust and engine heat gets blown past the starter on its way through so it’s steel body will surely heat up so wrapping it reduces that effect considerably imho.
Simply cut your heat wrap to size, wrap starter and use a couple of cable ties to secure it.
I did mine years ago. It’s still working and doesn’t appear to pick up any real road crud and as you can imagine stays dry. I used the same material as used on the wings and bulkhead/ firewall.
I completed a body off and removed-re instated starter without having to remove it.
All the r/h side exhaust and engine heat gets blown past the starter on its way through so it’s steel body will surely heat up so wrapping it reduces that effect considerably imho.
Simply cut your heat wrap to size, wrap starter and use a couple of cable ties to secure it.
I did mine years ago. It’s still working and doesn’t appear to pick up any real road crud and as you can imagine stays dry. I used the same material as used on the wings and bulkhead/ firewall.
I completed a body off and removed-re instated starter without having to remove it.
Edited by Classic Chim on Wednesday 18th October 22:38
sixor8 said:
Since the starter is bolted to the bellhousing, I've been of the opinion that it gets very hot from just heat conduction. Especially on a very hot engine on a hot day.
The exhaust manifold adds to this, yes, but the issues I've had with several Chimaera and a Griff have been the immobiliser, the supply to the solenoid and the ignition switch, never the starter itself. I'm sure I, and others have changed starters unnecessarily in the past.
Fit a heat shield if you wish, but any heat deflection is probably marginal. All IMHO of course.
Heat risesThe exhaust manifold adds to this, yes, but the issues I've had with several Chimaera and a Griff have been the immobiliser, the supply to the solenoid and the ignition switch, never the starter itself. I'm sure I, and others have changed starters unnecessarily in the past.
Fit a heat shield if you wish, but any heat deflection is probably marginal. All IMHO of course.
Classic Chim said:
I don’t think a heat shield as such will do much but wrapping the starter in heat shield will.
All the r/h side exhaust and engine heat gets blown past the starter on its way through so it’s steel body will surely heat up so wrapping it reduces that effect considerably imho.
Simply cut your heat wrap to size, wrap starter and use a couple of cable ties to secure it.
I did mine years ago. It’s still working and doesn’t appear to pick up any real road crud and as you can imagine stays dry. I used the same material as used on the wings and bulkhead/ firewall.
I completed a body off and removed-re instated starter without having to remove it.
Heat doesn't get blown past the starter once the cars parked up, engine's turned off and the cooling fans have shut downAll the r/h side exhaust and engine heat gets blown past the starter on its way through so it’s steel body will surely heat up so wrapping it reduces that effect considerably imho.
Simply cut your heat wrap to size, wrap starter and use a couple of cable ties to secure it.
I did mine years ago. It’s still working and doesn’t appear to pick up any real road crud and as you can imagine stays dry. I used the same material as used on the wings and bulkhead/ firewall.
I completed a body off and removed-re instated starter without having to remove it.
Main problem is heat drying out the solenoid plungers lubricant
Bad commutation is the other big fail that fools many into replacing a solenoid rather than checking the commutator and brushes, solenoid relies on good commutation to pull the pinion into the flywheel
Anyway, anyone can throw parts at a car, a starter motor test on the vehicle is the only way of proving what's failing
Polly Grigora said:
Heat rises
And bears ..........Put you hand a couple of inches above a living room radiator. Now touch it, which is hotter?
Yes, a starter motor may get very hot if in stationary traffic, but most people have issues when coming back to a warm / hot car after it's been sat a while, with the engine off, due to heat soak. The whole engine and anything bolted to it gets very hot. How many TVR starter issues have you had?
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