Starter motor? EWS? What else?

[turquise1]

Hey guys,

After a successful valleypan gasket replacement, now I have other problems with my X5 2001 4.4 (at 190k miles).

Basically, I turn the key and no crank as all the lights inside are on and the battery measures good. This happened to me a couple of times before and interestingly from one of them i could recover by getting a jumper (I thought the battery didn't have enough power). Right now, nothing seems to help. I tried to jump start and still no crank.

I first blamed the Immobilizer and checked all the fuses in there and tried to start the car with another key which did not help either.

So, now I am thinking its the starter motor and it kind of makes sense because it was never changed before.

So, my question is, is there a way to test this? Where is located exactly? I have been reading that it is right by the transmission but I have seen different opinions to get to it either from the top by taking the intake out or from the bottom. Which way is the best? I did not see a DIY for this for a 4.4. Do you guys have any links?

Thanks for all the help in advance..

Ozzie

2001 X5 4.4 'Bluey'