Need help on removing the starter on 2004 MPV
 

Hi,

Since last week, my 2004 Mazda MPV can not start any more. The car was working well before and parked in a garage with about 20F in the cold winter.
When I turned the key, all lights in the dashboard turned black but then came back when I released the key. Initially the starter could rotate a few inches, but after a few tries, it did not rotate at all even though I could still hear the clicks. I tired with a new fully charged battery, jump start from another car, but neither of them helped. I do not think it is a battery problem any more. I had previous experience of repairing a broken starter in my 1998 Toyota Corolla. Therefore I want to take the starter out from my MPV and have a bench test.

So far, I have removed the battery, the air filter assembly, the air intake hose and the selector cable. Both terminal wires have been disconnected from starter solenoid. I have removed one 12mm bolt retaining the starter on the front side.
Now I need to know how many remaining bolts and where are they? I suppose there is one more on the same side as the one I have removed but it is under the black hoses. The black hose is about 1 inch in diameter with several bifurcations connected to the engine and radiator. I think they are the hoses for antifreeze but not quite sure. If they are, do I need to drain the antifreeze and disconnect those black hoses to expose the starter?
There should be some more bolts on the other size of the starter (the firewall side), right? How can I find and remove them?
I'm new to this forum. I really appreciate if anyone can give me a help. I will try to upload some pictures if I can.

Chunguang

Picture attached
 

picture attached.
BTW, this car was bought new in 2004 and driven mostly in town for tens of miles per week. The total mileage is only 21000 now.

I'm sure you fixed it already, but I'll post anyway just in case...

There should be 2 or 3 bolts on the back of the starter behind the solenoid. That hose you mentioned is connected to the radiator right? Well, if that's the case, then you must drain the coolant first, and disconnected anything that blocks your way from getting to the starter bolts.

One thing you can do is, you can have one person hold the key to the start position while you get a hammer or a big stick and bang on the starter and see if it cranks.