My 2000 Mazda MPV (i know, it's old) failed to start and left me stranded (story for another day). The culprit is that the cable between the solenoid and the starter motor is broken at the solenoid bolt. It is not the solenoid connection to the B+ (the other bolt). It's rust. Is it possible to repair the short cable? or am I better off getting a reman starter? Starter itself does not seem to have problem. It is a pain to access. ANy help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Starter trouble: repair or replace
- Thread starter windeye
- Start date
that cable is the lead from the brush holder. To replace you would need to have the ability to spot weld. Then you have to buy a good one. How would you know. China makes a wide variety of quality.
So just get a good brand with life time warranty.
Rod
So just get a good brand with life time warranty.
Rod
New starter.
OK... thanks! rockauto has both reman and new from BBB Industries. I am thinking to get a new one. what do you think?
I find it makes more sense to buy new from rockauto as you'll need to mail the core back for re-manufactured and the cost of postage makes it not worth it.
Placed order on the BBB Industries, New Starter. Thanks!
I keep a spare starter and alt on the shelf- keep and repair the oe.
Is there no starter/alternator shop near you?
Also, a NAPA store near me swears they source good quality products. I've trusted these guys for a while and they don't throw bovex.
See if there's a similarly good supplier near you. You can get fast, postage free service.
Also, a NAPA store near me swears they source good quality products. I've trusted these guys for a while and they don't throw bovex.
See if there's a similarly good supplier near you. You can get fast, postage free service.
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I have never rebuilt a starter myself, but my wife's bff whose husband is a Toyota employee and a Lexus tech, stated to ALWAYS rebuild what came with the car. Not only is it not expensive, it's the best quality job you'll ever have....keeping the OE is great advice. Often there is little to no core (which actually is a hint that maybe the rebuild isn't fantastic--AC Delco had no core and at the time, lifetime warranty which I had to use 2X)...
Where I live- the downtime for the vehicle is a consideration if they have to order said part in.
Jap/Denso starters that I have opened up are superbly built- usually just the copper contacts need work and a cleanup- the bearing are normally ok. Not your 80's Remy stuff- but you pay for the quality.
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my '06 LS430 has its original starter. I believe that job is 10 hrs by the book, and there are no other jobs to leverage while it's being done. I'd have the indie do it, but perhaps, ask for the core back....not sure what the charge might be. The reason to pay the labor is to get the warranty on the labor in case the part goes bad...knock on wood it's never acted up.
My experience is that when a starter acts up, it's not a fluke, it's the beginning of a problem. My maxima took about 18 mos to fail altogether, after it began to stick and fail to retract. And it did in bumper to bumper traffic on City Line Ave during rush hour (I STUPIDLY SHUT THE CAR OFF AND TRIED TO RESTART [it would have failed leaving work otherwise])...
For That kind of labor- either I do it and/or a new oem starter goes back in.
Sometimes the pain in the butt is when your car's starter motor model is just not available except on a month or more's backorder, because later years changed the vendor for the motor. Taking it out and getting it rebuilt, or finding a refurb starter motor that's up for sale are your only ways out, when that happens as it did for me, with a 2011 honda city, far younger car than I'd expected that to happen, for a model that's been in production over two decades in India and other Asian countries.
Napa stuff is the same as you get at any auto parts chain. But at least around here they have dirty, dark stores, don’t care about you unless you’re a shop, and charge more for the same products the competition has. Maybe they aren’t all like that but that’s been my experience with them. I would say you do have a higher chance of finding stuff for larger trucks/medium duty/heavy duty/ag parts and supplies at Napa vs O’Reilly/AutoZone/advance. But if you’re changing your own starter I’d get one at the more retail oriented competition like OR or AZ because they’re open earlier/later so if you ever have an issue with it you can get a replacement easier.
Plus one on that about Napa, dogememe.
Sept 21, 2019, I took a chance on a starter from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T9ORWIG/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It is odd that the price has gone down. I paid $102.95 back in 2019 pre-covid.
Cross my fingers, it is still working. I rebuilt the old, oe starter with ebay brush and bench tested it. Changing the starter on Honda 4 cyl is a pain. I had to take exhaust manifold out to get to the starter.
Cross my fingers, it is still working. I rebuilt the old, oe starter with ebay brush and bench tested it. Changing the starter on Honda 4 cyl is a pain. I had to take exhaust manifold out to get to the starter.
The TYC new starters have proven to be reliable and priced right on Rockauto. Only used one BBB and that was fine as well.
