No image The starter went bad. I had it replaced with a new one. 10 days later about 60 miles from home the new starter failed. You could hear it spin but it would not engage the flywheel. I don’t know what would cause this. Power surge? Bad coil winding? Low amperage? Flywheel crack? In reading some posts I see I’m not the only one this has happened to. Starter is “unbranded”. Sold on Amazon. Warranted and replaced. Now waiting for garage to replace it. The tow and replace charges will be 3 times the price of the starter. Anyone else have this happen? I suspect shoddy manufacturing practices.
Nope, I would have let the shop I use buy the starter from their supplier, My shop would have also paid the tow bill, and the labor for replacement when the starter they supplied failed.
Are you sure it’s a new starter and not a rebuild? I looked at those on Amazon and most claim to be new, but I think they mean new condition (rebuilt). New knock-off starters (all new parts, made by who knows who) are $120 at auto parts stores, with “new condition” being rebuilt by who-knows-who… probably some country paying $1 labor for a rebuild. The clue is rebuilt always asks for your old starter back, or they charge you for a core.
Yes, I had so many problems with rebuilds that I stopped buying them. I either built them at home, or took them to a reputable local shop. Yours sounds like either the solenoid (that tube shaped thing on top of the starter) was defective or not receiving enough power to engage. The latter can be low battery or bad wire connection. If you heard a grinding noise, it is possible your old starter damaged the teeth on the flywheel, but that is pretty rare.
I think you would do best to refuse package delivery and contact Amazon for your money back. Have your mechanic order a starter from a reputable source (dealer or NAPA comes to mind) and pay the extra. It will get far more expensive if you need to have 3 or 4 installed, or have the next one leave you stranded miles from home.
But that’s just me.
Spotted your problem.
Happened to me once many years ago. I stopped buying the cheapest parts and never had it happen again.
Cheap parts are no bargain. Especially if there is a lot of labor to replace them. I’d guess you got a poorly rebuilt starter.
I had a friend that bought the cheapest rebuilt engine for his truck. He replaced it a total of twice and sold the truck because neither of the two engines was right.
1 Like
I, too, vote for taking it to an auto electric shop if you can’t fix it well on your own. They can diagnose it, probably fix it, or advise why not, and may have something in stock that they’ll stand behind. My second choice is a rebuilt from a NAPA or other reputable store. New OEM is usually way too expensive, and new no-name way too shabby.
My last rebuilt starter (ever) failed a week after install. I popped it apart. The commutator was turned so far that the copper was curling up at the ends.
Shoulda, wouda couda. Your right. But starter was not a rebuilt. It was brand new. No core needed. Who knows where it was made though! Next time if I can’t do it myself I have learned.
That part I was mentioning- was also a brand new starter motor. Had a big engined hobby car with an appetite for starters. Got sick of swapping out rebuilt units over time and bought an el cheapo but brand new chromed unit. Installed it, got in to start the engine and nothing. Got out to inspect and the red battery lead was already smoking. By the time I got it disconnected, there was a small fire. The car was in the garage. Try not panicking and removing a tight battery connection at the post with a red-hot battery cable and terminal. That was the last time I bought any “unbranded” parts…
quality control in those 3rd world countries is amazing isnt it ?
Sometimes QC is not terribly good in the U.S. either. Other than a litany of reman parts with various slipshod issues regarding reman starters, alternators, and so I even found a serious manufacturing flaw with a voltage regulator for a Shovelhead Harley.
Several weeks and the alternator fried.Replaced the stator and a month later fried again. A month later and the 3rd stator BBQs itself.
At that point I dropped the stators into a bucket of carb solvent and let them soak for a few days.
Once the insulation was gone I unwound them and found out that the regulating coils in all 3 were burnt to a crisp.
I took a razor blade and cut the pigtail loom on the regulator open and found out that the regulators were being manufactured without a sensing leads. Instead of the required 4 leads the regulator only had 3. In essence, around town or short distances the electrics were fine but once on the open road with sustained speeds to the stator would start cooking itself.