Starters: Technical, what's the ideal choice?
 

911 Starter Technical:

Besides the High Torque models, what qualities make for a dependable and ideal starter? I've always had Bosch.

What actually goes into a re-manufactured unit?

And any differences in manufacturers/suppliers?



Thanks

Pelican Parts has a nice high torque starter................Ron

Well, I went with the Bosch re-manufactured this time, for immediacy. The old one I'll take to have it refurbished, if possible.

Starting today was inconsistent. Manifestations of no-start today, were "zing", "crunch", and "zing" again. About 50-50 normal starts, and "rock-in" to start.

I marked off the pulley spot on no-start "zings", in case this might identify consistent areas the flywheel teeth are damaged. However, the starter sometimes started normally in this spot.

So the next move is to R & R the starter, and install the re-manufactured Bosch.

...probably be OK..
rebuilt anything electrical can sometimes be a PIA..
but I sometimes had to shim Chevy starters to re-arrange alignment.. never had to even think about doing it on my 911... and if I did I'd touch base with " Jim Sims " for this kind of engineering logic

...if I even thought that I may have gear clash, I'd eyeball the Ring

...and beat teeth will be easy to find..
I bought this long borescope with the larger dia. probe extension for entertainment.. inside spark plug holes, etc..

I'd probably get a new unit.. and keep a decent back-up.........Ron

I just installed a high torque one yesterday on an 89. It is close to 1/2 the size of the original Bosch ones, so installation is much easier then removal. On 87-89's, you have to lower the front of the transmission. Add just a few minutes to the procedure, but far worth it.

I had the same problem (zing) when I lost the first tooth on my ring gear. It was a hit and miss problem that I rarely had to deal with.

Then I got to the crunch stage (from the loss of additional teeth) so I shelled out about $130 for a remanufactured starter since I had at first assumed that it was the sound of the starter bushings going bad since the ring gear looked OK upon a quick inspection.

The switch to the new unworn bendix gear teeth spacing was too much for the old worn out ring gear and in a period of only a few weeks destroyed the remaining marginal teeth on the ring gear in addition to the bendix mechanism on my new starter.

Even with the inspection mirror the starter teeth didn't look bad since only the leading edge of the ring gear teeth were damaged.

Be prepared to destroy your new starter if you don't replace the damaged and/or worn ring gear if your circumstances are the same as my own.

http://anthonyrawson.com/cars/930eng.../RingGear2.jpg

I have a used OEM Bosch starter if you want it. It was working when I took it out and will guarantee it it works when reinstalled. Just make an offer.

The high torque models are a LOT lighter also. They don't all seem to be the same model or manf. It's not a lot of $$ so I would (did) use one of those.

I believe Pelican has the desireable high torque........Ron

How would I examine the gear teeth without dropping the engine? I don't really know the alternatives here. Worse, I do not see any suppliers with 69 flywheels.

I'm not sure if the term "remanufactured" has any strict requirements for how much of the component is actually rebuilt or replaced. I think the price might (but not always) have something to do with it.

Some "reman" companies will actually replace or rebuild every single component inside the starter - whether it's okayh or not. Other reman companies will merely turn the commutator, replace the brushes, clean up and test. Both are sold as "rebuilt" starters. Which one will probably last longer? Which one costs more? Which one do you think is chosen by most consumers/repair shops to install?

I heard a story about Nippon Denso, OEM to major car manufacturers. A Denso-remanufactured starter is rebuilt from the ground up at a cost to a company of X dollars. Since the company must pay for parts replaced during the warranty period, they decide to save big dollars by contracting with another rebuilding company at around 1/2 their previous cost (or something like that). The manufacturer saves money and loses less money for warranty repairs.

Maybe this is why Autozone and Pep Boys rebuilds cost less.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

It was a quality rebuild from the porsche dealership where I work that had a new bendix gear. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the box but I think it might have been a bosch reman unit.

My problem was due to the fact that any time you try to mesh a new gear on a overly worn gear that the mesh is not going to be right.