Suggestions for lightweight starter?

[Mikey83835]

Are they the same as high-torque, or can they be one or the other? Supposedly there was a version for about $120 on fleabay but is now NLA?

I understand the original weighs about 16 pounds, lightweights go 5 to 8 pounds,

Will be on a 915 box, 3.6 motor,

[ischmitz]

I believe they are the same thing. However, I had issues with mine where the little gear would chew up the ring gear. Do a search - there are similar stories out there and apparently you can shim the starter to improve matter. I ended up going back to the stock starter for several reasons:

- I do like the slower-spinning of the original Porsche starter. The high-torque starters make the car sound like a Chevy when cranking. It spins much faster.
- I got tired of dealing with the gear not engaging and chewing up the ring gear.

Honestly, the 8 pounds won't matter with a 3.6......

Ingo

[Geronimo '74]

I bought one from chris7 right here on the board (or chrisseven, can't remember)

They make an adapterplate for a starter originally coming from a modern dieselcar.
Hi torque and very lightweight! Only 2.7 kgs which is about under 6 lbs.

Very pleased with it! No grinding gear issues.

[willcall]

That's great info. Thanks.

I bought one from chris7 right here on the board (or chrisseven, can't remember)



They make an adapterplate for a starter originally coming from a modern dieselcar.

Hi torque and very lightweight! Only 2.7 kgs which is about under 6 lbs.



Very pleased with it! No grinding gear issues.

[Jesse16]

I bought the "hi-torque" from our host. To me it seems to spin the motor slower than the stock unit but my starter rebuild person only got me a year out of his effort with the original bosch so I got the new unit. All you have to do is compare the new to old side by side to confirm the extension of the starter gear and know all will be good when installed or not. The new is smaller lighter but I didn't weigh. Has worked fine for 2 years. Not a complicated decision unless looking for something really special. Good luck.

[Chuck.H]

I got a genuine 'hi-torque' (or high-torque, one of those is written right on it) from 'Automotion' back in 1994, and it's faithfully started my car (I'm guessing) some 20,000 times since then. So it's too early to tell, but so far I'm happy with it.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 371k miles

[KTL]

The starter on eBay used to $100 is now around $200. He uses an OEM Nippondenso starter motor if i'm not mistaken. Goes by the ebay ID name of hiperformanceusa but it appears he's not offering the 911 starter anymore.

I have one of the hiperformanceusa starters and its a pretty good unit. But comes with the thick shim if you happen to need it, which is hokey. I haven't put mine to a lot of use since I installed it when I last rebuilt the engine and the engine had an oiling failure soon thereafter. Just now getting the engine back together for next racing season.

The IMI starters that Pelican sells have been good but some people have had problems that may or may not be attributed to the starter not properly engaging the ring gear, so keep that in mind/do a search to help your decision. There's conflicting information whether or not a shim should be used with the IMI

starter ring failure twice in 3 weeks. HELP!!

If you want a no-hassle top quality lightweight starter, you can't go wrong with a Tilton Super Starter. Tilton parts are supreme quality Made in USA.

Pre-89 Porsche 911/914/930 Standard Duty Super Starter

[KTL]

Also note that the 993 tiptronic starter is a great replacement for the original Bosch starter. It's not truly "lightweight" but it is a considerable 3 lbs lighter than the stock starter.

[RichardNew]

I'm not sure it's really worth the effort unless you're a very serious racer.

Richard Newton
Race Car Images

[911pcars]

The name, "High-torque" is a marketing tool for a common gear-reduction type motor. It really isn't high-torque. Instead of using a large and heavy high-torque motor to rotate the engine, a gear reduction motor uses gearing (small gear drives larger gear) to generate the minimum rotational force to start the engine. To compensate for the relatively light weight motor (weight savings here) and reduced current requirement, the smaller motor simply rotates at a faster speed. Thus, more rotational speed and the gearing makes up for the lower torque output of the motor.

This also reduces the electrical load on the battery during cranking which allows some to use a reduced capacity battery (careful about using this in freezing temperatures).

Gear reduction motor:


Direct drive motor:


A random lesson for the AM,
Sherwood

[kidrock]

IIRC, there have been past threads relating to the amount of teeth on the throw out pinion (like Ingo stated earlier). Something about the high torque IMI units being sold with either 9 or 11 teeth, and not engaging properly with the ring gear. A quick search should yield results.

[Mikey83835]

Originally Posted by Geronimo '74

I bought one from chris7 right here on the board (or chrisseven, can't remember)

They make an adapterplate for a starter originally coming from a modern dieselcar.
Hi torque and very lightweight! Only 2.7 kgs which is about under 6 lbs.

Very pleased with it! No grinding gear issues.

I sent him a PM, thanks,

Hi torque lightweight starter Q

"axial epicyclic gearbox" I have no clue,

[Mikey83835]

Originally Posted by ischmitz

Honestly, the 8 pounds won't matter with a 3.6......

Ingo

Originally Posted by RichardNew

I'm not sure it's really worth the effort unless you're a very serious racer.

Richard Newton
Race Car Images

I would agree if that was all I was going to do, but in conjunction with plastic bumpers, hoods, possibly front fenders, deleting all the old-man-in-a-Buick-options like ac/cc/radio etc, lightweight interior and seats, light battery, etc, etc, one can make a substantial difference in the power-to-weight ratio,

Adding power is fine but decreasing weight gives the acceleration improvement also, plus better handling, braking, and even better gas mileage,

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Mikey83835

"axial epicyclic gearbox" I have no clue,

Think "planetary gears"...

Let us know what Chris says. I'm interested in the cost and availability.

JR

[Geronimo '74]

Originally Posted by Mikey83835

I sent him a PM, thanks,

Hi torque lightweight starter Q

"axial epicyclic gearbox" I have no clue,

That's the one i have.
Chris is a good guy to deal with as well.

[john walker's workshop]

as far as light weight goes, the "rebuilt" bosch SR68X starters now come as a smaller, considerably lighter unit that looks like a new part. haven't got a big original style in quite a while.

[Mikey83835]

Originally Posted by javadog

Think "planetary gears"...

Let us know what Chris says. I'm interested in the cost and availability.

JR

$360 + shipping, designed for hi-compression motors, so more starter than I need for a stock-ish 993,

[mreid]

Mikey, I have the same set up and used this one from our host:

Pelican Parts - Product Information: PEL-GE-STHT

No problems, yet, but only been running it for a few months. Avoid the cheaper versions as the cast nose has been known to self-destruct like this one did in my other car: