914 Eating Starters

mbriney · 02-27-2004, 05:47 AM

My starter gave out on me last night on my way home from work. The problem is this is about the 3rd starter it's gone through in a year and half.

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm curious if upgrading to the 1.5hp starter would make a difference?

Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated, both by me and my wallet

Thanks!
-Matt

lapuwali · 02-27-2004, 05:54 AM

How are they dying? Do they simply stop spinning? Do they spin w/o turning over the engine? Are these new starters?

3D914 · 3D914's Garage

Matt,

Have you looked at the condition of your flywheel?
I would check its overall condition, installation, and the condition of the teeth.

Unless the starters are some cheep knock-off, they should provide many more years of reliable service than what you're seeing.

Good luck,

mbriney · 02-27-2004, 06:12 AM

Normally the starter starts up just normal, no problems or anything. But then right before it dies it'll do one last revolution and then it's nothing but clicking after that.

It's weird, and I know the starters should be good, because I order them from Pelican.

I'll look into the flywheel teeth though, that's a good suggestion!

Thanks

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Have you cleaned up all of the connections in the high-current path? That's the one that goes from the battery to the starter, through the chassis, and back to the battery again.

--DD

lapuwali · 02-27-2004, 08:32 AM

If you still have one of the "dead" starters, try putting it on the ground near a battery, and attach it to the battery with jumper cables. See if you can make it work. If you see the gear move in and out, the solenoid is working. If the gear isn't turning, either the motor is bad, or the solenoid->motor connection is bad. Remove power, and try spinning the motor by hand. If it hardly turns, the motor is bad. If it spins freely, try applying power again.

If the starter works out of the car, it's your connections in the car that are bad. Take a good look at all of them, very carefully checking all of the connectors very thoroughly. Also make sure your ground strap is well connected and the connections are clean (actually remove them, sand them and where they attach a bit, and replace).

If the starter doesn't work out of the car, try taking it to a rebuilding shop and see what they say. If you still have the other dead starters, you might rebuild all of them. You can sell the surplus on Ebay. It's possible PP got a bad batch of starters.

robinaube · 03-01-2004, 08:08 AM

I gave up using Bosch starters. I have had great luck with Tilton's high torque starters. I bought mine from AJ USA. They are a bit pricey but they never fail to work. I've installed them into three cars over the past 10 years and all are still working perfectly. They never have hot start problems.

http://www.tiltonracing.com/superstarters/sonicflex.html

Pelican sells a high torque starter too. I don't have any experience with them. Has anyone else tried the Pelican model?

Rob

914Ghost · 03-01-2004, 09:06 AM

Call Gene Berg and see what they have.
They guarantee ALL the parts they sell FOREVER to the orginal purchaser.
I had a problem like that once, a 1.5 HP Gene Berg starter fixed it once and for all.
Bob O

Toast · 03-01-2004, 09:17 AM

Check your voltage regulator. I once had a faulty VR and it kept draining my starter.

jkeyzer · jkeyzer's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Toast
Check your voltage regulator. I once had a faulty VR and it kept draining my starter.

Huh???

Toast · 03-01-2004, 10:23 AM

Ok, ok. I had a bad Vr that kept draining the battery, but would still want more ampage.....hot wire. It would then fry the alternator, which would fry the starter.

Since the alt, starter and vr all share a hot lead from the bat - it could be possible to fry the starter that way. The alt has to be "excited" as it does not have permanent magnets in the field coils. The hot lead from the battry creates an electromagnet (field coils). The starter has the hot lead to the solenoid - if the start solenoid wire is hot due to a defective wire or solenoid it will feed bat voltage to the armature.
The hot lead from the bat to the VR is actually the path by which the bat gets charged when the alt is putting out.

Ok, nevermind all that........I've had Way too many damn problems with my vehicles. Im starting to confuse myself.

It could very well need a rebuild. The problem - they do a lousy job these days and for a reason. If you have to guarantee a unit for "lifetime" you're not going to put much into it because there is no profit. Someone suggested earlier a place to get a rebuild with a guarentee, you might try that.

Good luck.

Zeke · 03-01-2004, 04:08 PM

I'm not quite following the lifetime guarantee and no quality logic, but taking the starter(s) to an auto elec shop where they do the work right there on the bench is a good idea. They will tell you if the thing is good, and if not, why it went bad.

BTW, I use a gear reduction unit from a guy in Parker AZ and I will never use anything else. What a great starter for $165.

mikey · 03-02-2004, 12:54 PM

I hat a Nissan truck like that! The original starter crapped out, so I bought a remanufactured one. That one dies 6 months later, so I exchanged it with another rebuilt one. I went through this routine about every 6 months till I finally got a good one. The brass bushing would wear quickly then pop out. Most likely due to poor remanufacturing.