Trying to save money (it never works) I order a starter off EBAY. $100.00 with shipping verses $165.00 locally. It arrives and the install goes smooth.

Get in to start it and I get a very good starter moter sound (wrrrrrrrr) but the starter is not engaging the flywheel and the engine is not turning over. I would assume bad solenoid.

I can send the rebuilt one back to the EBAY seller. He offered to take both mine and the old one back and rebuild mine and send it back with no shipping. Not much of a deal, considering he gets a $50.00 core, I suggested he send me a new solenoid. I can also send the "new" one back for $10.00 shipping and a return fee of $25.00. I am now up to $135.00 for a starter, which means I save $30.00 but I don't have a cars for about 2 weeks. Or I can order a solenoid locally for about the same price as sending it back and paying return fee of $25.00.

This all should have worked out but it didn't. At least I can do the work, so it is still cheaper than getting it done at a shop or the stealership.

 

Has saving the $35 been worth the hassle? sometimes its worth looking at the big picture? Good luck getting your car on the road.

Any chance of pulling your old starter solenoid off and putting it on your new starter? (assuming your old solenoid was working).

 

Tomorrow I will change out the old solenoid with the on that came on the new (rebuilt) starter. Maybe that is the cheapest and best way. I know the old solenoid was good, as it did engage but the starter did not turn. But for now I am going to go play golf

 

keep us posted.

 

The big picture was I should have called NAPA, got the starter, put it in and started the car. My picture is deal with a an EBAYER. get the NAPA starter, put it in, and end up with a hassle, and spend more money in the process. I should know better I have been working on my own cars and trucks since 1970. This is not the fist time I have made this mistake.

 

Why not pick up a Napa starter, and just work something out with the Ebay seller so you can get a full refund (minus your return shipping)... that way you are back on the road sooner .. i know you'll be out a few bucks , but it's probably worth it at this point.

 

I talked to the EBAYer (Steve) nice guy with a very strong Asian accent (but I am sure he speaks better English than I speak Japanese). I think he really knows what he is doing. At first he thought the housings might be different (as far as I can tell they are not) but he suggested I put his electrical moter and case and put it on my old starter drive and solenoid. I am into it this far so I did Now it started raining so maybe no golf. I will probably put the whole frankenstien starter in and see what happens. His electrical motor on my drive and case and solenoid.

When it is all done I will see what he is going to do about the pos (maybe) starter. Then I will put the new NAPA one in and hold my breath.

One thing is for sure my electrical starter motor was shot, full of carbon crap like I have not seen since my old Jag parts dept days. Also no grease left in the gear drive.

I think I could do a starter R&R in about 20 minutes after this much practice. And I have not been taking out the battery.

 

I bought my starter from autozone though I was recomended not to, so in a couple months I will probly be getting a refund from them and buying the more expensive one from nissan.

 

This is exactly why you never ever buy that bullsh!t from ebay. I would not trust the napa crap either. You could have gotten a brand new oem nissan one from either pinnicle or scottsdale for $185, dropped it in and hit the road in less than 15 min.

 

Thanks for the helpful advice. Pinnacle is $185.00 plus shipping two ways (for the core) ends up 205.00. Don't buy that NAPA crap. It is the only game in town when you live in the middle of Wyoming. The dealer (thirty miles away) wanted 450.00 for a starter and said "we tell everyone to go to NAPA". So I buy from Pinicle for the real price of 205.00 and it is bad, that is another 10 day wait for a starter to go back and forth. This is not LA and there are not alot of options. At least with the local starter I have a local warrenty. Ashot at saving a c-note is worth it to me.

 

The chances of a nissan product being bad is remote in the least. The napa **** fails all the time... come on you've worked on your own trucks for the past 35 years you should know this.

I recently had a really wonderful experience with napa crap product. After having to crank the engine multiple times for 5- 10 seconds each, I knew I had a fuel pressure problem. I tested the pressure at start up and it was way low. Plus, I could not hear the fuel pump actuate prior to start up like normal. Well, I got a fire lit under my @ss and I decided that I wanted to replace the fuel pump that night. So, I bought a napa crap fuel pump (which was only $20 cheaper than the oem nissan one from scottsdale). Big mistake. It did not solve my problem. I still had sh!tty pressure, and the pump was not actuating prior to start up. This confused the hell out of me and sent me on a wild goose chase because I had assumed the since the pump was brand new, something else was the problem. I wasted several days. Finally ordered an oem nissan one and I ripped that bullsh!t napa crap outta there and just returned it. The funny thing is that the @ssholes would not refund it... only replace it with another sh!tty fuel pump. Well, I threw it on the counter and said "here it is, you better take it, cause I am calling my credit card company and they're gonna remove the charge", which they did. I dropped in the nissan fuel pump, and BAM fired right up. Have not had a problem since.

My brother is on his 2nd napa crap alternator for his '73 454 this year so far. Sure it comes with a warranty, but you still have to go into town to get a new one, and most of the time they have to order it which takes another 2 days. I would much rather slap on a factory one and not worry about it for 100K miles.

I will never put that kind of cheap crap in my car again!!

 

Sometimes even you buy NAPA crap. After replacing: plugs, an o2 sensor, a crankshaft positioning sensor, a battery, all the rotors (Ebay once again) pads front and rear, brake fluid, (Motul's best) CV joints and axles,(RAXLES) and oil change (Amsoil series 3000) and belts (Pinicale Nissan) It made sense at the time to try for a 100.00 savings. Tired of not being able to drive the car, only the truck. I admit I blew it and in perfect hindsight I should have ordered at least locally if not from Pinnicle. Now I just hope I can get some satisfaction out of Steve from Ebay.

 

Yes, it was one of my weaker moments in life.

 

I made the recommended (by the rebuilder) FRANKENSTIEN starter from formerly dead parts.

I put the new (rebuilt) starter motor on my housing (drive, gears, and solenoid) Took the time to do the drive and gear regreasing. Put it in the engine and it started. So far it has started 5 times. It appears that all is well.

Now all that is left is to see what the EBAYER is going to do. Really I think I should get a full refund, but I will settle for less. I emailed him and he is pretty good about replying.

Now I have to check the ECU for codes that it was throwing before the starter replacement. I was getting a knock sensor and crankshaft positioning sensor I replaced those when it wouldn't start.

Hope I am done for a while with repairs.

 

Glad you are back on the road... start saving up for another starter just in case the rest of the starter ends up being as reliable as the solenoid!

 

I bought mine at advanced auto parts. Going strong but need to come out now, glad I have the lifetime warantee and just have to take it and get a new one. Gotta Love Warantee.

 

wahoohead,

I missed your part 1 to this thread so can you tell me what happened to your car that made you change the starter?

 

About 4 years ago the dreaded CEL came on. I didn't know about this site so I went to the stealership. $80.00 later they said it is the rear 02 sensor. We will let you know when one comes in. Six months went buy the light went out and I ignored it when it came back on. Tjeu never called so I just ignored the light. Periodically it would go out for 4 months and on for 5 months etc. The car ran fine and there was no problem until this May when it started to have difficulty starting. By then I had discovered this site, so armed with CEL procedure I got the codes for crankshaft positioning sensor, and knock sensor. Surprisingly no rear 02 sensor.

So I replaced the plugs, the rear o2 sensor, and the knock sensor and the crankshaft sensor. It still would not start, but it was also turning over very slowly. Smart guy that I am I figure battery and drop mine off for load testing. Yup battery is shot. New battery, and I figure it will start. No way, the starter will barely turn. Order a new starter off EBAY. Now it starts.