besides getting old, are there any things that cause starters to fail preemtively?

as of my NWP/Y pipe faulty install back in april ive gone through 2 starters (i drove fine for 10 months previous on the original 8 tooth starter)

the first one died sometime in june, and the replacement is currently on its way out.



is there something electrical or otherwise that would cause a starter to die?
something that puts unneccesary stress on it?

this seems to be tied to my warm starting ("choking"/running rich) issue...

 

my quess would be .. loud audio system ? subs amps

 

Was your 2nd one a remanufactured one from AZ? If so, it could just be that it was not rebuilt properly. I wouldn't stress it though; hopefully you got it from AZ with the lifetime warantee.

 

rotor and brushes fail.. as well as the solenoid

 

a weak battery cause starter problems--trust me on this, holding the key in the start position too long too often, poor grounding-(clean mounting for starter is important ), oil getting into the starter and connections that aren't tight...a few things that CAN kill a starter.

 

I just have to make the following comment in this thread since I like to do it in every starter thread:

Countless .org members and others have replaced perfectly good starters when indeed it was a bad connection and they never new it because replacing the starter solved the problem.

Sorry I can't be of any more help. So you still have the warm start issue? Send me a link to the thread again so I can see what has/hasn't been done since my last post and I'll try to help you out again.

 

worn starter relay and heat....

 

ok ill give you a brief rundown

about the battery, i bought a brand new DIEHARD from sears in Feb
about the grounds, i put a 7 link hypergrounding kit on about 2 months ago (grounded starter, upper/lower IM, TB, etc. etc.)
just FYI, i replaced both the neg and pos battery cables last weekend, but its driven fine everyday except for today when it rained.



i DO have a rear main seal leak, but i dont see how that oil could get up onto the starter


yea well it isnt solved, but i have made some discoveries

first off, there was a big exhaust leak right where the first pipe of the Y pipe mounts to the headers. when i dropped it down, you could clearly see a good 3 inch wide black streak from all the carbon deposits.
i got some new crush gaskets from DaveB and replaced them both. i cant be sure it solved it, but i assume it did.


last weekend, when i replaced the battery cables i also cleaned the IACV (again). so when i had my head down by the IACV, looking into the EGR tube, i could smell a VERY STRONG ODOR OF GASOLINE. i checked the fuel filter and subsequent lines, but didnt see any wetness. it seemed to be coming more from the TB or IM area.


then a couple of orgers around here suggested that it was a fuel injector o-ring that was crushed during the install of the spacers (because the rail needs to be removed to get to the lower spacer area).

that makes sense to me because this only happens if the car has been sitting 15 minutes up to 3 hours. that is about the time it takes for fuel to evap off a hot engine.
also, this would explain why it has a warm start issue, but then it doesnt happen again if you turn the car off and then back on immediately.

anyway, i have all 18 injector orings on their way from dave B, and immona try to put them in next weekend.


does this all sound right kevin?

you have any suggestions or things to do while i have the IM off?

 

Doesn't your car have really low miles????? You have alot going on for such low miles

 

I see what you have done in the way of connections. But in answer to your original Q, there are quite a few things that can cause premature starter failure.

1. Poor Ground(s)
2. Bad ignition system
3. Old/Worn or poorly charged battery
4. Poor positive connections (trigger wire, main battery feed to starter, ignition, etc.)
5. ^this links in with above, but the starter relay and fuses.

you should change the relay every time you put a starter in it. I never have but it is strongly reccomended.

Hope that helps answer the question.

 

What happens to the starter is:
1. The rotor end-bearings wear out.
2. The rotor brushes fail.
3. The solenoid gets dirty and won't engage the starter.

Twice now my starter has failed and I've gone down to the local electrical repair guy and he's taken it off, reconditioned it, and put it back on. Not bad for $60 all-in. I had a chat with him about the Zone and he laughed, and told me this:
The 'Zone basically takes your old starter and does the same thing he does: strip it, wash it, change out the end bearings, clean up the solenoid, clean up the rotor, fit new brushes and then reassemble. So, I s'pose there must at any one time be a container load of junk starters heading to India or wherever and another one full of refurbs coming back.
Oh, the guy also said he reckons that a refurb unit lasts a year, tops.

 

In October of last year i replaced the starter on my fourth generation Maxima. Just over two months ago, I had to replace the starter again and I can tell that it is already going out (taking longer to turn over). It is not a refurbished starter. I assume that all connections are clean and the battery is only a year old. Any ideas as to what might be killing my starters so quickly?

 

Sometimes aftermarket products just aren't up to par. Also, it's not uncommon to get faulty units right out of the box.

You want longevity, get a new or used OE starter.

Also, you assume the connections are clean and tight? Assumptions belong nowhere in a diagnosis of part failure.

 

from my diagnostic from replacing starters in about 9 maxima's i work on around here.. the starter turns the flywheel in the vehicle.. bad or worn flywheels in RARE cases can tear a starter up ..but most i've seen were terrible grounds

 

clean your electrical connections before complaining about worn starters.

Makes good sense to me...

 

I had noticed that my 97 was cranking a little slowly and thought that it was time for a new battery. Before I could get done procrastinating, the car wouldn't start. Jumping didn't work and changing the battery didn't work. Took the starter apart and the lubrication in the planetary gear set was all dried up. Cleaned and lubed the gears but it was too little too late. The damage was done, had to replace the starter.

 

My 97 GLE also has starter problems. Im not sure what it is

 

Give us some details of the problem and what you have tried. Then maybe we could give you some appropriate suggestions.

 

AGE.
Keep in mind a rebuilt starter is just an old core with one new part. Before long the second most worn part fails. As such, reman starters WILL fail prematurely.

 

Not saying it is always the best solution, but my starter was more than shot and rather than try and refurb it myself I bought one at Autozone for $109 and it comes with a lifetime warranty.... One guy said he takes it to someone who charges him $60 every time to refurb it (which was sounding like once a year) for him and so not to go to autozone. Well I paid 109 once and have a lifetime replacement warranty for as many times as it goes out. I will let you do the math. It takes less than an hour to swap out so for me this was a better solution.

 

yes Autozone lifetime warranty sounds good. do u know if they do the same warranty with altanators ????

 

Bumping a 3 year old thread

 

heat,repeated starts wear out the starter motor, the solenoid gets worn and starts to sometimes not engage. mainly heat kills them and weak battery's tryna start with weak battery.


your probably goin through so many caUSE ur buying the cheaper reman. get a OEM one or new one n im sure it will be good for a good 8 years or longer.