anyone else with starter problems?

I am on my third 3 bolt starter from a parts store in 3 years. I get the lifetime ones but it is the time and inconvience of it going out that bugs me. is anyone else having these problems? the first one to go had the gear end come apart and this last one turned slow and drew lots of amps and had a chewed up gear. they are only lasting about 14-16 months no matter the milage I drive....I notice this same problem with alternators if they are stock replacements and ran at a duty cycle (63 amp alt in a 84 tbird witha small 200w stereo would fry them like mad..yet the same one in my fairlane has been in for a couple years now)

nick
 
Check your alignment with the starter. IF the gears are getting chewed up, sounds like the spacing may be off.

OF course, I know the problem with the alternators, I went through 3 in 1 year on my explorer.

Slade
 
If your going through alternators, your probably jump starting other cars and doing it wrong. Never have the other car try starting while you have your engine above idle. Hook up to them and give their battery at least 1 minute of charging time before they attempt to start it. You can rev up your engine as long as they are not in their car and can turn their starter over before warning you so you can get to an idle first. I haven't lost an alternator in nearly 30 years after learning this proceedure.

The starter is quite different. Gears being destroyed sounds like a cracked bellhousing allowing the starter to move away from the flywheel or torque converter. Or the flywheel gear is damaged. Turning slowly and drawing lots of current comes from the starter getting overheated by the exhaust manifold. Getting a heat sheild to cover the starter should help if that keeps happening.

Then there are all the oddball, or who would have figured that, causes that you may have to learn on your own.
 
well the bearing/bushing goes on them and is causing bad engagement. the first that went out spilled the guts of the end all oer the floor. the new one is much quieter than the one that was in there. guess I need to speed up the t5 swap for when the next goes out..

nick
 
i have gone through three starters now. rings were chewed all to hell. the second one lasted a few weeks the third one night. my best guess was i lost a bolt from the fly wheel and thats why it was seeing so much play although i couldnt manually move the fly.
 
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