Starter motor

[firefox1712]

I hope you guys can help with a bit of advice.

Had a recent occurence with the starter motor not engaging. Started the car (first time as usual) one day last week and there was a dreadful rattle. Inspected engine bay to see if there was anything obvious - nothing. Turned engine off and tried to start again. Whirring of started going round but not turning engine. Realised that starter was turning and not ngaging so probably some problem with mechanism to throw shaft in to flywheel.

Got told probably dirt in starter motor by my father and should be removed and cleaned with carbon tet (or whatever used these days) and replaced. He did say that many mechanics would probably say starter motor should be rebuilt.

Bumped into my old mechanic whilst on my trusted invalid buggy (must get TVR power!) who said the same but he couldn't do it till next week - after Bank Holiday.

Got passed on to new mechanic who was recommended some time ago - have to find new mech due to nasty damage to Ferrari by existing workshop. He said yes, would need to be removed and cleaned and replaced but from my description would need to be rebuilt.

Whilst in his care he called my answering (mobile phone busted and not replaced) machine to say he had tried to contact me - had tried to replace starter motor without success and was sending it to be rebuilt.

All was done in less than a day and a half - excellent. Labour charge £25 - outstanding. Cost of repaired starter £125 - Help!!! Total cost £188.

Apparently he had tried a Bosch this and that that he had looked up as being the correct new starter but would not fit due to exhaust manifold. But, blimey - £125 for a starter rebuild - is that about right?

Due to the speed with which all this was done and commitments made, I was unable to ask for advice on this forum. Moral probably is - when mobile packs up replace it immediately!

Sorry for long windedness of this piece - important perhaps to give some background.

£125???

cheers!
JJ

[GreenV8S]

Roughly speaking, I'd expect to pay £100 for a recon or £200 ish new. By the time you add in VAT and delivery charges you could easily get up to the sort of figure you were charged, it doesn't seem particularly outrageous.

[grahamw48]

I don't know if it will work with your starter, but in the (distant) past I've taken the offending article off, and just given it a good clean myself, usually fixes the thing.
They can just get gunged up, making the mechanism sluggish.
Always worth having a go yourself before paying someone 40 quid an hour.

There could even be damaged teeth on the flywheel, but you don't want to know about that.

[Number 7]

I seem to remember paying c. £120 all in for an exchange starter a couple of years ago, so I don't think your price is bad.

7.

[adam quantrill]

You woz done mate!

I have taken the Bosch one off and put the SD1 Unipart cheaper one one. Only trouble is you have to make a bigger dent in the manifold to clear the larger starter, but
a) they last longer
and
b) they are much cheaper

For future reference, you can strip down and rebuild a starter in about 3 hours yourself, assuming you leave the coils alone. Putting new grease in and sanding the commutator adds years to its life.

[firefox1712]

Thanks chaps - after further consideration and discussion I agree the price is OK.

It would be interesting to know what the standard and alternative new items are. However, as mentioned there was trouble getting an item to fit because of the exhaust manifold.

Sad I don't have the facilities to do the work myself, but I stopped working on cars years ago, and healthwise these days it isn't really practicable.

Thanks for your help.

JJ