i've been experiencing the starter grind on cold morning starts and am thinking of replacing the starter...has anyone here previously done this and if so how much did it cost you? i know several people have the same problem and would like to know if they solved it w/o replacing the starter.

is greasing the starter teeth a difficult job and am i better off buying a new starter?

majestic honda has starters for like 845$ but some other sites advertise aftermarket starters for 1/4 the price but i'm worried about durability

any input would be appreciated!

 

I know that somebody previously posted the idea of greasing the "starter teeth", or pinion gear on the starter, but I do not recommend this. Besides - that wouldn't do anything. If you knew how a starter works, you'd know why I say this.

It's possible that oiling (not greasing) the starter bendix will make it operate more smoothly, but you have to question why it would need to be lubed. If the shaft is slightly bent or the bendix is damaged, then a little lubrication might help. If the Solenoid isn't getting enough juice or is sticking, then lubricating the bendix probably won't do any good. If the teeth on the pinion and/or flywheel are damaged, all the grease in the world won't help. Your best bet would be to remove the starter and see what you find.

Unfortunately, it isn't easy to remove the starter. I don't have first hand experience on an S2000 but if you search around, you will find plenty of people cussing out the top bolt on the starter.

Before you do this, you may want to try cleaning the electrical contacts to the starter. That might fix your problem. If the solenoid isn't getting a strong current, that could prevent the bendix from throwing the pinion gear out to catch the flywheel.

 

greasing the starter teeth was recommende by billman.

 

i dont know tho, if i am going to spent 3 hours to take that sob off, i rather just swap it with a new one.

the cost for labor and time overweight the "potential" saving

 

if you have the starter rebuilt then it should cost no more than 200 bucks.

 

a few people mentioned that they replaced the starter and the noise did not go away.

 

did those people buy a "rebuilt" starter? sometimes rebuilt starters bought over the counter arent fixed properly.

 

i don't recall, but i believe they bought new starters.