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Just came from a website offering starter solenoid and contacts, which would be a cheaper fix than replacing the whole starter. My 2000 Accord has some trouble starting and I know that the battery is good. I am going to open up the starter to inspect and clean it, and possibly to replace the solenoid. If a similar issue comes in you might want to try this.
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Yes it is true that you can often just replace the starter solenoid, but as a professional technician it’s not often done. Given that you have to remove the starter to do that repair it often makes more sense to replace the entire unit rather than just the solenoid. Mostly to avoid a comeback.
Yes it is possible to do it that way, IF that’s what the problem with the starter is, but it’s not something I do as a common practice. Therefore it’s not likely that I’ll make a video about it anytime soon.
Thanks for the suggestion.
One of the first things I remember doing as a kid is repairing a starter. A starter is a simple device and a great place to learn the fundamentals of repair. I put the parts in the basket of my bicycle and pedaled down to the electrical shop to watch the tech put it on the growler and turn the commutator. Get new brushes, new bushings pressed in, a new solenoid if needed, check the overrunning clutch, a little lube and you have the equivalent of a new starter.
Not worth the time of a guy working in a shop but for the DIYer, easy money.
It is true that it’s much cheaper to rebuild a stater than it is to replace it. However not everyone has access to a growler to check the windings of the commutator like you did. It’s a key part of the process. That said, there is an even cheaper way. You can often just take the disc for the solenoid and flip it around to make better contact. Often times the ‘click’ you hear with a bad starter is this going into place but not making contact. Restore the contacts and the starter is good for severely years. It’s all about application I suppose.
Both of our 2002 model year vehicles (a Ford and a Toyota) have a design that makes it basically impossible to replace the solenoid separately. It’s probably just the modern way because it’s more profitable to make you replace the whole thing. It feels a lot like how they don’t sell wiper inserts anymore and make you replace the whole blade every time.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I discovered something about the starter in my Camry that may apply to Honda as well. Apparently, with most Nippon-Denso starters (used in Honda & Chrysler as well), the main failure item is the inside metal contacts in the solenoid. For $10 or so on ebay you can get new contacts and a new “plunger”. By removing the three screws on the outside of the solenoid, you can easily swap out these contacts and the plunger (just transfer the spring from the old one.) It took me less than an hour including removing/reinstalling the starter itself, and it suddenly starts good-as-new!
There are some threads on cleaning up the contacts, but honestly, I’ve never been able to fully clean up metal contacts to where they’re even “like new”, so $10 is well worth it to me to just swap everything out.
There is a pretty good youtube video on this too but it’s not ETCG so I won’t post it here. (Trust me, you really don’t need the video. Remove the 3 screws and the contacts will be right there!)
Honestly that’s not a practice I normally do. Not saying it’s not a viable repair, I just prefer to replace the entire starter so I don’t have to worry about issues with it. Sometimes spending the money up front provides the security of a lasting repair which can make it ‘cheaper’ in the end. In fact I had this very experience recently when attempting to rebuild a power steering pump. In the end I spent money on the rebuild AND a replacement part after the rebuild didn’t work out. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does it makes what would seem like a ‘cheap’ repair and turns it into one that’s more expensive and time consuming.
Hey Eric, thanks for chiming in.
I actually did initially purchase a rebuilt starter at first. 3 days later I was stranded until I was able to find someone else to “tap” it back to life to get home. Having read about the contacts, I opened the shiny, new, rebuilt starter, and guess what? Corroded contacts. Fortunately I had not turned in my core yet, so I ordered the new contacts, installed them in my original starter, and returned the “rebuilt” one for a refund. It’s now been over 4 years and it still starts like new.
I agree with you in the principle of not having to repeat work, but the problem in this particular case is (1) it’s ONLY the contacts that are the issue 95% of the time it seems, and (2) rebuilders are clearly untrustworthy half the time (unless you know of a good rebuilder who can do it for you). I literally think they sanded/polished the outside of the one I bought, sprayed on a quick coat of paint, put a sticker on it, stuck it in the box, and put it back on the shelf. I’ve read of other instances of people discovering this so I know I’m not alone! (In fact, that’s how I found out about this in the first place.)
Basically, this is such a cheap and EASY fix that I feel it’s well worth a shot before replacing the starter. I agree with you in most other cases, though. A power steering pump and an alternator are tricky. I wouldn’t attempt any other starter “fix” either.
One final issue I had was with an aftermarket CV axle on our minivan. The new replacement chinese-made one was, at most, HALF the total weight of the original, made some weird sporadic noises and clunks, and just did not seem to be of acceptable quality. Since the original wasn’t clicking and just had a small tear in one of the boots, I paid a guy $50 to reboot it for me and returned the flimsy one to the store. It’s the wife’s van just like your Odyssey, and I could not get the thought out of my head that the cheaper one may snap or fall apart while she’s on the highway or something.
Thanks again for your reply, and happy Friday!
[quote=”miketheitguy” post=110698]Hey Eric, thanks for chiming in.
I actually did initially purchase a rebuilt starter at first. 3 days later I was stranded until I was able to find someone else to “tap” it back to life to get home. Having read about the contacts, I opened the shiny, new, rebuilt starter, and guess what? Corroded contacts. Fortunately I had not turned in my core yet, so I ordered the new contacts, installed them in my original starter, and returned the “rebuilt” one for a refund. It’s now been over 4 years and it still starts like new.
I agree with you in the principle of not having to repeat work, but the problem in this particular case is (1) it’s ONLY the contacts that are the issue 95% of the time it seems, and (2) rebuilders are clearly untrustworthy half the time (unless you know of a good rebuilder who can do it for you). I literally think they sanded/polished the outside of the one I bought, sprayed on a quick coat of paint, put a sticker on it, stuck it in the box, and put it back on the shelf. I’ve read of other instances of people discovering this so I know I’m not alone! (In fact, that’s how I found out about this in the first place.)
Basically, this is such a cheap and EASY fix that I feel it’s well worth a shot before replacing the starter. I agree with you in most other cases, though. A power steering pump and an alternator are tricky. I wouldn’t attempt any other starter “fix” either.
One final issue I had was with an aftermarket CV axle on our minivan. The new replacement chinese-made one was, at most, HALF the total weight of the original, made some weird sporadic noises and clunks, and just did not seem to be of acceptable quality. Since the original wasn’t clicking and just had a small tear in one of the boots, I paid a guy $50 to reboot it for me and returned the flimsy one to the store. It’s the wife’s van just like your Odyssey, and I could not get the thought out of my head that the cheaper one may snap or fall apart while she’s on the highway or something.
Thanks again for your reply, and happy Friday![/quote]
I understand your argument. Thing is, I suspect you were ‘price shopping’ when you purchased those parts. Not all remans are created equal, especially when it comes to the cheap ones. You do get a bad reman now and again, but less so with the name brands that often cost a little more because they do extensive testing on their products before they send them out the door. This is why they often cost more. You really do get what you pay for. Rebuilding starters and alternators is just not something I do as a general practice. I still believe you’re much better off replacing the part with a rebuild from a reputable company over trying to rebuild it yourself. This may not be true for you personally, but as a general rule I’ve found that to be true. BTW it’s not just brushes and solenoids that go bad in starters. It can also be the windings themselves. To find the fault in the windings you need a special tool called a growler. So, in order for me to do a ‘complete’ rebuild video, I would need to cover this possible failure and how to test and deal with it. Given that I don’t have that tool and I don’t normally rebuild starters, it’s not likely that I’m going to be covering this topic in a video anytime soon. I appreciate your position, and your enthusiasm, but making repair videos is very different than your own personal experiences with your starter and the other repairs you mentioned. Most times the cheapest, easiest, solution is to replace a part with a quality unit rather than rebuild it yourself.
Thanks again for the suggestion.
I wasn’t actually suggesting making a video, but hey, feel free to file that away at the bottom of your list of ideas for the future. I won’t even charge for that one..heh. (I’d like to see this Growler in action!)
I actually, in the interest of getting the repair done quickly, just ran to autozone and asked for a starter and that’s what they gave me. There weren’t any options other than their “duralast” brand, but who knows what that means. It could be a different rebuilder at each store for all I know. One thing I’ll always agree on is doing any job multiple times is never worth it, regardless of the price.
Thanks again for your info and help as always!
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