Firstly, it’s been a cold winter, and with 1.) my car having a mechanical fuel pump, 2.) it being cold these past few weeks, 3.) this starter being older than I’ve had the car for, and 4.) it being a remanufactured starter, I’m not /too/ upset about it dying. Things fail
I did remove it myself. It’s at the bottom of the engine (driver’s side), so I was able to jack the car up and drop the starter. Two mounting bolts, and two more nuts that hold the power wires in place, and it came off
Autozone tested the starter, and while it fired right up for them, and the current draw was good, it had a slight hesitation to it; almost not noticeable. The starter got JUST weak enough to not turn my engine under load. A remanufactured replacement would have cost me USD$85 before tax, but I actually took a different route!
So I have a 1977 Dodge Aspen, with a Chrysler 318 engine. The starters from that time era were know to be loud; the Chrysler Whine as some called it. They said back in the day you could tell by the starter what kind of car someone drove, wether it be Ford, Chrysler, or GM. And my starter, it had the same signature whine with it.
However, While the 318/360 class engines contuined to live on, Chrysler changed the starter design. They made one that’s more compact, more powerful, and much quieter. A starter from a 2002 Dodge Dakota (360 engine) can mount directly to my 1977 318 engine, and mesh up perfectly. I’ve seen many forum posts from many sites talking about how it’s an improvement over the older ones, in both size and efficiency. Granted most of the hype was it’s small size allowing you to fit bigger exhaust headers, but a benefit is still a benefit. Autozone only had a remanufactured one in stock for the Dakota, and it was USD$136, but that was good enough for me. I bought it, took it home, installed it, and the engine fired right up. Both quieter and faster than before. I did have to modify the connectors for it; For the old starter, Both the power wire and solenoid wire were bolted on. The new starter bolted the power wire on, but the solenoid wire was a slide connector. Not a big deal, I just had to cut the old connector off and crimp on a new one.
The final cost was USD$210, with the motor, tax, a box of crimp connectors that’d fit the motor, some wires , and a new 5/8ths inch ratchet wrench (a whole set, Autozone doesn’t sell individual wrenches) because I got my old one stuck on the bolt
I wasn’t paying attention, and didn’t realize that when I tightened the bolt it wedged it against the starter body. It’s stuck. I can’t loosen the bolt because this wrench is ratcheting, which means if I turn it to loosen it it just clicks. Maybe after I drive the car some (using engine vibration to loosen it) I can use a hammer to knock it free, but for the time being it has become one with the automobile.I don’t really like working on cars, however I would MUCH rather this than the cost of taking it to a shop. Between the cost of towing (in-town towing is USD$100), cost of parts (Direct replacement starter being USD$85, assuming they don’t upcharge me), Shop fees of USD$75/hour, plus the wait time of everything, that would have come out to a lot more than what I paid. USD$210 was already too much to spend, I couldn’t afford to spend even more. Plus, taking it to a shop always runs the risk of something else magically breaking, and then I fall into the cycle of returning back and back again. Skip all the stress and hassle, do it myself.
But that’s also why I drive a car that’s almost 50 years old. It doesn’t break down much, but when it does parts are cheap and easy to replace. With the exception of new tires, I’ve only gone to a shop once in the past 6 years, and that was to get my transmission rebuilt. USD$1480 after tax if I remember correctly. Living in the US south brings the benefit of having a lot of rust-free old cars that people don’t really want; I got this car for USD$500 because the guy just wanted it off his yard.
Anyways, my automobile rant is over. I’ve been thinking about a lot of this the past 24 hours. Living in a money-centric society sucks.
