OReilly's Remanufactured Starters? Any Experience?
 

Time to replace my starter - my indie MB tech tells me that they are banking on people selling their cars first before using that "lifetime waranty" and that these starters have a life of 2-3 years. Can anyone dispute this through experience? All comments based on fact/experience welcome!

Sounds right. On my suburban 1984 diesel I had to replace my lifetime starter very soon after i bought it cant remember but less than 2 yrs . And i dont drive it much. I think its bad again draining my battery.

New Bosch starters are so expensive!

You get what you pay for. A starter from Malaysia is not rebuilt, its "repainted". A starter re manufactured in Germany is fully tested with numerous new parts.

I have four or five good used starters. I have saved them from every car parted out but so far have never needed one.

You might consider a used one.

These Mean Green starters are about the best I have come across. They are $$$ though.

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2-3 years is a bit optimistic. A high percentage are dead right out of the box. Don't waste your time on chain store overhauled parts.

The above is a good point. Replacing a dead Starter is enough work that it is best to have them Test your rebuilt one before you leave the auparts place.

I was looking at a place that sold Starter Parts and they were selling brand X Starter Solenoids for as low as $12. You can guess that the cheap ones go on rebuilt starters.

I'd go used &/or have mine rebuilt. Anytime I do cave & buy chain store garbage, I have it bench tested before leaving the store. This goes for anything electric. Most mechanical things can't be tested.

I've noticed that the local AutoZone tests supposedly "new" starters before handing them over to customers. I suppose they, too, have been burned by remanufacturers and try to catch the bad starters and alternators before they go out the door.

I didn't get mine from O'Reilley's but from autozone, and it was for the '87 Caddy. After 3 years it's still working although the solenoid quit, so I had to replace the solenoid 2 weeks ago... I guess keep the receipt if you are getting one, for warranty purposes... they're usually pretty good upholding their warranties from my experience.

Mexican and many other so called re manufactured alternators and starters are a real crap shoot. One reason is there are two grades of replacement parts on the market for alternator and starter repair.

It is pretty obvious the chain store label suppliers use the known much poorer quality ones. Greed and wanting abnormal margins will get you many times by suppliers. Using them drove a lot of north american rebuilders out of business. A remaining good rebuilder or shop does not use cheap known inferior parts. Many of the failed ones either commited the same errors or could no longer get enough business to stay.

Instead of buying from thse chepo auto parts stores, why not find a Alternator/Generator Starter rebuilder in your local area?

There is one in San Jose off Hwy17/Camden ave that I have used and they have been around for a long time. had good luck with them, the starter on my Datsun Diesel is one of theirs, and been using it for the past 6 yrs or longer. had them do an alternator one time.

Charlie

x2.

I had to use some O'rielly's stuff in a pinch on my Suburban as well, third time was the charm for the starter to work, and even then it lasted 6-7 months if I remember. Good thing for my was they had a few in stock, being a 350 Chevy and all. I had OK luck with some Napa stuff (brake calipers for said Suburban) in the past, but I'll never buy O'rielly's again.

The fact that a starter "runs" does not mean that all is well. I just dealt with a chain store rebuilt starter a couple of weeks ago. (Not my vehicle.) The drive gear did not extend properly and chewed up the flywheel ring gear. The chain parts store was happy to replace the starter, but they deny any liability for "consequential damage." The real kicker is that a new starter for that vehicle (a Ford) worked as it should and cost only $12 more than the South of the Border "overhauled" unit. It also had a lifetime warranty, as opposed to one year on the rebiuld.