I bought a reman starter on eBay, the seller has an approval rating of 99.7%, this on nearly 2000 sales. It arrived, looks like the real deal, so I lit into it. Undid the nuts on the original and discovered that the smallest post, no doubt that from the ignition switch, is significantly smaller than that on the reman. Also, "15 A" is stamped near the post of the original, the reman has a "50" stamped in approx the same spot, no mention of amps.





I've been searching, can't find any specs on solenoids for various starters in approx this range. The sellers page had this for the vehicles this starter would fit:

190D L4 2.2L 2197cc Diesel 1984-1985
190D L5 2.5L 2497cc Diesel 1986-1989
300D L5 2.5L 2497cc Diesel 1990-1993
300E L6 3.0L 2962cc Diesel 1987
300SD L6 3.4L 3449cc Diesel 1992-1993
300SDL L6 3.0L 2998cc 1986-1987
300TD L6 3.0L 2998cc 1987
350SD L6 3.4L 3449cc Diesel 1991
350SDL L6 3.4L 3449cc Diesel 1990-1991

Maybe this should have been a red flag. While one would think that the wheel doesn't need to be reinvented for every vehicle, it's amazing in my experience how often they make small changes from one model to the next that are hard to figure.

I found this old thread, the guy said the solenoid was different on his reman but worked. Maybe he meant different serial/model number. I'd need to put a larger gromet on the wire and then the starter would show signs of having been installed - no return available. But the different amp rating is not something that should be ignored.

What frustrates me, I'm unable to find what I should specify, aside from the specifics of the ignition bolt size, to insure I get the correct one the second time. My digital caliper's metric function no longer works, only English fractions, the post on the reman is 15/64ths - just under 6 mm. The original is 9/64ths, or about 3.5 mm. Must be 4.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K