Starter in my 1991 300SE
 

I've got a 1993 Miata, I'm the original owner, and my starter just died on me. I thought it was the battery but the AAA guy tried to jump it and well, it's the starter. It's not a big deal fortunately. That is a cheap part, in fact cheaper than a battery. Though of course the battery take a lot less time to install!

My Benz is 2 years older than my Miata. Do you guys know how long the starter lasts? And is that something I should be looking to replace soon?

Thanks -

14 years ain't bad.

Asian cars have a tendency to simply have the contact sets go bad. A couple of bucks for the parts plus elect. shop labor.

Pull the starter, take it to an elect. rebuilder. I had a '95 Rodeo starter redone a few years ago for about $75 parts & labor.

You pull and reinstall.

If you take it to a shop for turnkey service, the price goes up considerably.

They will want labor for the pull/reinstall and try to sell you a reman that will cost $150-$300.

My '91 300SE starter began acting up about 3 years ago. I took it apart, cleaned and lubricated everything, and it's been fine ever since. As I remember the brushes and bearings were okay, it was just a bit of corrosion on the pull-in. These starters use a planetary gear set, and spin much faster. That's why they can be so small. But Mazda probably uses that also.

DG

My brother and I have both replaced the starter in our 603's at around 200,000 miles -- they lock up solid.

I've only seen one bad starter on a gasser Benz, and that was a 190e with about the same milage. Buggered ring gear, too, very unusual. Probably just bad contacts in that one, as it sometimes spun and sometimes was quite inert.

Peter

Thanks guys.

I'm going to see if my neighbor can pull the starter out of my Miata and I'll take it into an electrical shop like you suggested.