Okay, I know this thread has been done before but I was hoping some years and experience have added to the knowledge base so maybe answers have evolved. Starter screeches on cold start (as if not disengaging), 2010 Honda Fit. Car is 13 years old but car only has 55k and was a FL car (now in the northeast).

Options are
1) New starter from dealer - $700 (present now)
2) Reman starter from dealer - $300 (one month, maybe more, or so back order)
3) reman starter from aftermarket (with lifetime so can be replaced with no cost except my labor) - $230 (and can get right away)
*EDIT*
3A) denso reman for $270 but only 1 year warranty
4) Try to rebuild starter with parts from dealer (least desiriable) - $300 ish (time for rebuild / etc.)

And
A) Run it until it croaks (risk of damage to ring gear seems low)?
B) Replace preventatively?

I would like to get another 12 years out of car (as it's low mileage usage) and I'm not thrilled about doing the starter replacement (as it looks a bit tight / labor intensive). Any and all feedback is appreciated.

 

This isn't a particularly difficult R & R. Resign yourself to removing the coolant tank & radiator fan assembly and loosening the wiring harness to get the necessary room to swing wrenches and ratchet handle. IIRC my Haynes manual said to remove the dipstick tube but I did not have to do so.

Aftermarket reman was what I choose.

 

Which option of aftermarket reman did you like / choose and how long have you used the aftermarket reman? Any reason not aftermarket new (there are some cheap options)?

 

Haven't done my starter yet, but.. Avoid Cardone 100% of the time. You can take a gamble on whatever other brand, just save yourself from that one.

 

Would it be fair to say the dealer reman (Denso) is the same Denso reman you would get at Napa or from Denso themselves? Would you go for a duralast with lifetime replacement?

 

I just realized that maybe I could heat the starter in the cold months?

 

After watching this video of a noisy, cold-weather starter motor in operation, I've decided not to do anything. I will probably just go with a denso rebuild from NAPA ($270) or the dealer (majestic $300) when the starter finally does fail. At only 55k miles and probably not that many starts, it just seems like a design issue.

 

Sorry, i typed out a reply but didn't send it.
Any reman is gonna be denso I'd imagine. honestly, I wouldn't be too hung up on it. The denso is the one making noise when you crank.
I'll be picking up a TYC brand for ~$75 from rockauto.
They made my replacement blower, replacing OEM which had noise from the sintered (oil impregnated) bearing wearing out. Been running fine for 4 years now.

 

I live in the northeast so I worry a little about cranking torque but if it works out for you, let me know.

 

I replaced mine with a reman Bosche about three years ago. Still works great

 

I replaced mine with an AutoZone Duralast reman. Why you ask? Starters aren't an item I've had to replace often on any car and I have had good history with AutoZone. I never considered all new aftermarket or Honda OEM $$$$$ on a car with 170,000 miles on it. Lifetime warranty on the Duralast will suffice.

 

Tuning in with some fun facts. The OEM as well as the wai global, and I'm pretty sure most remans, use planetary gearing. Cool cool. Lotsa torque, I'm to understand.

The TYC one uses a permanent magnet. Maybe not so torque dense. But it's lube-less, thus unaffected by temperature. Well sh*t. I think that sounds pretty cool so long as it puts out enough cranking force to get my engine running.

This makes the whole thing far more interesting to me. Ordering myself a cheap new TYC starter and I'll get back to yuh in a week or two about functionality.
Don't get me wrong, I love gears. I'll retain the OE starter and well, see if I can ID what if anything is wrong with it (assuming the replacement cranks, otherwise OE will remain assembled)

All in with shipping and a 5% discount, $97.04

 

Let me know how it goes. I'm really curious.

 

If you go the route of pulling fans instead of the intake manifold, be careful with the passenger side fan. banged up my radiator.

Pull the driver side rad fan first, does some twisting to come out of the bottom, then follow with the passenger. Mind yuh though, the passenger fan has multiple bits of wiring clipped into it that are tricky to remove without breaking. One requires a mini (read 1/8) flathead to dismount the connector from the fan housing.
The dipstick tube absolutely had to come out for me. and uh. the starter is held on by two bolts. One fairly obvious 14mm head bolt that goes through the starter into the transmission, and another 17mm head bolt reversed - that goes through the tranny into the starter. Dont mess with the little 6mm nuts on the starter.

Get it unbolted, then struggle with its electrical. For reinstallation, get the power wire bolted to the starter, then install the starter. Don't try to attach the other electrical connector to it until it's installed.
also unhooked/bolted/clipped related wiring further along their lines for added slack. 4 fairly cold morning hours improvising.

I'll get my first cold start out of it tomorrow morning.

 

First cold start with new TYC permanent magnet starter. Outdoor temp was 46°F at 9:25AM, so it was a bit colder overnight, prolly high 30's. Come monday we'll have a 30° low at night. I'll report back.

I'm still unsure of what the actual cause of the noise is. It still didnt sound like a grind to me, but if a new starter fixed it.. Well, maybe the grease they used on the OE starter wasn't rated for lower temps, and we're hearing the gears inside of the starter running virtually unlubricated. I'll be taking the OE one apart when I get time and have the energy.

 

Update!
I get start up noise again!
if I don't pressurize the fuel system before cranking, ie: key to on II for 2 seconds.

So I'm back to my original suspicion of the fault being fuel related. But why did it seem to temporarily resolve?
I can only speculate on that, but if I had to guess, a brand new starter and OE battery spun things up really fast (did I mention my napa battery recently sh*t the bed? It was *maybe* 3 years old. Trash, don't buy a 51R from them.)

Yeah, I'm thinking maybe it's got something to do with crank speed, but I'm also still feeling like this is fuel related since pressurizing the system also affects the noise significantly.

I'm in the middle of a bunch of projects currently, so that fuel pump is likely to stay for at least a month or two..

 

What about the timing chain?

 

anyone find an answer for this? I've heard it a couple of times are the car was sitting in cold weather for a couple of days but it's suddenly gone now as well after several starts.

 

I still haven't done the fuel pump, but I can say that my car doesn't do it if I turn the key to On II (all dash indicators light up, but no crank) and let the fuel system pressurize.
When somebody else starts it, particularly in this cold weather, it makes noise. Otherwise? No. Letting the fuel system pressurize alleviates the issue. Additionally, I'm still running the cheap TYC magnetic starter, and it is still performing reliably.

I'm still convinced that the problem is fuel related due to the above facts, but I had to change the starter to get to this point where fuel pressurization decides whether I get noise.

 

this is interesting. A guy at the shop yesterday said something about pressure in the fuel system, so it only does it on the first start, then with later starts the system is pressurized. You say this is the fuel pump? Why wouldn’t it happen in warm weather?