I have a 2012 fit with around 120,000km (75000miles) on it. Since a month ago it started to make a slight grinding noise during ignition when it sits out in the cold (im in Toronto Canada). I took it to the mechanic for oil and brake replacement and mechanic told me it's due to lubricant within starter getting sticky during cold weather (that the pinion doesnt retract back quick enough) - not to be concerned about until the car really struggles to start on the first ignition or have more severe grinding noise.

I'm glad my mechanic is helping me save money. Just wondering if others have similar issue and when did you finally decide to replace the starter? This is our secondary family car so it's not driven as much. Im hoping the car will last a few more years.

 

You can probably drive it like that for a long time, especially as a second car. And, it will of course get warmer in a few months and the starter will most likely get quiet again, in which case it will be easy to forget about until next winter.

Most starters can be disassembled and re-lubricated. Someone on a different thread mentioned doing it recently. If you're a DIY person it wouldn't be hard, but I say that as someone who is willing to spend a couple hours cleaning, painting, and rebuilding (= replace seals) in rusty brake calipers rather than buy new/remanufactured ones.

There used to be businesses in any decent size town that specialized in rebuilding starters, alternators, etc. Most are gone now because we're a consumer world and most folks blindly accept the assumption that it's cheaper and easier to slap on a new part than maintain an old one. Just my opinion, but in a lot of cases the new part isn't nearly as good (i.e., well-made, long-lasting) as the original part.

 

Not sure where I first came across this video but it's very informative about the inner working of the starter. It's a rather slow watch
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Read some of the "Related Topics" listed lower on this page for more info on this topic.....

 

Replaced mine last year at a 115k. I had an issue where the car wouldn't start despite a new battery. Replacing the starter made the car so much easier to start. I learned that an old starter is really hard on a battery and likely was a reason why on my last car I was replacing batteries it seemed every other year.