| First, some background... 1990 TT 5sp. 110k miles. I've had the car for a little over three years. Early on, it would occasionally grind the starter. It was completely random and would sometimes go months w/o doing it. Over time, it began happening somewhat more regularly, but still very random. About 5 months ago, I put in a brand new battery and really cleaned up the cables, and whether it had to do w/ the car now getting more current (which definitely made it run a bit better) the starter began grinding almost every time. ESPECIALLY WHEN COLD. At that point, I went ahead and had a new starter installed. I believe it was "Optima" brand from the local auto parts place. The very next day on a cold morning start, it began grinding again. (Again, it would do it EVERY TIME when cold, but once it was warm, there was a chance it would start cleanly) At this point, I figured it must be the flywheel having some chewed up teeth. Figuring I was now looking at a flywheel/clutch job, I dealt with the thing grinding until it finally gave up the ghost. Fast forward to last week. I had a new Bosch starter from CZP, along with a JWT flywheel and clutch installed. When I went to pick up the car, I was expecting the factory flywheel to be chewed to hell. It wasn't. In fact, with a re-surfacing, it would be good to use again. There goes that theory. (I did need a new clutch, so at least it wasn't a total waste) At any rate, ever since, the car has been running great and starter working perfectly every time... until this morning. I was walking across a store parking lot, admiring my freshly detailed Z, thinking how she had gone 5 days w/o grinding the starter (Woohoo!) and... it F-ing grinds!!! It's now done it twice in about 5 starts. I have a really hard time believing that: A) The original Nissan starter failed in this exact way
B) The "Optima" brand starter failed in this exact way
C) The Bosch starter is now failing in this exact way Can this really be the worst case of bad luck in getting TWO new, differently-branded starters that both fail within a week of install? I mean, I get that factory Nissan is always the number one choice, but can it really JUST be the starters themselves at this point?
Former Stage V addict... off the wagon. |
