Noob here. http://www.minitrucktalk.com/search.php?searchid=95961 My DD51T has had a reluctant starter since I bought it. Brand new battery and it still was slow to crank and reluctant to start (if at all) when the temperature dropped much below freezing temps. Worse yet, the starter would sometimes stick in the cranking mode even after the key was released. This led to the battery going dead and the wires from the battery to the starter and to ground getting very hot. A jump off another vehicle and/or full recharge just never helped and it also meant that driving it when it was really cold was out of the question. Yesterday I went for a little ride in the woods a few miles from home and stalled it climbing a mound in the snow. Years of offroading taught me to just hit the starter and restart in gear rather than disengage the clutch and roll back. DOH - This thing has a bad starter problem, what was I thinking??? About 10 seconds later the starter was still trying to crank with the key off and I'm wondering why I see and smell smoke. No tools to disconnect the battery, so I hit the starter and solenoid with a piece of 2X4 hoping it will disengage. The smoke slows down and the Mini-Mog doesn't go up in flames. It took me over 1/2 an hour of rocking and pushing it over the uneven surface and frozen sticks in a logger's staging area to get it headed downhill on his skidder trail. (Try that with a fullsize 4X4 and an old body like mine - it wouldn't have moved an inch.) Luckily, the truck started after about a 20' roll and popping the clutch in 3rd gear. That saved me the embarrassment of the wife coming to my rescue in our FJCruiser. The starter wouldn't crank again so I pulled it out and disassembled it today. Looks good, eh? New starter or rebuild? I see them new all over the place for around $300 with shipping, you've gotta be kidding, right? Rebuilts are a buck less, still way too much. Where should I go? I'm thinking about getting it rebuilt locally, but it has been a long while since I priced those services.
You should be able to get it done locally for a fraction of what they are asking.For some reason the dealers think these things are made from rare earth or something,or they think we are all filthy rich and blithering idiots.
Thanks for the input! Unfortunately, I do have to admit to being filthy (but not rich) and blithering (and not an idiot - I hope) on occasion. PS: On another topic, can you fix it so I can get my Sig line up & running?
HA! I was able to find starters cheaper than the gougers from a couple other sources. Still not as cheap as I'd like, but brand new with a longer warranty is better than rebuilt with a short warranty. I may still have mine rebuilt to keep as a spare or to sell later on. Can anyone give me the numbers that are on the tag on their OEM starter and the year/model of their Carry or Scrum?
On my '95 Scrum the starter is a Mitsubishi ,which I believe is a replacement, model # 31100-70D2,type M00T42081. There is another # which I think is the part # but it has been scratched out on the aluminum tag. I have another engine and tranny that I'm rebuilding which came out of the back of a truck I fixed up for my son so all I know is it's a F6A. It has a Denso starter which I think is original equip. Model #31100-70D0 0 part # 128000-9170 with another line 5L29 below. Hope this helps.
Jim, Thanks for the info! Mine is a Mitsubishi starter. The numbers were 31100-70D50 and M002T13181. I cross referenced it on the Internet and found 3 different sources for under $200 with shipping. I wound up buying mine for just under $164 with shipping from an eBay vendor. It arrived this afternoon and half an hour later it was in the truck. Fit perfectly and works great, the truck never started this easily before. Unfortunately, the vendor described it as new and not re-manufactured. I've contacted the seller with my grievance and am awaiting his reply. I think I will still have my old starter rebuilt if I can get it done for less than $100 or so. LC
Good deal!! The first thing I needed for my Scrum was a cam seal and being gullible I paid one of the vendors $30 + freight. The next time I needed one I bought it local for$4.00.You have to shop around.Some of these vendors are plain thieves but as long as there are guys like me they will take their bite here and there and not worry about repeat business.I would park my trucks before I would deal with that guy again.
My eBay vendor "swears" the starter is new and it is only marked re-manufactured because of some import labeling requirements from Japan to the US. The center arm bushing I bought from one of our site's vendors for $70+ with shipping is a cheap Chinese knockoff that is nowhere near the OEM quality. I knocked the vendor down to $7 via Priority Mail after I bitched about him charging $18 for UPS Ground from the Midwest to New England. I had it in 2 days instead of 5. Most vendors are charging high shipping prices on small parts. I was quoted $30 to ship a starter via UPS ground from VA to NH, it should only be $10 via UPS ground or Priority Mail. I found the Chinese source for the center arm bushing I bought by cross referencing the number on the rubber. We can buy them in bulk for a small fraction of his price per unit. I was thinking of doing that and reselling them on eBay at half the vendor's price until I discovered the poor quality. I won't sell something that is junk like that on eBay or on this site. I'm not sure why a vendor would do that.
The seller of the starter doubled the warranty to 2 years. I'm beginning to believe him. I'm going to be starting a build thread soon. No reason for people to overpay for aftermarket parts, especially the cheap Chinese stuff.
