I agree that the oem units do work just fine. But there are a few advantages. Such as 5 roller & ball bearing surfaces compared to 2 bushing surfaces on oem units. As well as low cold cranking amperage drain, so cold starting in winter and if you accidentally left your lights on for a few hours will still allow you to crank over on the first key twist without a jump.
Personally, I switched over out of frustration. I went back to the same shop 2 times in a week and 2 times got problematic starters after my 2 year old oem unit died. They still had that Freshly painted smell on them from the rebuild. But they both had issues. One had a sticking engagement gear, the last one which I put up with for 2 weeks while I waited on my Sport starter, would only engage on 1 out of 3 or four ignitions. I know someone on the nass list was looking into the Samurai starter and the response from a Samurai owner was "not unless you swap out the entire engine will it fit". I believe I came across an article to swap out the early spridget or mini oem unit with an isuzu starter, but it's not the same animal, different mounting and engagement gear. But I do agree with the inflated VB price. VB gets them from TSI (Ted Schumacher) who is selling them for something like $159.99 compared to VB who is selling them for $299.99. I've also seen and heard from users getting the units off of ebay which are selling for $149.99+, but I heard about it because they don't come with instructions and they left out an integral jumper wire to use the OEM solenoid. Overall, I would say that the $160 for a ball bearing unit that will out-live the engine more then likely is better then having to buy one $80 oem unit every few years. But I won't argue with the fact that if you get a hold of a properly rebuilt Lucas unit that it will work fine for several to several dozen years. If it works, don't screw with it. But if it brakes, atleast consider the upgrade. -Terry /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
