Starter motor for an L20B

[Spawn]

It looks like it's about time to replace the starter motor in the L20B, as it is starting to hit some dead spots where it won't turn the engine over.  I was at AutoZone when it happened and the guy there said that he was able to get a new Bosch for $83 or a remanufactured unit (don't recall the brand name) for $37.  They also listed Beck/Arnley units, but he said that he wouldn't recommend them for some reason.

I looked on RockAuto and they list a few different makes (Bosch, Beck/Arnley, ACDelco, Pure Energy, Remy & USA Industries) but they are all remanufactured units.  In addition there were a couple of units that stated they had gear reduction but I'm not sure on the benefit or detriment of that.  Hence my post here today.  I am hoping to gain the collective knowledge, experience and wisdom of the members to help guide me in choosing a good replacement starter motor that other owners have found to be reliable and well built.  Obviously it would be nice to get something that isn't terribly expensive, but I'm willing to spend more if it's a high quality part that will last and perform well over the years.

Is one manufacturer better than another?  Is there a particular starter that I should be looking for over others?

[flatcat19]

I like and trust AC Delco stuff.

 

Go for the gear reduction unit.

 

 

Or better...go find an original starter from pretty much any L or Z motor at the junkyard.

[banzai510(hainz)]

make sure your battery and cable ends are good and clean.

 

for starters it depends when and where they were remanf at. Over time they all change.

 

I have a beck Arnely and was rebuilt in USA.

oR iley remade in Maylasia. some mexico.

 

The autozone guy shouls know what the faulure rate is. But I had alt go bad in 1 month and they say well you get lifetime warrentee.

 

Most time the seliniod it the proplem

[datzenmike]

It looks like it's about time to replace the starter motor in the L20B, as it is starting to hit some dead spots where it won't turn the engine over.

If you mean you can hear the starter rev up but it's not turning the engine but a few tries and it clunks in and does turn it over and start it's likely the solenoid as Hainz said. Careful cleaning of the battery terminals and cables and where they connect to the starter lug and also the ground cable bolted to the head beside the fuel pump. Starters draw hundreds of amps and need good connections and a charged battery.

 

I find the original starters (used) in a wrecking yard are better than the re manufactured ones. $37??? you will get what you deserve with that.

 

Most starters are direct drive. One turn of the starter motor will turn the star gear on the end one turn. Working properly it will spin the engine quite fast. In cold weather with thick oil or when the engine is hot it will spin slower than normal.

 

The gear reduction starters turn slower but with much more force and are less affected but cold cranking. I have a Maxima L24 gear reduction starter on my 710. It turns over with authority!!!

[datsunaholic]

Just a point of note- the Bosch starters are not new.  If the Autozone clerk said they are, he is wrong.  They are remans just like all the others.  Could be a better quality rebuild, but still a rebuild.

[JoeCool]

How in the hell is a used, rusted and seized piece of junk from the junkyard better than a re-manufactured starter? Get what you paid for? Yeah, get a starter that may not even work and since there is ZERO warranty, guess what that means... you got what you paid for, a good screwing over!

 

As an employee (commercial specialist) of Autozone and a former auto tech, here is what I know about re-manufactured starters and alternators. Theirs, and 95 percent of all other brand names are re-manufactured by the same company, Cardone. All parts inside and out are inspected, internal gears are replaced if teeth are chipped, cracked, or broken. motor armature is replaced, brushes. plunger, connections, and springs are replaced, field winding is replaced, solenoid is replaced. So it is practically new. And has a limited (as long as you own the vehicle) warranty. So to me it was a no brainer for only $30 for one on my truck! Besides the fact I have had one on another vehicle for five years with no issues.

 

And I dunno about your Autozone, but that employee is full of sh*t! For one, Beck Arnley is an Advance Auto exclusive brand, we don't carry it. I looked up your truck on my computer there and the only starter we can get is the Duralast reman. same model as what was available for my truck. AC Delco? Maybe as a special order for CERTAIN GM engines, And Bosch, no, not in starters. Certain NEW parts yes. Even then it will be labeled as the Autozone house brand of Duralast. Depends on who offers them the best deal on a certain amount of products.

Edited July 18, 2014 by JoeCool

[datzenmike]

I said used.

[JoeCool]

I dunno, maybe the junkyards are different in Canada? But the ones near me are horrible on functional parts. No warranty implied or given. And I had one broke customer go through three engines before getting a lawyer and the BBB after junkyard on crappy parts. One engine they sold her was a cash for clunkers! And everyone knows what happened with those motors...

[Z-train]

How in the hell is a used, rusted and seized piece of junk from the junkyard better than a re-manufactured starter?

Simple-the factory stuff is superior to ANY reman or new starter made today.

[flatcat19]

Cash for Clunker cars should have been crushed whole. No parts to be sold off of them. 

 

Shady yard if that was going on. 

[datzenmike]

Even if used. The originals are extremely long lasting and rarely fail so if one does, a used one is better than a $30 one with a warranty. Let's look at the 'free replacement' starter. You get stranded somewhere further than you would want to walk home. Tow or taxi or someone to pick you up. Can't work on it this late so you leave it parked and come back in the morning and take the starter out (it's Saturday so you don't lose time at work, but this could have been a Wednesday just as well) Return it and luckily they don't have to order you a '72 620 starter because they have one in stock, but again they may just as well NOT have had a 40+ year old starter). You taxi back out and install it and you're back on the road. So how much did all this cost you for a free replacement starter?  I've heard of people on their third starter but hey, they think their sticking it to the man with all the free ones they get. 

[datsunaholic]

Cash for Clunker cars should have been crushed whole. No parts to be sold off of them. 

 

Shady yard if that was going on. 

 

Not quite true.  They could sell body and interior parts, but engines and drivetrain were not supposed to be sold.  The local Pull-A-PArt was full of C4C cars when it happened, but were marked as such.

[JoeCool]

Well, I certainly can't argue the difference between OLD OEM parts vs anything made today. Even on a brand new car the parts are made as cheaply as possible. Older parts were made with longevity in mind, the companies and their people built a part they were proud to call theirs. If you can find one in a junkyard and they will warranty it, then go for it. The yards around me have crushed these old vehicles a long time ago.

 

As for the shady yard, yes it is one! Lots of crap coming from it.

[datsunaholic]

As far as junkyard vs parts store starters (and alternators) around here most JYs have a 30-day warranty.  I've had so many DOA parts store alternators I don't even bother anymore.  A "lifetime" warranty wasn't worth the hassle of 2 DOA alternators and then the 3rd lasted 6 months.  Then another DOA (which looked suspiciously like one of the ones I'd returned earlier, right down to where I'd had to ream the mounting hole which they "rebuilder" had filled with replate material) and the next one lasted a year.  I put a junkyard one in, and THAT was 10 years ago.  Today I'm not sure they'd even honor the warranty, as it was back in the Schuck's days, different "brand"  reman, and it's Oreillys now.  I took one apart after it charged intermittently and found the brush leads had been cut too short, so the brushes were floating off the commutator.  It was a Shucks reman that came in a car I bought, anyway, so I didn't have paperwork for it.

 

Starters, I had a bit more luck.  The only one I had to return, it spun but the bendix wouldn't throw.