My starter went dead today ~
 

Anybody had "dead updated starters" on their Rx-8 ?

Cuz my Lovely starter, after maybe 50 something K miles of service, it went dead today ...

It's an updated one. I got it probably at 7-8K miles(too lazy to find the receipt) under warranty. and now I'm at 63K miles.

After I Pick my Bro up from body shop (his FX35 got rear ended by some moron, dropping his car off), we went to lunch. Yummy. then back to the car with him about to go home.

- *turn key*
- *click, nothing happens*
- hmm ?
- *Turn key again*
- *click, then nothing happens*
- hmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ?
- *repeat for another 10 times*

oh shit. WHAT THE FUXK ?!?!?!?!?!

I mean I had this feeling about the starter a month or 2 ago, cuz it's really getting slower and slower. At first I was saying this to myself *It's probably the battery getting weaker?*

it was hot as "@#@*" today so I guess the heat gave the starter the final blow and killed it.

Lucky my Brother was with me, at the end he help me pushed it and got the car started in 10 seconds *phew*

Parked the car back home, drove my father's car, went to Autozone and got myself the 2007+ model Starter. It's same as the updated one @ 2.0 Kilowatts (so in the other words, DO NOT GET 2004-2006 model) cost 129.99 + 35 bux core charge. Not in stock and it should be here in 2 days. :(


I thought the starter should last longer than 50-60K miles ? :(

what' makes you think it's the starter and not the battery ?

Also , if it is the starter you may find you can just replace the brushes for a fraction of that cost .

because the battery is fully charged :( I checked.

I thought about replacing the brushes. but I'm really busy lately I don't have much time to do any work on my cars. so I was like whatever man just 130 bux. :(

Brettus was right, upon further inspection. the Battery is indeed dead ?

It's not like dead dead. For some reason, when I shake it (pick it up and shake it) it can pump more power out (????), at least that's why the multimeter saids. It's weird. Then I let it sit for 2 hours, power is jumping all around read from 11v to 12.8. Damn Optima suck ass.

even with the Engine Starter I have (80 amp), it failed to turn on the first "jump", on the 2nd jump however, the starter turn "slowly" but at least it started. shut it off, wait couple minutes, it fails to turn again. then 4th try it works again.

Lucky this Optima I'm using was "FREE" :)

But now I'm thinking I will get another Optima, but this time it will be a deep cycle one (Yellow top). Why not Sears Die Hard Platinum ? well, 235 vs 160 bux ... I don't know :(

My luck is really really bad ? :(

Why not something from Autozone or Advanced Auto (or similar) for $90-$100? I generally get 5 or 6 years out of that kind of battery.

Ken

I didn't wait for my starter to go but it was on its way out with the 5 second starts.

Got the same starter starts up instantly-- been working great ever since.

It might have something to do with my "usage"

I never got more than 3 and 1/2 years outa Lead Acid battery. but with Optima I had one that last 5-6 yrs with continuous "no engine start just blast that radio" for maybe 20-30 minutes at a time.

After that, I got Redtop (3 Redtop, 2 of them were free, don't ask me how and why ;)) but the results were mixed. Did some research on the Redtop online people are having "mixed" results too.

I just bought a Yellowtop for 160 bux to replace the Free Redtop that I got. I tested the Redtop and it seems that it needs a Full charge and it should be good as new. I will probably give it to my bro as his 09 FX35 battery is dying. At least he don't have to buy another battery for a while. Can't hurt him when it's free. right ?

Now the Yellowtop is in, Redtop out, fingers cross

Funny thing is, after this morning's "Extra power with my 80 amp engine starter", the starter actually works. But I'm not gonna take my chances anymore. Starter coming in tomorrow(should be) and I'm gonna replace it right away.

If you got a starter from Autozone or some place like that, they will never last. I had everything from alternators to starters fail after a few weeks use.

now u made me worry even more. It comes with lifetime warranty right? ... It shouldnt be that bad ... Right?

I bought my re-manufactured starter from O'Reilly's(pictured below) that includes a year warranty and a $50 refund for turning in the core; overall, I only spent $90 and its been outstanding since I installed it myself, which took less than 30 minutes, last April.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7478607_n.jpg

Nice.

Well, I can always return it back to Autozone and get something else instead.

I did some research and it seems that Autozone starters are really ... not that great.

So now the choices are :

- Mazda
- Beck/Arnley
- Bosch
- ACDELCO

It's all Re manufacture. They no longer produce new units (understandable) People said Beck/Arnley makes good products. I probably gonna try that. it cost 80 bux more than Autozone and comes with a shorter warranty. That should do, right ?

and tricky part is, it shows 2 type of starters. One with 18 Teeth and one with 13 ? what the heck ? O_O

It's not the coils either? Happened to me recently. It was the coils..

18 teeth is for automatic, 13 or 11 is for manual.

I got my from AAP and its been working since i installed it in April no problems what so ever and it has a lifetime warranty.

If the starter ever goes ill just get it replaced and install it again -- Only takes 20 mins tops....half of that raising up your car and making sure the jacks are secure before you go under it.

I'm sure you've troubleshot it enough to know its not the starter solenoid... right?
My upgraded starter slowly got worse and worse to the point it would almost take 10sec to start.
Found that the two studs on the solenoid was caked with rust and corrosion.
After I cleaned the terminals and studs with a wire brush, it started much faster/better.
But since I had my old N3H1 starter laying around, I swapped solenoids with my upgraded unit (since the studs on the N3H1 was really clean) and now my car starts even better than before.

I got a new oem Mazda starter the upgraded one at braking and equipment in MN minneapolis for 106. Maybe give them a call they do reman ones to with a lifetime warranty

I was thinking of getting the AAP Starter, but it's the older/slower starter so I will pass :)

It's not hard to replace at all, its just annoying. Should I take my chances with Autozone's starter ? ...

Cool. That's what I was thinking. Thanks !

I looked at it and it seems alright.

One thing I noticed is that, on Autozone's page, it does not say if its a Brand new or Reman unit. so is it safe to assume it's Brand new ? :(

Cool. will keep that in mind, thanks !

Its up to you.....mine wasn't new it was a remain....im content with my purchase and how it works -- Its up to you weather you want to spend the money or not.

You might want to invest in an automatic battery charger. I don't use my cars much, so I top the battery off twice a year for each car.

From what I read, keeping the battery charged helps the battery last longer in terms of how well it retains charge.

I got the autozone. Not sure if its better than the older ver that I had on

Not possible at my place (the charger thing)



If you ordered it for a 2007+ model, then it's the faster version. 2.0 kw.

in the other words, the 2004-2006 will be the slower 1.4 kw one.