Rebuilding a Rebel Starter (or most any other, really)

[Duke Bushido]

http://www.rebel250.com/rebelforum/viewtopic.php?t=10609

(Jason:

If you're not happy with a simple link; let me know-- I'll post the whole thing)

[b4v4]

Wow, Duke! Huge job printing this all up. Sounds like you really know your starters. I got a wild hare 3 years ago and ripped my Mitsuba starter out of my Honda three-wheeler to have a look at it, as it quit working due to worn-out brushes. A remanufactured one was $220 bones, so I thought I'd see if I could rebuild it. After calling the local Auto-electric shop and locating brushes for about $4.50, I took the rotor into my local machine shop and had it turned for $15. I had never had a starter apart before, so it took me an hour or so figuring it out and soldered in the brushes. That was 3 years ago, and it still works great!

[Duke Bushido]

Yep.

For some reason, people are terrified to open starters and alternators. Hey-- Autozone loves you!

I can't tell you how many of those parts house units I've pulled apart (Car won't start? Replace the starter! Wait! Still won't start! Take it to Duke!)

Anyway--

I can't tell you how many I've pulled apart, only to find that this "remanufactured" unit is pretty much a pile of used components with new brushes and bushings in a new or cleaned-and-painted case. It's really kind of funny. As a rule of thumb: If they want a core with your unit, the one you're getting is not really "new." ;)


And yeah--

I did DC electrical work for a long time. Started out of necessity as a farm boy, and eventually ended up falling back on it proffesionally after I got my spine crushed. Don't get me wrong-- it's extremely detail-oriented, and does require a small amount of specialized knowledge and equipment (I originally wrote that to be super-simplified, and included testing methods that are essentially "Fool proof" and can be done with stuff most people already own), but so long as you pay attention to the details, it's a snap ;)

have fun with it!