Re: French-Made Valeo Starter --- Piece of Junk

Man I knew these things for years and a majority of people still

> haven't caught on. At least when you rebuild a harley you increase the > value. Heck dont touch it and the value will still go up. It sounds like > the voltage regulator alone cost as much as what that honda bike would > of been worth.

Yeah, he gave up on Honda after that episode. Me? I'm still loving my '99 FXDWG with it's hot rodded motor and custom paint and all....

Then again, GM may have invented depriciation, but the Japanese perfected it :/

Reply to
Philip Nasadowski
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I read posts here about problems ... but, ... no one I met have ever had any major problems with their Saturns in the first 100k

Reply to
ProfWdesk1

Is it possible that the Valeo was also a made-in-China unit? All the auto companies have really "gone global" in the past decade, to the point where something branded by a Euro company is likely made in India or China...

I'm somewhat critical of unknown Indian/Malysian/Chinese suppliers, but if they have been around for a couple of years they often get a pretty good reputation.

Keep in mind that a good alternator or starter rebuild can actually be superior to the factory item. The best rebuilds go through and replace all the wear parts (bearings, brushes, regulator, etc.) with superior components. That said, a lot of rebuild shops use cheap crap parts installed by people with little experience, and it's hard to see the difference from the outside.

How hard was it to pull and replace the starter? I've worked on the other side of the engine (alternator, PS pump, idler, tensioner) a good amount, enough to know what you get at from the top and what you get at from the bottom and what you do through the wheel well, but never had to muck with the starter.

Tim.

Reply to
Tim Shoppa

I dont trust india parts. I had fought with a aftermarket ford engine mount only to have it rip its guts open and start all back over again. But then again it is still a ford design ;)

Usually aftermarket alts come with a very good warranty. The problem most people run into is they dont charge their battery prior to running their car. That causes the alternator to over work itself and burns it out. They also dont consider what took out their alt in the first place, like a bad battery.

Reply to
Blah blah

It has a sticker on it saying, "Made in France." Also I noticed the needle bearings have "Germany" on the race so nothing like trying to give a little respectability to a bad starter.

All the

It wasn't easy. You will need a crawler because you will be running for more tools and cussing. I had to use a mirror to get a 12mm socket on the upper bolt attaching the starter to the crankcase. Plus, you need a 6" extension. Plus there's room there for one hand only unless you have little chipmunk paws. It's a several hour, knuckle-busting job, but worth it I guess, if not just to build character.

The new starter I couldn't get a socket on the nut for the small solenoid connector. The large connector you can see and it is easy. Luckily I found a metric carburetor wrench for the small wire. Shorter the wrenches the better because the space is so tight. And dark, so you'll need a droplight too. I wound up using one of those LED lights you wear on your head like a sweatband because if you stick a droplight up into the hole, it fills it and then you got no room for your one hand.

I've worked on the other

Reply to
jls

Good. Mine's purring away now. I'm going for the next 100k. I have faith the engine can do it, plus it's a right powerful little thing in such a small package.

As for the starter, alternator, AC, and other accessories . . .

Reply to
jls

Ed,

I believe most Toyotas use the Nippon-Denso made starter. These are the same starters used in Chrysler products (since at least 1990 since I fixed a van that had one back in 1996) and some Mitsubishi products as well. They are actually a pretty well made starter and 95+% of the failures are due to premature wear on the high current copper solenoid contacts. I've found these contacts usually last about 5-6 years/60K miles before they start to show symptoms of failure (turn key, hear click, but no starter motor engagement). The good news is that they usually then take several weeks/months before they fail catastrophically and you can't start the vehicle.

Like you, I've been successful in replacing just the contacts. This requires removal of the starter and then opening the solenoid by removing three (I think they were 4mm?) solenoid chamber bolts. The contacts are held in place by a couple of additional bolts, but can easily be replaced in about 5 minutes total time. After replacing the contacts, I also wire brush the copper ring on the solenoid plunger and then spray everything down with electronic parts/contact cleaner before reassembling. As I said, this takes about 5 minutes more time than just replacing the old unit with a rebuilt or new one. The best part is that the contacts cost a whole lot less than a rebuilt starter. Here is a web site I found that has some great pictures and the guy sells the contacts for $10 plus a dollar S/H to anywhere in the US. The only problem is knowing which type of contacts you need (there are

4 types in use). My 1999 transverse engine minivan used one type "A" and one type "B". A LHS longitudinal engine car used one type "A" and one type "C". (Pictures of the types are on the web site referenced below).

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I know this does not apply for the Saturn, but thought I'd post it here since I would assume you could find the contacts somewhere for the Saturn starter as well. Another suggestion is to look up "Starter Rebuilders" or "Alternator Rebuilders" in the telephone book or online directory to see if there is one in your area. Before I found the web source, I drove 40+ miles one way to a small rebuilder that I found listed and if I carried in the parts they always seemed to be able to sell me the ones I needed.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

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