choinga

I've had my IMI starter on for about a year and a half and in that time have driven my car maybe 1500 miles. The starter worked great until a few days ago when I went to move it back into the garage and turned the key and get a single CLICK. I'm assuming it's the solenoid - battery has plenty of juice...even tried jumping it and trickle charging just to make sure.

Just curious if anyone has had any problems with this thing and/or if it's even possible to just swap a solenoid. Based on how it's acting I'm assuming that's the problem as I haven't pulled it yet but may stick the stock starter back in in the interim until I can figure it out. I'd hate to drop another $250 if others are having problems as well.

On a side note - to bench test a starter would you just put it in a vise and get +/- from a 12V battery on the leads and see if it spins?

Here's the thread to jog your memory. https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...n-starter.html

CurtP

Mine is still working ok. I have had an issue where it grinds. Have you ever tried to start a car that's already running? Sounds just like that, only it happens when the car is off. No rhyme or reason and I never know when it's going to happen.

According to the thread you linked, the manufacturer will rebuild it for $75.

choinga

...pulled it today and sure enough, it's either the solenoid or the motor itself. If you bench test it the clutch seems fine and kicks the gear out but when you cross the terminals it barely spins. I re-tested the stock unit that I pulled out and it works fine. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet - I had to rig some wiring from stock to get the + from the battery to clip on to the IMI and don't want to re-rig that two more times as that cable is already short and a stretch to get to the battery as it is now. Curt - where did you see info on where/how to send it back for rebuild?

CurtP

No, I only saw it in the thread you posted. Probably best to reach out to ideola to ask about the rebuild or send IMI an email. sales@hitorque.com

onspeed

Guess that 0.5 second faster starting wasn't really worth it?

CurtP

Depends on your stance, I suppose. My OE starter needed to be rebuilt/replaced, and this was a cheaper option. As far as I know, this is the first failure of a unit. How many have been sold? How many are having problems? I would still recommend an IMI starter to anyone who asked - overall I'm very happy with it.

75ohm

As am I... and would also recommend it.

Tiger03447

If it clicks, the solenoid is doing fine..The motor is the questionable part here...If it is starting to drag the field coils, the amperage will be way up and out of spec. Take it a franchise store, and get it checked. the tester will tell you how many amps it is drawing even if it bench tests fine...runs and the starter gear kicks out..