Starter Contact Repalcement

[drevans_satx]

Alright to start my car likes to start only when it wants to...
After some help on the forum and research i've come to the conclusion that it is a strong possibility of starter related issues.
I've also been informed that you can replace the contacts on the starter for rather cheap (which is always nice) and I like to keep my car OEM where possible, but a starter is pretty expensive stuff.
Upon reading through HT i found that Honda does not sell the starter contact kit, but the Toyota dealer does (same starter manufacturer).

Is this still true? I'm going to be at the Acura dealer today for some sweet sweet lifetime seatbelt warranty, and if I can go ahead and pick up the kit there it would defiantly be nice.

Besides I don't like the Toyota dealer here....They wanted me to trade in my car for a corolla...

 

[Ryan659]

I ordered the parts from the Toyota dealer about a year ago. If you don't want to order it you can be even cheaper and go take apart honda or toyota starters at pick n pull (that's what I did while waiting for the parts to arrive). The exact Toyota part numbers are on the Internet somewhere and there is a write up of a guy doing this for his car also. It's really easy to do.

 

[NemesisCBR]

Ryan hows that contact replacement holding up? I purchased a set of contacts from toyota but never ended up doing the replacement because of the uncertainty that my starter was going out. I had read a few times that it didnt work for some people but with lack of thoroughness on peoples part, its possible that wasnt their issue to begin with. As i didnt want to use the parts if it wasnt the problem i returned them until another time im certain. Getting close but i might try a used starter instead. Thanks to your suggestion though i could buy the used one and swap contacts as a test.

My research and those threads ryan mentioned said that honda doesnt sell those, no part numbers. Toyota will be your best bet to acquire them. Same parts.

 

[drevans_satx]

Well...It looks like i'll just have to man up and go to Toyota..
Usually I would just order them online, but I need my car to be reliable asap lol.
Let me tell you sitting my my gf's driveway this morning with her late for class it defiantly wasn't fun
to hit the start button and hear 'wirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' and no start.

 

[redGSRguy]

I ordered the Toyota stuff online when I did the contact replacement, but if you need it right away call in to check if they have it and go pick it up. It held up for about a year then I just ended up getting a new starter. They are pretty cheap <150.

 

[Ryan659]

Ryan hows that contact replacement holding up? I purchased a set of contacts from toyota but never ended up doing the replacement because of the uncertainty that my starter was going out. I had read a few times that it didnt work for some people but with lack of thoroughness on peoples part, its possible that wasnt their issue to begin with. As i didnt want to use the parts if it wasnt the problem i returned them until another time im certain. Getting close but i might try a used starter instead. Thanks to your suggestion though i could buy the used one and swap contacts as a test.

My research and those threads ryan mentioned said that honda doesnt sell those, no part numbers. Toyota will be your best bet to acquire them. Same parts.

No problems at all. It starts up everytime like a charm (unless I let it sit and the battery dies ) you don't need to buy a used one, I just went to pick n pull and opened up the starter and just bought the points for a quick fix so I could drive the car.

Well...It looks like i'll just have to man up and go to Toyota..
Usually I would just order them online, but I need my car to be reliable asap lol.
Let me tell you sitting my my gf's driveway this morning with her late for class it defiantly wasn't fun
to hit the start button and hear 'wirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' and no start.

is the starter clicking more than once? When my points were bad it would just click once and then nothing.

 

[NemesisCBR]

I guess that would be no different than buying a used starter to swap test. Only issue is when i end up needing it theres no time to go search for a junk yard that might have one. I should try to do this before the time comes. lol

Definately call the dealer with part numbers to check for stock. My closest dealer had one half and the other had to be ordered. Of course ive got access to probably 10 dealers in driving distance. haha

 

[Ryan659]

I would hate to spend ~$100 for a part that will just sit there waiting for the day when or if the original one dies especially if the points are ~$5 at the junk yard. Bbbuutttt, it all depends on the situation

 

[NemesisCBR]

$100? Used starter is like 50 bucks. And as a test i can resell one of them if it works. I wouldnt buy it to sit around. Id proactively test it out.

 

[Ryan659]

Ahh, I understand now at the autozone here they wanted 100 or so for a remanu one.

 

[drevans_satx]

Alright well I swapped my starter out with the one off my Gs-R....and guess what....nothing.
It's not the kill switch (I hope) because if i flip it on and back off it still won't start sometimes.
All thats left is the distributor and I can scavenge that off the Gs-R as well, I just really don't want to mess
with the ignition timing on the aRR seeing as it's set at a very specific point as directed by dyno results.

 

[NemesisCBR]

Its easy to put back in place. Some people draw a line, i use masking tape. Im not saying to take the dist off permanently but you can swap it just to test and that will tell you whether you can eliminate it as a problem or not and just put it back.

 

[drevans_satx]

Its easy to put back in place. Some people draw a line, i use masking tape. Im not saying to take the dist off permanently but you can swap it just to test and that will tell you whether you can eliminate it as a problem or not and just put it back.

I'd most defiantly have to leave it on for a few days to fully rule out the issue seeing as it's a 'This morning seeing as you aren't late ill start, but tomorrow when you woke up late I won't start, issue'
Could it possibly be something in the dist itself..like the ICM etc.? I think if the new dist solves the issues I'm going to grab a junkyard replacement and throw the internals at it untill it works every time. Pick N Pull doesn't charge much

 

[NemesisCBR]

LoL yeah its hard to diagnose something thats inconsistant. My car has this problem. Once every 2-3 months it wont start. But thats exactly the way i prefer to do it. First identifity that it is the dizzy. Then either replace the whole unit if thats simpler or swap out parts inside til you get the right one. My last issue with cutting out and dying at low rpm turned out to be cap and rotor. The Advanced Ignition troubleshooting guide on team integra is a good step by step to testing the parts but ive read that people have followed the guide, test results were all good and still had a problem that replacing the whole unit resolved. Either that means the tests are not 100% perfect or he improperly tested. So though i do the tests sometimes cus a negative result is assured to need a fix as opposed to a uncertain positive result, i tend to prefer a part swap to narrow it down. Ive had to replace the icm in another dist as well that died all of a sudden. Same method, swapped dizz, car started.. drove back and figured out which pieces to replace.