starters

[dmwhiteoak]

My starter died on me today but thankfully I was home. Had power to the starter but could not get it to latch up until I wacked it with a hammer. My question is did Fiat make two different size starters or is the small one in the pic a gear reduction ? It wasn't as easy as some say a gear reduction starter is to remove but I can plainly see that the other one is really going to be a pain to install.



The larger is off the parts car and I have 2 more just like it. I will take the smaller one tomorrow to try and have it rebuilt. For some reason when the starter did work as I was persuading it , it was magnetized. My hammer stuck to it and was tough to get it off. What do y'all think ?

[azruss]

the larger one is OEM. the hammer trick tells you the starter is probablly ok. just needs brushes at best and the issue is with the solenoid. dirty contact plate and/or worn solenoid shaft track not allowing the contact plate to connect the 2 lugs with full pressure.

[bobplyler]

The smaller one isn't a gear reduction starter.

[Kevin1]

If you are swapping out the starter anyway, switching to a gear reduction starter is a great choice.

[So Cal Mark]

the hammer trick actually reveals a serious problem with the starter. The armature is stuck to the field windings and the shock of the hammer dislodges the armature so it doesn't drag. Repeatedly hitting it hard enough will break the magnets in the starter. New field windings aren't available anymore, so if the armature has worn into them rebuilding would require used windings. This is pretty typical with most rebuilt units and one reason why the failure rate on rebuilds is so high

[htchevyii]

My '82 had a smaller, (than the Marelli) Bosch starter in it.

[dmwhiteoak]

Thanks guys for the info. The smaller one is a Marelli and built for Fiat but parts are not available for a rebuild, so I'm told. Had the starter checked at 2 different places and said starter motor had problems. Not going to try and install the good mammoth starter I have so if someone needs it , it's yours. I have a gear reduction starter on the way.

[dmwhiteoak]

The gear reduction starters are the cats meow. Took less than an hour to install and that was also including fixing what I tore up or removed to get the old one out. Thanks Ramzi.

[fiat218]

The gear reduction starters are the cats meow. Took less than an hour to install and that was also including fixing what I tore up or removed to get the old one out. Thanks Ramzi.

I agree , all my fiats will have one