How Much Does It Cost To Repair A Starter

The cost of replacing your starter motor need not be unreasonable but may still set you back a few bucks.

In this article, I'll be looking into the different ways in which you lot can get the starter replaced, forth with the costs involved.

What is a starter?
Starter replacement cost – professional
Starter replacement toll – DIY
How does a starter work?
Starter rebuilding
Faulty starter symptoms

What Is A Starter Motor?

A starter motor is… well, it'south the motor used for starting a automobile.

The starter motor replaces the manual crank you may come across on old vehicles such as the Ford Model T. There were as well other ways of starting a auto, such as dynamite!

Check out the detailed video below to see a Model T started with a hand crank. I highly recommend it.

If nothing else, this video should give you lot a grasp of how much work went into starting these cars. It wasn't like today – just sit in the driver's seat, turn the cardinal, and away nosotros go. Paw cranking was even quite dangerous.

Turning the handle "cranks" the engine – it makes information technology revolve. Hence, the pistons begin traveling up and down in the cylinders.

The aim of cranking the engine is to get enough compression in at to the lowest degree one cylinder for a successful ignition. When this cylinder ignites, information technology forces the piston down, giving power to the adjacent cylinders in the 4-stroke cycle.

One time that's washed, the engine will begin running on its own power. You don't need to creepo it anymore. It's vital to always crank with your left manus in one case the ignition is on – if you lot don't, a backlash could easily intermission your wrist.

The starter motor replaces the hand crank. It'due south powered past the auto'south battery and uses a small pinion to engage with the flywheel on the finish of the crankshaft. It's much smaller than the flywheel only, due to the laws of gear ratios, is easily capable of rotating it.

What Does A Starter Replacement Toll?

To take your car to your local automobile store volition likely cost between $250 and $400, depending on a few factors.

Local surface area – the average labor rate varies dramatically from country to state and county to county. Co-ordinate to CarMD, Ohio averages the cheapest state for motorcar repairs, followed by Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Vermont. The most expensive states are the Commune of Columbia, Connecticut, California, Georgia, and New Jersey (in descending society).
Your motorcar's make and model – the more common the car is, the cheaper the parts are likely to be. This is all related to supply and need. The more of a particular car part yous can find (in this case, the starter), the cheaper information technology's likely to be.

The F-Series from Ford is still the acknowledged gear up of cars in the US, with 787,422 sold in 2022. If y'all check around with a few parts websites and companies, you'll see that the average price is $150 for a adept-quality, new starter.

Information technology's a relatively simple job and shouldn't have more than than an hour, and so labor costs will be pretty depression – around $fourscore, give or take.

These combine to a full of effectually $230 + taxes.

You should note, however, that this is for the most mutual vehicle in America. When information technology comes to other less frequently seen cars, you can only expect these numbers to go upward.

The other main advantage of getting professionals to practice the work for y'all is that the work is insured. If annihilation goes incorrect, they should cover it. Ensure yous get some guarantee before any work is carried out, simply to be on the safe side.

Starter Replacement Price – DIY

Replacing the starter past yourself should, clearly, toll less. This lesser cost is due to non paying labor charges. You lot'll merely have to pay out for the role.

In the case of the Ford F-150 used to a higher place, the starter motor costs $150 + taxes. Y'all should, therefore, wait to pay about this much for it.

You tin remove the old starter and replace it with the new one with basic tools. A iii/viii″- or 1/4″-drive ratchet with extensions should practice the trick. Y'all might also demand a torch or headtorch, and, very occasionally, yous might need to raise the car off the basis. As such, you lot'll need a jack and axle stands or access to a hydraulic ramp or inspection pit.

How Does A Starter Motor Work?

Take a await at the animation shown below from TecknoMechanics on YouTube.

The starter motor shown in the above animation is a pre-engaged-type model, the most common one on modern cars. The other type of starter motor is an inertia-blazon, a trusted but older version.

Information technology uses an electrical motor to spin the pinion that meshes with the flywheel. Equally this pinion turns, the flywheel turns, cranking the engine.

The power for this electric motor comes from the car'south battery. The excursion is bones in appearance but contains many complex parts.

The excursion is made up of the battery, the starter motor, and your ignition cardinal. You lot'll probably be familiar with the different marks past your key.

OFF.
ACC.
ON.
START.

When you lot turn your central to the "Get-go" position, that'due south what makes the "rrr – rrr – rrr" noise. When it'due south at this indicate, the switch is closed, completing the excursion betwixt the starter motor and the battery.

This enables current to period from the bombardment to the solenoid on top of the motor. The solenoid is a type of electromagnet. When the battery energizes information technology, the plunger (every bit seen in the video) slides forth. It connects two copper terminals, completing the excursion and causing the rotor within the starter to spin.

What Individual Components Are In The Starter And How Do They Function?

To increment the torque, planetary gears are included between the rotor and the pinion. These gears help the starter motor have that extra turning forcefulness, meaning that starting the engine is more effortless.

Every bit the plunger moves towards the copper terminals, it as well pushes the pinion out so that information technology'southward level with the flywheel. When the power is disconnected from the solenoid (that is, you let get of the key), the plunger moves back to its rest position and pulls the pinion back from the flywheel. This prevents the flywheel from damaging the motor by spinning the pinion.

To prevent this from happening, starter motors include a one-way clutch earlier the pinion. This ane-way clutch effectively disconnects the pinion from the rest of the starter motor and helps to preclude heavy damage.

The gear ratio betwixt the pinion and the flywheel is more often than not between 15:one and 20:i. That is, the pinion will do 15 rotations in the same time information technology takes the flywheel to do 1.

Starter Replacement Cost Pinion Gear Flywheel 2:1 example

In this illustrative example, the gray cog represents the pinion gear. The blue cog represents the flywheel. The pinion gear has just x teeth compared to the flywheels 20. This means it volition spin twice in the same fourth dimension the flywheel spins once. Although the flywheel won't turn so rapidly, there is a greater corporeality of torque – "turning force" – for the pinion to spin it. In reality, the gear ratios betwixt the pinion and flywheel are between 15:1 and 20:1, equally detailed above.

Rather than the battery directly, a solenoid is used to power the starter because information technology requires a much lower current level to operate. If the circuit bypassed the solenoid, the wires would need to be much thicker to handle the flow of electricity.

I highly recommend watching the video included above, which is incredibly helpful for visualizing the whole process.

What'southward The Difference Between A Pre-Engaged And Inertia Starter?

With a pre-engaged starter, the pinion juts out from the motor before information technology begins to spin. It accomplishes this through the use of the solenoid and plunger, every bit explained below. The pinion physically cannot revolve unless the solenoid has already pushed it out, level with the flywheel.

You might hear an inertia-type starter existence referred to every bit a Bendix-type.

An inertia-type starter works using, surprisingly enough, inertia. The pinion gear is on the other side of the flywheel, and the pinion drive is on a screw gear. Because this screw gear can't turn quite as chop-chop as the motor rotates, it "falls" back towards the flywheel, somewhen making contact.

When the pinion gear hits the flywheel, it'due south travelling with some strength. In some ways, this is good, pregnant that heavy flywheels can be rotated more than easily. In some ways, though, it's bad. Because the pinion hits the flywheel with such strength, it causes impairment to the teeth on both gears over time.

Over time, the industry moved towards pre-engaged starter motors to forbid this damage from happening.

Check out the video beneath to run across it clearly explained. I highly recommend a lookout man. Moss Motors, Ltd. produced this video.

Why Does A Starter Motor Neglect And Need Replacing?

Like all mechanical parts, a starter motor will vesture out over time and need replacing. Information technology'due south an inevitable fact. When information technology needs replacing, y'all haven't necessarily done anything wrong – it'south something y'all repeatedly apply every time you lot start the car. Eventually, something is bound to go wrong downwards to general employ and wear.

The starter motor could likewise be damaged in the following circumstances.

Faulty wiring – if the current coming from the bombardment is excessive, it might damage the solenoid, meaning the rotor won't spin properly, and the pinion won't engage. The same situation would occur if there was insufficient electric current due to a fault in the wiring or battery cells. Short-circuits and other such conditions could also redirect the menstruation of electricity.
Leaving the key engaged in the start position for as well long – if you leave the primal in this position for too long, the flywheel could first driving the motor instead of the other way around. The 1-way clutch should negate most of this impairment, just it isn't ever 100% effective. To prevent this from happening, you should always let get of the key the moment the engine roars into life.
Incorrect installation – if the motor isn't in the right place, information technology won't mesh with the flywheel properly. Information technology could damage the splines on either the pinion or flywheel itself.
Individual components of the starter failing due to wear – the solenoid, motor itself, and pinion are all common failure points.

Wellness And Safety

If yous decide to work on your starter, feel gratuitous – lots of people do.

Brand sure, though, to work safely. Disconnect the battery long before you fifty-fifty think near working on the starter motor and make sure there's no way for it to slip back into place, completing the circuit. Keep the keys out of the ignition and, for peace of mind, well away from the automobile. Finally, equally I've experienced myself, make certain nobody comes along and tries to starting time the primal while you're working on wired-upwardly electrical components.

Always work in a prophylactic surroundings and wear latex or nitrile gloves to protect the peel on your hands.

What Is The Cost Of Rebuilding The Starter Motor Instead Of Replacing It?

It's certainly possible to rebuild a starter motor instead of replacing it. However, to have any gamble of successfully doing this, yous'll need to have a decent understanding of electric diagnosis equally well as the make-up of the device itself.

Information technology doesn't ordinarily make sense to take your starter to a repair shop and ask them to replace it because it will commonly cost more in labor charges than getting a replacement. The one exception to this dominion is if you own a fleet of vehicles – for example, a commitment visitor or a range of taxis. In this case, it often makes sense to hire a mechanic and pay them standard hourly rates rather than taking the cars to a garage every fourth dimension.

If you lot hire your own mechanic, you lot could await to pay $thirty per 60 minutes. Labor rates in garages are more likely to be closer to $100 per hour – i.e., lots. As long as there'south enough work to proceed the employee busy, you're looking at savings of around seventy%.

Of course, thinking about your personal car once again, you could still try to fix your starter motor yourself. Taking information technology to a garage could nevertheless be an pick, but you'll probably finish up paying more than you would for a replacement.

Trying to repair and rebuild information technology yourself is another possibility. In effect, you'll be paying for it with your time rather than your difficult-earned greenbacks.

To go about this, you lot'll, of course, need to remove the starter motor, only earlier doing then, run a quick OBD scan. Occasionally, this scan might tell you the problem itself and save you lot many arduous hours of diagnosis.

Once you've got the starter removed, use a digital multimeter to observe the mistake. Nine times out of ten, it'll be an electric issue. In that location may also be physical signs of mechanical vesture – check for cracks, cuts, grooves, etc.

Once you lot've found what needs replacing, gear up information technology. Before reconnecting it to the car, use a power pack to check the starter works properly, being conscientious not to shock yourself.

When reconnecting to the machine, one of the primary things to watch out for is to brand certain that all the connecting wires are correctly fastened and in the right places. It'southward very piece of cake to install the correct wire in the wrong position, causing a brusk circuit. Make sure that doesn't happen.

What Symptoms Indicate A Faulty Starter Motor?

Information technology can be difficult to differentiate between problems with the battery and issues with the starter on the surface. Although the ignition switch continued to the primal may occasionally pause too, information technology's far less common.

More often than not, it's the battery at fault rather than the starter. To rule out the battery, you should become a battery tester. Once you've connected it up to the battery, information technology'll give you a reading and an idea of the battery's wellness, likewise as whether or non information technology needs replacing.

Some advanced battery testers will besides provide information on the alternator and starter motor. If you have one of these at your disposal, it's undoubtedly worth checking these while y'all're at it. There's a high likelihood you'll notice fault with at to the lowest degree ane of these components if your motorcar isn't starting correctly.

The video below from 1A Auto on YouTube shows a simple model.

You lot might notice some of the following:

When you turn the central, nothing happens; no click, nil.
A small click but no other noise when yous put the key in and plow it to START.
You might hear a slower version of the "rrr – rrr – rrr" noise you usually get when the car is starting. The engine might yet beginning but struggle to practise so.
A grinding, crunching dissonance once the engine has started.

In all of the above examples – presently to be delved into in more than detail below – I'll assume that you've already ruled out the bombardment and ignition switch as the cause and confirmed that the starter is the problem. I'll likewise assume the employ of a pre-engaged-type starter.

No Noise At All – Starter Replacement Price

If aught at all is happening and y'all've made certain that the battery is all fine (check your lights and radio etc., are working), it indicates something wrong with either the wiring heading into the starter or the solenoid.

Wires can work their style loose or become frayed due to one reason or another. Whatsoever issues here could disrupt the excursion, meaning the current doesn't make its way to the starter. You could also take a short excursion, although this is more likely to develop at the time of installation rather than years into the part'south usage.

The lack of a "click" audio also indicates that the pinion isn't pushing out to being level with the flywheel and, therefore, the plunger isn't moving inside the solenoid. Considering the solenoid isn't moving, it won't consummate the circuit with the rotor. Consequently, the pinion will neither spin nor motility outward.

In this case, the problem could also lie with the solenoid. Problems with electromagnets can be fiddly as they are precisely engineered $.25 of kit. While information technology may be possible to fix the office manually, it might save you lot a lot of time to just replace the whole matter.

If you cant hear a noise reader our guide here.

A Pocket-size Click Only – Starter Replacement Cost

In this case, we're talking nearly when y'all turn the key but only hear a slight tap or click with no "rrr – rrr – rrr" – it doesn't creepo or turn over.

A few things could cause the click but, in the context of starter motors, the most likely reason for this racket is the move of the solenoid's plunger and subsequently the pinion gear.

Although the pinion gear is pushing out to engage with the flywheel, it's non turning. That's why you don't hear the usual commencement-up noises.

All of this is indicative of some kind of problem with either the solenoid or motor itself.

If you hear the audio of the motor spinning – a kind of whirring audio somewhat similar to a blow dryer – but still nothing is happening, at that place may be a fault with the gearing system within the starter.

Once more, if you know what y'all're doing and have the necessary equipment, you may well exist able to repair a starter displaying these symptoms. If in doubt, even so, it'due south normally simplest and cheapest to replace it.

Deadening(er) Cranking – Starter Replacement Toll

In these cases, the starter motor'due south pinion gear is engaging with the flywheel and successfully turning it… only without its usual amount of torque. Thus, we tin can deduce that the trouble lies somewhere in the ability supply of the starter.

Usually, this trouble is acquired past an insufficient voltage – that is, there isn't enough electric energy to ability the starter. If the battery seems fine, the upshot probably stems from a wiring connection or loom.

Declining that, the motor itself could take any number of internal causes for this situation.

Like the previous examples, you'll need specialist skills and electrical equipment to find the problem. It would likely save considerable amounts of time to simply replace the starter.

Grinding and Crunching – Starter Replacement Toll

Suppose you hear a grinding- or crunching-type dissonance. In that case, this represents the pinion gear not engaging (or disengaging, depending on when yous hear it) from the flywheel properly.

In that location may be damaged teeth on either the pinion gear or flywheel. The dissonance could also stem from a damaged linkage betwixt the plunger and pinion.

If the noise happens consistently, it'll be doing impairment to both the starter and the flywheel. When replacing or repairing the starter, you should also cheque the flywheel for extensive damage. If it'southward missing a large number of teeth, you may take to replace that too, or else the new starter will have nothing to link up with.

Unfortunately, considering the flywheel is fastened to the crankshaft and will require a considerable amount of disassembly work, the cost of getting a flywheel replacement is much more than than a starter – somewhere between $500 and $1,000.

To avert those extortionate sums, get your starter stock-still or replaced the moment you begin hearing those grinding sounds.

Starter Replacement Cost – Conclusion

Overall, a starter replacement is likely to cost somewhere between $250 and $400 if you take the automobile to a shop. The numbers could become even higher for rarer vehicles with bigger engines (and consequently bigger flywheels).

For a DIY chore, you lot'll but accept to pay out for the parts, assuming y'all already have all the necessary equipment. To buy the parts, yous should budget about $200, again depending on various factors as discussed above.

Thanks for reading!