So I decided it was time to fit the WOSP high torque starter motor that I'd bought a while back from a member on here in preparation for fitting my 2.1DJ. The increased compression over my 1.9DG probably isn't so much that the higher torque starter is strictly needed, but it can't hurt, and there are other advantages too. It draws less current and doesn't need the oilite bush - the starter spindle supports itself.
First of all I took the old starter out and used my USB endoscope to take a look at the oilite bush. Difficult to get a sharp picture, but it looks as though the bush is mostly still there.
But there's plenty of what looks like oilite 'dust' over the nose of the starter. Maybe a bit of wear is enough to cause my problem.
The new starter has a flange that can be adjusted to give the best orientation of the solenoid.
So I rotated it from this....
...to this.
And I had to ease one of the flange holes a fraction to take the long top bolt. But other than that it was an easy fit.
It works a treat, and spins the engine over nice and fast. What struck me was the way the new starter sounds so different to the old one. Before failing, my old starter turned the engine over reasonably fast, and the starter sounded exactly like every other T25 on the road. The new one has a touch of the race car sound about it. I've put a couple of sound clips on Soundcloud to try and demonstrate what it sounds like. The first clip is with the coil king lead disconnected so that I could record a few turns without the engine firing. The second clip is with it starting up (from almost cold, so the fast idle is still operating). In both clips, the faint rattling noise at the start is my electric fuel pump firing up for a second or so with the ignition.
Turning over with the coil disconnected:
https://soundcloud.com/cjh-105152165/wo ... er/s-7x6iU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Starting the engine:
https://soundcloud.com/cjh-105152165/wo ... ng/s-D2W0V" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;