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Alterstart

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DanB

Jedi Warrior
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Has anybody had any experience with this company? I bought a gear reduction starter from them on eBay last year and the gear is too small.
 
More to the point.... When I installed it last year, it worked, although noisily. I was under the impression that gear reduction starters did make more noise, but looking back, this was probably too much more noise. Anyway, it stopped engaging the flywheel. I reworked the wiring a couple of times, but no success. Finally I called the vendor and asked if they had had any bendix troubles. Of course they said no, and recommended taking it to a local starter shop, which I did. $98 later, no fix. So I crawled under the car, did a bunch of measuring on the old starter and the new, and finally determined that the new starter has a gear that is about 1/4" smaller in diameter. I looked at the gear on the flywheel, and, sure enough, the corners of the gears are shiny and worn off. It was barely engaging when it worked, but has worn away enough on each of the gears to not engage anymore. I have an RMA from Alterstart to send it back, but I think I will check with the $98 shop and see if they have a bigger gear before I ship it back.

Dan Blackwood
South Charleston, WV
 
I would first check with the $98 shop. I would assume that you have a Nippondenso gear reduction starter. There a several different size gears that can go into these units, so chances are that shop should have someting to fit. Bring in the original old starter so they can see and measure the size of the gear.
 
There are several vendors that are active here, and Moss and others have one that are a bit more but are known to work well.

Hang in there.
 
That's Art's job kinda, so follow his advice.
 
Took it to the $98 shop. They have to send it to their repair shop 50 miles away. Hopefully it will be fixed in a week.
 
Let me guess, the eBay auction stated it fits "TR2-4A" right?
 
Yes, ad said "Fits TR2-4A" but it doesn't fit mine. I just got off the phone with the local shop and they can't find a gear big enough.
 
Dave,
Which car did you put a gear reduction on? How long ago? No excessive noise? How about when you bolted it up, was there any play? Mine bolts up tight. I wonder if yours has a different gear.

Dan
 
I just picked my starters up from the local shop and shipped the gear reduction starter back to Alterstart. I talked to Bobby there, and he said they had two different gears they put on them. Hopefully mine has the smaller one and he has a bigger one to fix it with. If that is not the case, then who even knows what the heck is going on, but I'm over $300 on it, so I should have gone with the TRF probably.
 
Roger007 said:
I got my gear reduction starter from British Starters,great person to deal with and it works!

Roger
Click to expand...

British Starters shows two different starters for the TR2-3...before and after TS50000...BTW, that's Dr. Marty. He lives here on Long Island and I've been to his place to pick stuff up. He started selling parts to help finance his way through medical school (Yes, he's an MD), and he just kept with it. He's a true LBC guy.
 
Aloha Dan,

The gear reduction starter I bought was for my TR3A. It is commission number TS28009L. It bolted up tight to the engine and there is not any excessive noise. The engine does turn over quicker than it did with old lucas "bombshell" starter.
 
Hey Art. I just clicked on that link and all H E L L broke loose. Must be some sort of virus. Fortunately my software blocked any damage!

Be aware!
 
angelfj said:
Hey Art. I just clicked on that link and all H E L L broke loose. Must be some sort of virus. Fortunately my software blocked any damage!

Be aware!
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the British Starter site?? I just clicked on it and didn't run into any problems...Heck, I googled it to get the link...wow. Did you click on any of the links within the site?? I didn't, so maybe that's where the problem is.
 
Frank,

I didn't have any issues either going to that site. Using Norton here, but I didn't see anything odd about the webpage (or links) other than a dead link to an image that took a while to timeout.

I'd be concerned that you have some type of BHO (Browser Helper Object) that happened to launch when you opened that link.

Scott
 
I called Bobby on Thursday, the day USPS said my starter would arrive in Dallas. They had already gotten it, repaired it, and sent it back out. I have not received it yet. Bobby said it wasn't even their gear on it. I asked him how that could have happened, but he had no good explanation for it. I am sure the $98 local company did not replace the gear at any time, so I had to have received it that way. I wonder, since they adapt Nippo starters, if it was a gear for a Toyota or something that failed to get changed out in the manufacturing process. Anyway. I'll post results when I get the starter back.

Dan B
 
My starter arrived yesterday evening via UPS. I installed it last night and it works perfectly now. I appreciate the service from Bobby and Alterstart, but considering it had to be their fault to begin with, it is frustrating. I took their initial recommendation and went to a local shop which cost me $98 for nothing, then the shipping costs to send it back to them (~$20) and another $20 money order for them to ship it back to me. So, the initial cost for the starter, $175 plus the $138 means I spent $313 for that starter, plus all the hassle, and not having my car right for over a year. Hindsight would have me purchase from a usual British supplier, rather than an ebay vendor.
If you use this company, measure your gear before you install!

Dan B
South Charleston, WV
 
Here we go again! About two weeks ago or so, the weather was really pretty and nobody was around, so I decided to fire up the TR4A and play with the tuning. I started it up and it died. When I cranked it again....well, it didn't crank. It made a bad noise. Try again. Starter not engaging flywheel again. Me? POed...Frustrated. I got away from it and drove the TR7 instead. Saturday, I pulled the Alterstart Gear Reduction starter off, and guess what? A tooth on the starter gear is worn/broke off. What the heck!
I contacted another vendor to see if I could get a replacement gear. He has knowledge of 7 Alterstart starter failures in the last year and a half. I have emailed Bobby at Alterstart to see what the chances are of getting a refund. Apparently the gears are not made of hardened material.

Dan B
 
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