J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Cheap Chinese Starter ... Test

Every 25 years ... as it begins to require two batteries to Always start the engine ... I replace the starter. We have a long term maintenance program here.

So with the local dealer wanting close to $400 for a "Yanmar" #128170-77010 starter [including tax] for the 2GM which he would have to order from "somewhere else" with me paying the freight as well ... I went to my standard J30 parts source ... Ebay.

Picked up a "Mitsubishi" starter to replace the Hitachi S114-303 original from 25 years ago. "Caltric" has 3500 feedbacks with 99.8 positives ... PRICE WAS $84 + $13 US Postal Priority box shipping. all the GMs use the same starter they say. Two day delivery from Calif. which is completely across the country from here.

Only tools I needed to add to my box here were two cheap 6 in. 3/8 socket extension rods to add to the one I had. Takes 18 in. to get to the starter bolts from the front of the engine.
14mm socket.

Followed Bill's advice about paint. "if it isn't painted ... paint it"

no big deal to change out. one battery -- started no problem.

Who knows how long this starter will last ... if it goes bad I'll update this thread. I have three more months of this season to go.

Vic - a real nice find! With the gray paint it should last another 25 years too! Keep the old starter - you can probably get new brushes and polish the armature to keep for a spare.

I had the starter on Rauzer II rebuilt a couple years ago at an automotive starter/alternator shop and the cost was about $50 I think! Has been working great since.
Question: how many follow the operator manual and put the throttle at 'full' when starting cold? I used to put it half way and crank and crank until it finally caught. Then I read the manual and now set at full throttle when cold and it usually starts within a second or two of cranking. fyi fwiw

half throttle when outside temperature is above 55F, full throttle when below

I do the same as Koos. Just make sure to immediately reduce the RPM once the engine starts until it warms up a little.

Unlike a carburetor with an acceleration pump, there is no extra squirt of fuel that goes into the combustion chamber on the mechanically injected engines. Opening the throttle really provides a richer mixture until the engine starts (more fuel, same volume of air). The 2GM doesn't have glow plugs to preheat the cylinder. I've seen some Universal diesels that absolutely refuse to start below 50 degrees unless the glow plugs have been run for 30 seconds. At least we can start the 2GM without glow plugs.

half trottle initial starts always seem to work fine to mid 40s,
but once engine warmed not needed ...

But this is update on cheap chinese starter ... now that we are wrapping up second season with it ... continues no problem.

Check your new starter after a while. We replaced our original because of worn bushings and a need to be sailing rather than wait for re-build. Got the same starter without the fancy "Made in China" sticker (18209N 12V 1 KW Starter) Same relatively inexpensive starter and it did have great cranking power and faster speed, but ended up failing as the cast Aluminum nose piece pressed on the clutch housing, developed a crack and then broke off! Yikes! Well...at $150 (for us) I got another and filed the nose piece down a bit and used some clay to make sure I had clearance. Worked fine for two months and then another failure as my partner was on way for two week cruise. Lucky I had taken the original starter in for rebuild ($50 new bushings) and it was ready to go. The original (and expensive Yanmar) has the cast iron nose piece as opposed to the Aluminum housing. You can see in your side-by-side photo the Al housing is a bit bigger and longer than the original (I got my own conparative pictures but a sad story.) For our second one, it may have been prolonged hard starting which may contributed to the failure - especially in cold weather as we can sail here 12 mo (20F to 90F). Turns out a shot of starter fluid cured our hard start problem. I'd get your old starter rebuilt and have it ready as a spare - takes about an hour for a rebuild, and the cast iron is way more forgiving of the hard diesel starting knocks than the Aluminim - that is just materials properties.