jordan1794

So i thought my wife had killed the battery by leaving the subwoofer amp on several times an having to be jumped.
So I tried jumping it again, and couldn't get it going, so i took out the battery and took it to an auto-store.
Apparently the battery is better than fine, and has more amps than it's labeled to have.
(Battery is duralast gold and only 1 year old)

So I cleaned all the wires, got all the corrosion off of the grounds and still nothing.

Interior light work fine, no flickering at all.
Car locks, alarm sets and beeps no problem.
When I go to start it earlier it would click, the belt would move an inch or so, then nothing.

Inside the car when I try to start it the battery light, oil light, and engine light come on. After a few seconds with the key in the position where I'd normally have it if the car was running the engine light flashes a few times, then goes away.


Now when I do it the click still occurs but the belt does not move at all.
And it only clicks once.

I'm fairly certain it's the starter, I'm getting ready to take it out then get it tested before i dish out the money for a new one.

While I'm doing this, can anyone think of anything else it might be? Waiting on a friend with jack stands to get here so I'm exploring other possibilities.

ezone

Sounds like a starter, but I'd probably do a few checks with a test light just to make sure there isn't any connection problem.

jordan1794

Anyone know how much a dealership will charge in labor to replace a starter?
And will they replace my starter with a starter I bought myself, or do I have to buy theirs?
I got a quote on the starter itself but, as the person on the phone for my dealership said "We cant quote you a labor price because everyone that does repairs leave at 4, the people here only know how to do oil changes"
(It was 6:30 when I called, and their service department closes at 7)

(They want 309$ just for the starter; Advance auto-parts will give me a guaranteed for life rebuilt starter for 160$)
I'm imagining 60-80 an hour, for maybe 3 hours or so? But I have very little experience with labor rates and times.

ezone

You have to ask your dealer.

If you bring in your own parts, some shops may bump up the labor fee to cover lost parts profit.
Some shops won't let you in the door with your own parts.
Some have no problem with it.


You are always free to go to any other shop.

Choose wisely.

Starters aren't the same between manual trans and auto. I just looked up an automatic.

Their part price for a Honda reman is about right.


They will never cover labor under their warranty. If their starter craps out on you, you only get another starter --- IF you have your receipt and didn't get lost in their records system (Autozoo is famous for losing your phone number records!) You will be responsible for the tow truck charges, diagnosis, and labor to replace it again each time it fails.

(In general) Parts stores that cater to the general public and stay open on Sunday aren't well known for reliable rebuilt rotating electrical parts.

Again, choose wisely.
I'm in the middle of a freekin cornfield and we are almost double that.
I don't have access to a general labor guide, but I'll guess (educated) labor should be between 1 and 1.5 hours to R+R the starter (plus shop supplies, plus the owners' kids' college fund, plus the fee for setting foot inside the dealership, plus tax, etc., etc....not including any checkout fee or towing fee.)



I wonder if I can get a job there.......

brags

You don't need to buy a Honda starter for $309.00 bucks...
phone around. Hitachi makes good starters for Hondas. and so
does Delphi Delphi brand would be my 1st pick theres also Napa autoparts
that OEM dealers use from time to time. these are just some good sources that I would start shopping around from.

jordan1794

See my only problem is getting it installed...I jacked the car up on stands and everything but damn is that thing tucked away...
Even with instructions I was baffled as to how anyone can get it done without a full lift...

The posts I've read of people doing it themselves say it took them anywhere from 4-8 hours.
Granted these people had little to no experience, but it should be comparable for me as I also have little to no experience.

I was happy I was able to actually find the thing though...
Guess I'm probably gonna just go to the stealership and pay half a G for this,at least it will be one less thing to replace later down the road.
I plan on running this car into the ground, pretty much the only reason I plan on letting it go is if the engine itself goes.
Even then I might keep it and swap in a V6.

ezone

I like a challenge...I'll bet a nickel I can change it in under 30 minutes....Only because I've done it, I know ahead of time what it takes to do the job, and I have lots of the equipment necessary to do the job efficiently.

And, apparently I have an impact gun growing out of one arm.

You know about the 10 year warranty extension on the block, right?

jordan1794

Yeah, but I'm hoping mine will be lucky and won't have it happen. I figure it would have happened by now though, over 100k miles, plus I drove it over 5,000 miles in a span of less than 2 weeks across country on my honeymoon last year.

ezone

I've done a few with well past 100k.
I think 180k was the highest I personally have done one on, that one stands out to me because AFTER I could drive it (it got towed in as a meltdown), I found it really needed a torque converter (found that it shuddered going into lockup).

But that wasn't a complaint. If I had known ahead of time, I could have easily slipped it in while the drivetrain was all apart on the ground....Probably for just the cost of the part.

It was definitely a "low maintenance" car. LOL

jordan1794

Just an update is was the starter. It's fixed now.
309$ for the part
150$ for the labor
9$ miscellaneous charge?
80$ towing
_____________
about 550$
Could have been worse I guess :/