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Date:         Mon, 10 Jul 2006 21:10:16 -0700
Reply-To:     BA <oddstray@ODDSTRAY.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         BA <oddstray@ODDSTRAY.COM>
Subject:      Re: Just how far in over my head am I? (long)
In-Reply-To:  <009901c6a306$2054fdd0$647ba8c0@MAIN>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

On Sat, 8 Jul 2006 20:16:52 -0700, you wrote:

>--snip-- >As it turns out, the "rebuilt" starter we'd most recently had >installed turned out to be a half@ssed partially rebuilt starter (the >stuff that looked 'old' got rebuilt and the rest was just left). S >says he's astonished we even made it home. And we've been having >words with our mechanic to pass on to the place where he got that >allegedly-rebuilt starter!!! >--snip-- > >Most 'rebuilt' starters you can get at retail are 'half-assed partially >rebuilt starters'. It's something of a crap shoot, and I haven't had any >better luck with a Napa rebuilt than an Autozone rebuilt. For all I know >they come from the same 'rebuilder'. >Many years ago there was a shop where I lived at the time where you could >get your starter rebuilt- really rebuilt, by people that knew what they were >doing. I haven't seen one of those shops in ages and I gather they're a >dying breed or sorts. It might be worth looking online- I've found 'real >alternator rebuilders that way but I haven't looked for a starter rebuilder >(seems like one shop would do both, like the old guys I used to go to). It'd >be worth the extra cost and hassle to know the job was done correctly, but >you might be able to get a new one at retail for the same price. > >Basically you can get a new one, get lucky and get a 'good' rebuild, keep >one for a spare or build up the 'chest, arms and legs', as the good Dr. put >it.

It now seems there are three different animals one can get. Approximately ...

1) A refurbished starter - the obviously broken bits are fixed and the rest is left as is.

2) A rebuilt starter - the obviously broken bits are fixed and the old bits are fixed/replaced.

3) A re-manufactured starter - the outermost case is retained and the interior bits are all new.

We had paid for a rebuilt starter, but had instead got a refurbished starter.

We stilll think the onus is on our repair-guy to put that right. But as it happens, Simon paid something for the starter repair. The repair-guy gratis gave us an improvement in the gear linkage that means we can now reliably get it into first gear (which had been a non-trivial problem for Simon on the way home from Erendira.

In sum, we're happy. Most especially because we have reservations for Silver Lake Campground (Inyo County) for next weekend. :-)

B&S '87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc' SoCal


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