BX Starter

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JBUK
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BX Starter

Post by JBUK »

The starter on my GTI has been playing up for a while. Got a new one this week from GSF[:D].
It is not the usual huge lump though. This one is much slimmer and has no fittings for a mounting plate on the end - a plus for me, they are very fiddly to get on.They described it as a new Bosch technology drive reduction motor. It is not a direct replacement though as the solenoid connection is a threaded screw for a ring terminal not a push on connector.
What is the word on the street about these motors. Good, bad, better,worse and what is the real difference. Its obviously got a lot less copper in it so is it less powerful. The rating plate says .85KW, so that means it pulls about 70a.
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

I have encountered Hitachi starters on the diesels, as you describe the body of the motor is smaller and there appear to be some reduction gears in there, works fine though in my experience.
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Post by ItDontGo »

850W - thats over 1hp (745W) power in. Old starters used to take about 200 or more amps but they wont be very efficient cranking an engine I wouldn't have thought!
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Geared reduction starters seem to have been introduced on diesels form mid 80's onwards - I think my BX TD 1989 has one as does our 94 ZX. They seem a good idea as there is a huge load on a very small motor when starting and the torque multiplication is welcome as well as the ability for the motor to run at a more sensible speed.
The greatest load placed on a starter motor is on initially starting, when the engine backfires or the battery is low and it nearly stops at compression. the reason is that the motor acts as a dynamo and as it starts turning it begins to generate. This back EMF (electro motive force) regulates the incoming current and so the motor to some extent becomes self governing. If the motor stalls, the back EMF fails and the thing receives full battery current and will run hot.
So gears seem to be a good thing and the next stage is to reduce weight and materials and so motor size. Since the last attempt by the Motor busiuness to reduce weight seems to have been the AX and BX which failed to start a trend this is to be welcomed. (Thats unfair - C3 diesels are very lightweight construction I believe)
No doubt it is built in a factory somewhere with brand new robots - so the lightweight starter represents a sizeable investment for someone and hopefully has been properly tested and hasn't departed from its original spec during production.
jeremy
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

Geared starters are just an effort to get away with a smaller cheaper starter motor than would be required if it didn't have the reduction gearing. Normal starters do have pretty good reduction gearing anyway, since they run on the outside of the flywheel with a little pinion, and if you reduce their gearing they'll have to be going at a terrific speed to get your engine started.
PeterMann
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Post by PeterMann »

I recently fitted a starter motor to my BX 19 TRi, which was much smaller and lighter than the original. Seems identical to the starter on my 1994 Xantia. Works fine so far, and easier to fit because of smaller size and absence of rear bracket. I was able to fit from above, whereas I had to remove the original from underneath, making the task easier, cleaner and quicker.
DLM
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Post by DLM »

I swapped over a starter last summer on a BX TZi with Mr Sheppard's assistance, and the replacement was a secondhand one from a Peugeot 306. In terms of size it was exactly as you describe, cnsiderably smaller and without the bracket.I had no problems with this other than those caused by the retro-fitted alarm system, which I eventually had to rip out when a plip receiver contact corroded away and I was left with no way of disarming the alarm and immobiliser.
After removing them, it did occur to me that this was probably the cause of the problems which I had blamed on the old starter!
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Kowalski
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Post by Kowalski »

So you've got a spare starter motor squirrelled away, unless you've thrown it out...
We live and learn.
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Post by Peter.N. »

The starters on the XUD engines have been of this type for some time and in my experience work very well, they are also lighter which with a diesel starter makes them easier to fit.
DLM
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Post by DLM »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">So you've got a spare starter motor squirrelled away, unless you've thrown it out... <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Yes, I still have it, but it's squirreled away 30 miles distant in the back of another BX...
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