Mitsubishi Starter's Bad - O'Reily wont replace it

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Well one of the two Mitsu starters I wrote about a week or so ago was actually bad, so I took it into O'Reily to have it replaced (lifetime warranty) and they wouldnt replace it. Said they had no record of selling me ANY starter for ANY ONE of my trucks. So I had to come home and dig out my receipts, which I have five different ones for three different trucks that use this starter. Brought all the receipts in for them and had them baffled.
Well after some investigating we figured out that corporate decided that they no longer wanted to offer the lifetime warranty for the "early" mitsubishi starter, so they just simply deleted all sales records for them.
ANYWAY. After discussing the situation with the manager, he said that he could no longer offer the lifetime warranty on that "early" starter, but he would cross it over to one that he knew would work, the "late" style mitsubishi starter. Which at first pissed me off because its a PSD starter without the cone and bearing over the gears. But it was the only thing I was going to get out of him so I took it.
BUT it also looks like the thing has absolutely no gear reduction to it. It's a straight in-line drive starter, so I see no possible way that its gear reduced.
So tell me, did I get screwed with an even WORSE starter than what I had??? I already hated the mitsu starter I had, now I've got this style with no frontal bearing in the shaft.

 

[icanfixall]

Yes... Sorry to state this but I feel you got screwed and didn't even get kissed.... Seems like you did nothing wrong but now you have to "settle" for what they offer or take a hike... That psd starter may not work for you because of the differant gear tooth count. Plus being a psd it will not have as much torque for starting a 21 1/2 to 1 as compared to a 17 to 1 psd. Try and find a corperate phone number and make them make it right by your terms.... Not theirs.... Tis another lesson learned. Good thing you saved the reciets.... That really got them good....

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Damn... Well I guess I'll have to do something like that.
The thing is they still have the early style starters there, but they wont offer the lifetime warranty on them. He said he'd give me that one, but then I'd only have a year replacement on it from then on. I said heck no and this was the only other thing he said he could do.
I spend allot of money there and even have my own account, so I normally get free reign of whatever I want, but they seemed pretty set on this decision.
To be honest Im SICK of pulling these starters out. We have 5 trucks with these starters in them now, and I've had to replace each of them atleast 3 times. Two of the trucks I replaced them 7 times EACH in a three month period. Im guessing they had a bad run or something. Most of the time they last a couple years or ATLEAST a year.
The starter I have now, came with a sheet stating "even though this starter may not appear the same as the one you are replacing it with, it WILL work with your vehicle. It is the same as these other two starters." And then it shows a picture of the Nipondenso and the "early" mitsubishi starters.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Oh, this is going into one of my 83's with the low compression heads, but if it doesnt have the torque of the other starters, I doubt it will turn it.

 

[RLDSL]

I doubt they'll budge on that warranty bit, too many layers of red tape. By the time the next one croaks next year, you'll be back at square one

Next time one goes, get a new Nippondenso and be shut of those things.
I went to a diesel electric shop looking to buy a mitsubishi about 2 1/2 years ago, and he had them on the shelf, but he didn't want to sell one to me, because they have too many problems with the things, he finally talked me into getting the Nipondenso. Both starters were the same price, but he flat told me that they almost never see the denso starters back, but the mitsubishis crap out left and right. He told me the only reason he even stocked the mitsu starter was for applications with clearance issues that couldn't fit the denso in ( these starters fit a number of other applications aside from our engines )

 

[f-two-fiddy]

My electrical rebuild guy said the same thing!

 

[towcat]

you're making a mountain out of a molehill.
I've used 7.3 PSD starters on plenty of IDI's that had flywheel ring gears needing replacement from worn teeth. the noseless design is extremely forgiving on bad flywheel teeth. If it is the Mitsu starter and not the ND starter, it's still a very rugged starter.
You do need to follow cretain absolutes though in order to keep from melting down starters.
One. battery health and battery cable cleaniness is a must. Replace batteries by the pair and keep the connections clean. If there is corrosion starting to show inside the cable, replace it immeadiately.
Two. if you do need to crank the starter for a long period of time(30 seconds continuous), stop and go find something else to do for 5 minutes. If you every touched one of these starters after a extended crank cycle, you will immeadiately understand why.
Three. listen carefully to the engine speed while cranking. these motors need 300rpm MINIMUM in order to light off. Once the speed drops off, so does the voltage in the batteries. When that happens, the amps required by the starter goes through the roof and the armature in the starter motor proceeds to thermonuclear meltdown. your starter will quickly become junk.
stop and allow the whole truck to rest for 15 mins and while it's resting, go find a booster unit to help bring back up the volts.
I had these starters live for years in my towtrucks and there's no worse environment for electrical equipment than a service vehicle. All my guys knew the rules for use and I did my part to make sure the maintence side was done right to begin with.
hope this helps.

 

[icanfixall]

I deal with a private rebuilder here in So. Ca. They never have let me down on starters, alternaters, power steering pumps or smog pumps. They give a 12 month warranty and I have never used it. I know its a long ways from you but if you want to give them a try the name is Smog Pumps Unlimited. Jimmy Morgan, his dad and wife own-run the shop. Carol is really neet to talk and visit with. Our daughters were girl scouts together. Their prices are equal to the big parts houses too. Phone number is 562-944-3221. Address is 13049 Telegraph Road. Santa Fe Springs Ca. I hope others will try these rebuilders too. I can't say enough about them. I have done business with they for about 32 years now and never had a problem...

 

[Devilish]

I myself grab spare starters at pick n pull. This past weekend during the half off sale I was too late to get the 97 psd that was running when wrecked and still had the turbo. I did manage to grab the 94 idi out of a van though. I snuck a battery to the van and gave it a few turns with the injectors out since 4 of them were soaked. $117 otd including core charge. Now I got another auto starter and the serpentine belt setup will work great in my tow truck

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

This PSD starter is about half the size of the other mistsu starter, and half as heavy. To top it off, I think I could probably install this one in about 30 minutes, instead of 2 hours like the old mitsu starter was. That thing was such a PITA!
Anyway, I only have one truck running an original Ford Mitsu starter now, and when it burns up I may do the ND starter with it. How big of a PITA is that ND starter to install? Looks like it'd be twice as hard as even the old mitsu starter.

 

[RLDSL]

. How big of a PITA is that ND starter to install? Looks like it'd be twice as hard as even the old mitsu starter.

Not too bad, the upper bolt is a bit of a chore the first time you try it, not that bad once you get it figured out. You'll need a few wobble extensions for the socket to reach it,if you have an air ratchet, not bad at all.

 

[typ4]

do you have a pic of the new replacement they shoved down your throat. If the manager really takes his good customers into account they can do anything for the warranty, I have gotten stuff replaced that I admitted was out of time or just screwed up, but I used to spend about 2 k a month there,

 

[f-two-fiddy]

The trick for the top bolt is to put together 20" of extensions and go in ahead of the motor mount. It's a straight shot. Even faster with an air ratchet.

 

[RKOCH]

First of all it is illegal by federal law to for them to do that they have to honor the warranty. They can change the warranty on new sales but can not make the change retroactive to prior sales on anything that already carried a different warrranty period. Autozone tried that on a few items and I mentioned that and now low behold corp policy is to honor previous warranties that were in effect at time of sale. Make a mountain out of it as they are in the wrong and violating the law.

 

[sassyrel]

First of all it is illegal by federal law to for them to do that they have to honor the warranty. They can change the warranty on new sales but can not make the change retroactive to prior sales on anything that already carried a different warrranty period. Autozone tried that on a few items and I mentioned that and now low behold corp policy is to honor previous warranties that were in effect at time of sale. Make a mountain out of it as they are in the wrong and violating the law.

agree--manager is bullying you--pursue it---------------------also--ive rebuilt the mitshus--but i alter a minor item--which is the weak point---