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Onan/Linamar 24 horse engine starter.

Started by Jim_Rogers, July 08, 2015, 09:05:51 PM

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Jim_Rogers

Many years ago, I lost my first engine on my sawmill due to not taking care of the valves.
But I still have this engine on hand.

Last winter, I was having trouble starting the mill with the current engine and decided to see if it was the starter.
So, I took the old starter out of the old engine and put it into the new engine. That starter worked great.

Recently this starter is making some noise after the engine starts as it "slows down" and I was getting nervous that the starter would die while I'm right in the middle of this large order I'm working one. So I got out the old starter and took it to my starter/alternator repair shop to see if they could rebuild it for me. As I have had them do many other starters and alternators for me.

He called yesterday and said he couldn't get the parts needed for my starter but instead he bought me a new starter.
The rebuilt was suppose to be around $125. The new starter he just got me was $150.

I figured what the hay, it's just a little more than what I was expecting to pay, no big deal.

Well, thinking about swapping starters when this current one goes out, and putting the new one in, and having the second one rebuilt. Well, what happens if he tells me again that the other one can't be rebuilt as he couldn't get parts. Again another $150?

So, I went online and did a simple google search for a starter and found a place online that sells them on ebay for $68 and free shipping.

I think I'm going to buy one from them, instead ($150 - $68 =  $82 savings)......

I'm not saying that my alternator repair shop took advantage of me, but I think I'll buy the next starter someplace else, like ebay. Maybe I'll be getting what I paid for, maybe not.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

WV Sawmiller

Jim,

   I went to my local Auto Parts place today to check on a simple inline fuel filter for my mill for upcoming g 100 hour maintenance. They did not have exact one but I bet the ones they had would have worked. Said they could order me one but I was thinking I could order one myself from Amazon. Went to my Lawn Mower parts place (AMCParts) who bill through Amazon and have provided great service keeping my riding mower (also Kohler engine). Got 2 filters and 2 spare plugs for about $16 and will be here early next week.

   In the last couple of years I have increasingly just ordered my maintenance parts on line. Get them almost as quickly as the stores can, a lot cheaper and mailed to my house. Its real different than a few years ago when you were much more restricted in where you could find parts and spares.

   Good luck on the new starter.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Kbeitz

First I gotta say Onan parts are $$$$...
Only a few company's make starters for all the small engines.
So parts are interchangeable.
9 times out of 10 your starter problem will be the brushes.
If you wait until you have or see a problem then you will have even more damage to your starter.
If the brushes wear all the way out it will most of the time damage the armature.
The end cap of the Onan starter is what holds the brushes.
I go to our local junkyard and buy just the end caps off many lawn tractor starters.
Almost all the caps are the same. It's the other parts of the starter that different.
Changing the cap can be fun if you never did it before.
I use tape to hold the brushes in the cap when installing and when the cap is almost on I pull the tape off.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Jim_Rogers

Ok thanks for all that info.

I sent an email to my "south of Boston" Onan/Linamar parts company parts manager and he just replied with a quote of $314.96 for a new starter for my engine.

I'm thinking I'll try the $68 one first.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Ox

More than likely it is a Chinese copy of the original part.  This is not necessarily bad.  Some guys are purists and will only recommend and use OEM parts.  I use the cheapest I can find and have always come out on top.  I've been using this method for several years now and am pleased with the results.  From carburetors to carb rebuild kits to starters to engine rebuild kits, the cheaper parts work 100% and for much less money.  Don't hesitate to buy these, but make sure you understand the return policy or warranty policy for what you're looking for.  Most of these places have good policies to put your mind at ease.  I've never had to return anything but I like to know that I'm covered if I do.  I started using the cheaper Chinese parts after much research and lots of positive feedback on different things.  For one example, I bought a brand new carburetor for my Stihl 034av Super for right around $20 on Amazon.  Stihl dealer wanted well over $100.  Saw runs and starts perfect.  I wouldn't care if I had to do it again next year it's that cheap to me.  But it was the same carb manufacturer that was already on the saw and it had run for over 10 years with no problems until the ethanol finally got to it.  Several years ago we had nothing but ethanol fuel around here but now we have the option of ethanol free in the high test.

Most everything is made in China nowadays.  Just different paint and tags and sometimes the guts are a little different, but there you have it!
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

bandmiller2

My policy for starters is to pull the endcap off and give it a sniff if it smells burnt it gets exchanged for a reman, If not I rebuild it myself. Their really not that complicate to work on. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Jim_Rogers

The UPS truck just dropped off the $68 starter I got on eBay.

I took them both out to show you the two:



 

And:



 

The one with the "brass" colored end which appears to be larger then the other one is the $68 one.
They appear to be two different diameters as well. The $68 is around 3" in diameter and the $150 is around 2 3/4".

I won't know which one is a match to the one in the machine until I take that one out, after it dies.

Hopefully, I haven't made a $68 mistake.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Cross your fingers Jim and hope for the best.  :)
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Ox

How about doing some quick measurements for comparison?  Bolt holes, nose cone diameters, mounting flange diameters, etc.  It only takes a few minutes to pull a starter off to get the specs to compare to the new starters.  This way you'll know for sure if what you have will work.  If a starter is unused I'm sure a return isn't out of the question.  However you'll be losing on the shipping.  Hopefully you'll find they both will work and now you have spares for a long time!
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Jim_Rogers

Thank for that idea. I may just do that to be sure.
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Jim_Rogers

Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

deadfall

My LT-40s CAT diesel's starter bendix died last year.  I tried to just get it fixed.  No such luck.  I then got a Chinese one through NAPA that looked about as dissimilar as your two.  I was thinking that they were too different for it to work... and it didn't at first.  I had to chase the mounting bolt holes with a larger drill for it to bolt in.  It's been working fine for a year now.

On edit: I'm kind of remembering now that it wasn't NAPA, but something I got from the web and shipped here.  Sorry I can't remember the source.  I do remember that I was all over the place, from auto parts, auto electric, and a truck parts place, and wound up ordering from something I found on line.  The numbers matched, but the starters were quite different.  These small starters all have planetary gear reductions and I think they probably get re-engineered routinely, as the manufacturers shave production costs.
W-M LT40HD -- Siding Attachment -- Lathe-Mizer -- Ancient PTO Buzz Saw

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Happy for no reason.

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