Please help me identify this starter motor

Long story short--

Bought a gear reduction starter for my MG Midget. Essentially these are just stock starters from another car with an adapter plate.

I go through these fairly regularly because the Midget is a racecar. The starters don't last long in this environment, even when I take steps to make them more durable.

Trouble is finding off-the-shelf rebuilts. The motor/solenoid is from some standard application, but the supplier won't give me a part number or application because he wants to sell me his rebuilt. So I bought his rebuilt and it took three weeks and when it arrived it was in pieces in the box. Don't want to go through that again.

I'd like to be able to buy a rebuilt with a warranty off-the-shelf from a chain parts store. I'm often out of town at a race, so potentially I could do a warranted exchange, if necessary, or at least be able to buy the right part anywhere I go. Ideally, I could ask for a starter for a 19xx Toyonda Accamry, 'cause we all know that is the path of least resistance at the auto parts store.

Here are some pics. There are no part numbers on this. It is a typical Nippodenso design. It is identical to a starter I had for an Isuzu Trooper, except that it is a mirror image-- all the electrical connections are on the opposite side. This is very important to getting the right replacement. I tried adapting the Isuzu starter, but there is too much that is done differently to make it a mirror image.

Any help would be appreciated. Hope all that is clear.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3209160&cc=1168646

part# DRS4051 from rock auto

for a 92-95 civic VX (d15z1 engine, specific to the VX model)

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Starter-Remfd-Standard/_/R-RSE2446107_0209522773

same from napa

Have you tried taking a stock unit (or what your currently using) to a starter and alternator shop and ask them to make it bulletproof?

What typically fails on them? I don't understand what the extra stresses are. Super high compression ratio?

Thanks, old_!! That's perfect. How did you do that??

The problem with the starters is that the vibrations in a racing environment tend to break internal wires and the starter only works intermittently, usually failing on the grid right at the 5 minute warning.

This is exacerbated by the starter being cantilevered and the internal wires being solid copper, not braided.

I squirt silicone around the wires to dampen the vibrations and I fabricated a bracket for the cantilevered end to attach to the block, which seems to work pretty well. If you do no mods, the starter won't last a weekend. With my mods I might get a season or more out of one.

So far the rebuilders haven't been very helpful. They want to turn and burn rebuilds, rather than think about why they are broken.

The place I ordered the rebuild from tells me that there is a local race shop that does some mods to improve durability on these and that he would send me specifics and pictures. Given the service so far, I'm not holding my breath.

Would some insulator pads help damp the vibration?

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Not sure how. Are you suggesting wrapping the starter with it? I don't know if that would do much good, plus it might keep too much heat in the starter.

Not to highjack this thread but does anyone know what Denso starter has highest gear reduction and torque output? I've got to make a remote starter for a race bike. Think starter with 5 inch 1/2 socket drive extension welding to the end. I'm not willing to pay the price others get for the unit....mostly cause I don't have the $$.

The solenoid winding is retained in the housing by "bend over" tabs. Perhaps some quality time spent with some epoxy to encapsulate the windings and bed it permanently into the housing would do the trick? I assume the solenoid is the problem as that is where I have had issues with those style starters used on Harley's.

Use some epoxy that is thin enough you could "inject" it into the deeper voids to fully encapsulate the coil.

In reply to bentwrench:

I'd have to do some dissection to figure out what you are referring to. FWIW, I'm using an external solenoid mounted to the inner fender and wiring across the solenoid connection on the starter to bypass that one. I think that has increased reliability somewhat, but hasn't addressed the primary problem.