Soggy Starters in 1.6L Fords

[Cyclone Ranger]

I have replaced the starters in both my Bobcats and found that they both failed due to the brush holders rusting apart. Upon removing one that was in recent service, I found a shot of water inside. This led me to wonder what was going on. Upon inspection, I found that the drain hole on the nose of the starters was pointing skyward. It's my theory that Mr. Remy and Mr. Melroe had a misunderstanding regarding which side of the motor these starters were designed to operate on. Has anyone else seen this on their old gas Bobcats? Also for those replacing these starters and wanting to save a few bucks, you might consider going to your local auto parts store and purchasing an old Chevy/Delco 10MT starter rather than a Bobcat starter. You can swap out the nose and the armature and be back in business for under $40.

 

[SkidRoe]

I have not seen this one a Bobcat, but we did have this situation arise on one of our products at work. It was also a Remy starter. The fix, which we were able to get past them, was to drill two 1/4" holes in the "bottom" of the starter: one below the brush holder, and one below the starter drive. It you drill it with the starter together, you need to put a stop on the drill bit to prevent it from drilling more than 1/4" deep. Smearing some RTV over the old holes would not hurt either. HTH