If it is a Denso starter, then it is probably a good thing. Did some trawling on the Net and came up with the following -
"Fortunately the starter is VERY reliable apart from the copper contacts in the solenoid which wear away. The usual symptom would be a clicking sound and intermittent starting."
"Whilst remanufactured many thousands of Nippon Denso starters over the years I noticed the only part of the starter which was faulty and worn was the contacts and plunger assembly, I then measured the wear to the brush gear and armature and found it was negligible in fact almost no wear at all, the same was the case with the integral gearbox and external drive gear, even the internal bearing were near perfect. So instead of rebuilding the whole starter I decided to experiment with just replacing the worn contacts and plunger assembly and low and behold the starter worked perfectly, if fact it performed as good as if not better then the remanufactured starter we built.
I have been trading since late 2008 and to date have sold over 1000 repair kits and in every case I have had nothing but praise for the product. If you view my feedback on EBAY you can see the great reviews they've received."
"Nippondenso starters are used on a variety of vehicles and quipment.
They are the largest manufacturer of starters and alternators in the
world. When these starters fail it is almost always a problem with worn out solenoid contacts. The common symptom is a click- click-
click and then it will start. Replacement units are usually higher priced than most because of the superior design. Repair is easy with the right parts and very profitable because of the cost of a
new or rebuilt unit"
See the following links -
http://www.repairkitsuk.com/1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.nationsautoelectric.com/Nippondenso.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This re-inforces my view not to trade the Denso in on a Lucas or Bosch, but to have it (the solenoid) re-furbished - thanks Carlos
If someone knows on someone locally that sell these repair kits then I can, of course, do it myself.
