What to do with old starter

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dassub
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:21 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 124 Spider

What to do with old starter

Post by dassub »

Just curious, now that my old starter is out, and my nice gear reduction starter is in, is there any use to keeping the old one around? It was heat soaked and barely ever started the car. It's quite heavy so would be annoying to throw out. Does it have any use to anyone, even for free?
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geospider
Patron 2020
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Posts: 585
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:07 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Spider 2000
Location: concord, ca

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by geospider »

Canoe, small bass boat anchor
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3798
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

Too bad these things are so heavy, otherwise I'd pay the shipping and take it off your hands. If it were me, I'd keep it for parts, but I tend to be a pack-rat with Fiat parts so Geo's suggestion is probably better.

-Bryan
SteinOnkel
Posts: 1000
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by SteinOnkel »

They have these big blue cans that get picked up once a week. I would gently place it in one those ;)
scrapironchef
Posts: 155
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:06 pm
Your car is a: 79 Spider
Location: Richmond, CA

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by scrapironchef »

SteinOnkel wrote:They have these big blue cans that get picked up once a week. I would gently place it in one those ;)
I got a nasty note telling me not to put auto parts in mine.
dassub
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:21 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by dassub »

SteinOnkel wrote:They have these big blue cans that get picked up once a week. I would gently place it in one those ;)
Thing is heavy :lol:
SteinOnkel
Posts: 1000
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by SteinOnkel »

scrapironchef wrote:
SteinOnkel wrote:They have these big blue cans that get picked up once a week. I would gently place it in one those ;)
I got a nasty note telling me not to put auto parts in mine.
Well, as the scrap iron Chef... :D

That's bs though. The one thing recycling companies loooove to pull out of the household trash is metals.
SteinOnkel
Posts: 1000
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by SteinOnkel »

dassub wrote:
SteinOnkel wrote:They have these big blue cans that get picked up once a week. I would gently place it in one those ;)
Thing is heavy :lol:
Not that heavy. Many moons ago we had a garbage man that did not care at all. Chunk by chunk we got rid of an entire slab of concrete, about 2000lbs worth :P
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manoa matt
Posts: 3442
Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:28 pm
Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider 1800
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii

Re: What to do with old starter

Post by manoa matt »

I'd keep it just in case. They are easily rebuilt. Most likely, it's not heat soaked, but soaked with oil that gums up the graphite brushes. This is more frequent when the crankcase breather is routed to a separate breather in stead of the air cleaner. You can easily take it apart and spray it with brake parts cleaner or electrical parts cleaner to de-grease it.

The second best option would be to offer it up to a fellow Fiat fanatic for their use. It should fit in a USPS medium flat rate box for $11 regardless of weight. Finally, if you want a couple bucks, take it to a recycler who will pay for the copper.
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