Starting problems - What do I fix?

[blueb3]

Not sure if it belongs here or in the electrical forums, but here goes. When I bought my car in March of this year, I was told that I might want to get the starter replaced because it "Hesitates" before starting. In other words, you turn the key and hold it for a beat before the starter engages. Of course, it was minor, and I figured I could live with it; until today. We had a cold snap (oh yeah, did I mention it's worse when it's cold?) And it took a solid 15-20 seconds of holding the key in the "ON" position before it cranked over.

Any thoughts / suggestions?

[warrior]

My DSM started doing that.. I'd have to keep turning the key back and forth so it would engage.. why don't you just replace the starter... ? :-?

Easy job too, bolt off, bolt on!

[blueb3]

Wanted to make sure that was the problem before throwing money at the car.

[ivwarrior]

Don't cheap out on a starter. A lot of the aftermarket "reman" units are junk. I've had more of them DOA than I care to remember. (When working for someone else who wouldn't let me choose where to get stuff)

I remember a lot of Subaru starters wearing out the contacts in the solenoid. That's a bit more time consuming to fix than just replacing the whole starter/solenoid combination, but it's also a lot cheaper.

[blueb3]

So true. I am thinking of just getting a nice new starter, since this one looks original.