Mark: Hi, it's Mark Bossert. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver. Vancouver's best auto service experience. 25 times they've won best auto repair in Vancouver as voted by their customers. And we're talking cars. How are you doing, Bernie?
Bernie: Doing very well.
Mark: So today's victim is a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. What was going on with this vehicle?
Bernie: This vehicle came to our shop, actually was towed in because it wouldn't start. When you turn the key, the starter would just make some sort of grindy type of noise, whirring grindy noise, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So there's clearly a problem with the starting system.
Mark: How common an issue is this in this particular car or any car?
Bernie: Well, it happens from car to car for sure. We don't run into too many starter problems with Subarus. Starter is something that'll fail in any car after a while. Some last for 10, 20 years, others will fail at a much younger age.
Mark: Are they generally better than they used to be?
Bernie: I guess in some respects, yeah, they are a little more durable than they used to be. And some cars they're exceptionally complicated to remove the starter. So those are the ones where you really want to have a durable starter. I think they're better than they used to be, if we're looking at sort of older American cars. And you know, the Japanese, they used to have problems with starters where sometimes they make a clicking sound when you go to turn the key, the starter contacts would wear out.
Fairly common problem in some models, but you know, if we're talking about this Crosstrek, we don't see too many of them, but they do fail from time to time.
Mark: How many kilometres were on this vehicle?
Bernie: It only had like I think 56,000 kilometres. So it's really pretty young. And actually it was a bit of a surprise at that kind of mileage for a starter to go bad.
Mark: Okay. So let's go to some pictures. There's our vehicle.
Bernie: Yeah. Looks brand new still.
Mark: What do we have here?
Bernie: So we're looking at the air cleaner assembly removed. That red arrow is actually pointing to the starter motor, which bolts to the back of the transmission and engages into the flywheel, which is attached to the back of the engine.
So sort of to the left of that arrow, you can see a big grey piece with electrical connector, that's sort of where the engine and transmission join right underneath that connector there. So the starter on this is very compact. They made these very small compared to what they used to be.
And it's just kind of the nature, I think of modern magnet technology has allowed starter motors to be made much smaller than they used to be which I don't know is necessarily a good thing, but you know, it's compactness is always good.
Mark: So what was actually going on with this starter?
Bernie: Yeah, so what was wrong with the starter is that the actual, there's a few components inside a starter. So the arrows pointing to the drive, it's called a starter drive. That was the faulty part on this particular issue. So to the left of that arrow, that's the actual motor itself that rotates. So it's where all the magnets and brushes and all the electrical pieces are contained to rotate the starter. And on top of that box, you've just drawn that is the starter solenoid. We've got some other pictures where you can see a little more.
But though it happens is, there's always power to that solenoid. And then when the ignition key is turned to the start position, it adds little power, the solenoid is pulled back. And that pushes that gear that the arrow's pointing to, that pushes that whole unit, there's an arm that pushes that into the ring gear of the starter, and that's what spins the engine and turns it over. And inside that little drive unit, there's a thing called an overrunning clutch.
And basically that clutch just broke. So that's why the starter was going zing and not actually turning the engine. They put the overrunning clutch in because once the engine starts, the speed of the starter will pick up very quickly. And if you held the key on, it would overrev the starter and blow it up. So that's a piece that's been on starter motors for as long as I've worked on cars. Yeah, many, many, many, many decades.
So here we have a view of the two starter motors, the old one on the left, the new one on the right. The replacement part we got is an exact OEM Mitsubishi replacement starter, brand new. The cost on it wasn't too high for a new starter.
Mark: And how is the vehicle after repairs?
Bernie: Started just fine. Needed a couple other maintenance service items, which we took care of at the same time. But other than that, yeah, it's perfect.
Mark: So expected life then, it should be 10 years, roughly?
Bernie: I would say so, yeah. And many cars at the last longer and some it'll fail sooner, which happened on this one. I guess the question to ask is, did the owner do anything that would have caused the starter to die sooner? I can't see how they could have. Unless they held the key on with the starter running that might affect it.
Mark: What if someone started it and then tried to start it again because they didn't hear it?
Bernie: No, that wouldn't do that in this case. That would make a grind sound and that could actually wear the teeth on the ring gear. But you know, come to think of it now, this car, we work on so many cars, sometimes I tend to forget, but this would have been a push start car. So usually when you push the starting button, it's all controlled through the engine computer.
So you push the button, gets a signal, engages the starter, and it'll disengage the starter as soon as the engine starts. So chances of actually holding it. I mean, there was a defect in the computer, which very unlikely. Chance of someone holding the starter, you know, it just wouldn't stay engaged. Once the computer knows, Hey, the engine's running, it'll disengage the starter signal.
Mark: Take the human out of the equation.
Bernie: It takes the human, it takes the human factor out.
Mark: So there you go. If you're looking for service for your Subaru in Vancouver, the guys to see are Pawlik Automotive. You can reach them online at pawlikautomotive.com. You can book right there. They'll get back to you. They'll get ready for your appointment. Or you can call them at (604) 327-7112 to book your appointment. Either way, you have to call ahead, book ahead because they're always busy. Pawlik Automotive, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Thanks so much for watching and listening. Thanks, Bernie.
Bernie: Thank you, Mark. Thanks for watching.
