Highly recommended. For those considering it as an option.

Mine recently conked out after 9 years and 30,000 miles. And a ton of cranking. Not a daily but started often like one. Even when she sat an entire year.

It's been a month since the new one was installed. She's been cranked over 25 times since. But barely any driving sessions. I've driven her a total of 18 miles in that time frame. (Yes I keep a diary on the 69)

The starter was fixable, and had it repaired. It was an internal wire that went bad. But being that the rest of it has been through the same wear and tear, figured all new is better. The issue was the sprocket no longer pushed out to engage the flywheel.

As far as signs it was going bad I missed them... She is used inconsistently, and hard starts on occasion. And as it got closer to not cranking at all the battery sounded like it was getting weak. Those were all signs of imminent failure. Once replaced quick starts and battery didn't need boosting.

The biggest difference was its been so long I forgot how it sounded when I first had a Powermaster installed. There is a unique whirl to it, that oem type starters do not have. That sound was long gone on the first one. So I would say your probably safe replacing after 8 years if an occasional driver such as mine.

("Pro Tip: A vehicle that is driven a lot of highway miles in 10 years may go 300,000 miles without needing a starter. But a vehicle that is only driven 20,000 miles in 10 years, only 3 to 5 miles at a time, may need a starter before it reaches 25,000 miles. Miles don’t wear a starter out; starts do, and every starter has only so many starts in it.") https://www.carparts.com/blog/how-lo...loose%20wiring.

Coincidentally my experience matches the Pro Tips latter example pretty closely.

P.S. I have regular exhaust manifolds so no extra heat. It was originally purchased for the weight savings.

 

I'm satisfied too. I have a 9510 in my Vista Cruiser. I put it in for its lower cranking amps--my battery is in the back compartment and I was concerned about voltage drop to the front.

As it turned out the cranking amps are so low that I could have installed 0 starter cable instead of 00.

I've used the starter a LOT. Even when repeatedly cranking over a short time, the body stays surprisingly cool. The cranking speed is very fast and starts are quick.

 

× 3 for the 9510. Had one for five years, no complaints. I thought it might have crapped put last year but it turned out my $400 North Star AGM had bit the dust.

Another quick "pro tip": If you want to add to your starter's life (and your engine, drivetrain and, well, pretty much the whole car) once you store the car, avoid starting it up periodically, unless you're going to drive it. Just sitting and idling does more harm than good, in terms of condensation throughout the car from constant heat cycling and more specifically, liquid fuel running down the cylinder walls
due to the rich choked mixture. The two most destructive things we do to our cars is to start them up and let them idle for long periods, and winter start-ups do both of these things.

A vehicle should, ideally, be driven and brought to full operating temperature any time it is started. If it's been properly stored, letting it sit is far preferable to starting it up and letting it run for ten minutes.

Also, to return to topic, less wear and tear on the starter!

 

I have used the Powermaster OEM-Style 3655 with great results also. No heat soak issues. Though if your looking for a smaller footprint or less amperage draw the 9510 is a great choice also.

 

Understood.

I don't necessarily always mean to, sometimes I start with the anticipation of using and don't. At the same time a part of me also likes to keep her ready to go. In general I try to drive her once a week minimum. I don't/didn't store her so to speak. With regards to that lengthy time she sat it was after being wrecked. But again that was on me, I wasn't sure which way I was going to go with her at the time. But felt starting her regularly was healthy... She was also still drivable after the wreck... Then add in that I am a procrastinator by nature. So that ended up being a year long ordeal.

She also usually doesn't start on 1 crank over, unless she is started daily. So for example during the 1st month with the new starter she started 10 times, and was driven on 4 separate occasions within those starts. I feel like when she sits for long periods of time I'm torturing her with hard starts. After the new starter was installed it took 5 crank over attempts at 3 pumps of gas each to start. After sitting 25 days straight with the dead starter. Regardless, I will avoid excessive starting without usage.

 

Thanks for the advice. Right now I have a parts store starter in my 71 98. I'm definitely guilty of starting the car and driving it 5-10 miles multiple times a month during the summer.

I had considered rebuilding my alternator after reading a post Joe made on another thread. Instead of rebuilding my starter when it dies I'll have to consider one of these.