Has anyone taken apart and cleaned/lubed/replaced brushes on a Mazda B2200 manual transmission starter? Or if one needed "help" there, would it just make more sense to purchase/install a new one? Thx.

 

Cusser, Finding new brushes might be a challenge. not a lot of places sell replacement brushes anymore.. plus Starters are cheap. $70 to $80 on Amazon
​​​​​​​and $30 to $100 on Rock Auto https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ter+motor,4152

 

Thx. Have not gotten to the point of tapping on the starter with a hammer, or even trying the direct jump from the main positive terminal yet to the small starter terminal, or push-starting yet.

I noticed occasional "no crank" situation a year ago, got a brand-new replacement battery 2 months before the warranty ran out, didn't help the intermittent. I also removed and cleaned all the ground cable connections and corresponding metal to make better connections then. I also tested the start circuit at the starter itself then, lit the light 20 of 20 tries, so I'm ruling out the electrical part of the ignition switch and the clutch safety switch for now.

It is the factory starter, I'll be ready to replace it when it's time, was just wondering if anyone "went through" theirs before, and if it was straightforward...

 

Yes, thanks, I see brand-new starter through Amazon for $71 and free shipping (Mrs. Cusser has Amazon Prime), would be at least $100 brand-new from RockAuto and $160 brand-new through Autozone (with lifetime warranty).

Anyway, I felt ambitious this morning after digging up tumbleweeds, and decided to pull the starter for a look-see. I cleaned up the ground wire connection, unscrewed the solenoid and cleaned up the mating surface, and the terminal to connect the solenoid to the starter motor itself. I used some aerosol brake cleaner to clean things up too. Then I confirmed operation using jumper cables on the starter, then re-installed it. First un-scientific observations are that it now cranks immediately, but will need at least a few weeks of testing/driving to see if it really helped.

Starter R&R involves removing battery negative cable, disconnecting the two electrical connections on the solenoid, then 3 bolts utilizing 14mm socket. There is a ground wire terminal on one of those bolts. Toughest part is figuring how to re-set the clock on the stereo !!!

 

Maybe you should do a post with pics and complete instructions on how to reset the clock!

 

It's a quite rare stereo, plays both cassettes and CDs; made by Sanyo, was the very last one available new, bought when down to 1 remaining on amazon. I didn't even install it until over a year later.

My newest CD - Johnny and Amber's Latest Hits - isn't doing so well....

 

Cleaning up all the connections and grounds has seemed to help with the cranking but I had intermittent cranking but no start issues. Today I had a dental appointment, the B2200 wouldn't start (so I drove my 1998 Frontier). Upon my return, it still wouldn't start, so at least I had opportunity to investigate. I turned on ignition and got 12 volts positive at coil positive terminal, good. Then I set up my spark test light and my remote starter, turned ignition to "run" and cranked the engine: no spark. I even set up my timing light on a spark plug wire and then on the coil wire: no spark. I looked up how to test the coil on the online manual, primary (1.4 ohms) and secondary resistances (8.43 kohms) were within specifications. So I pulled the pickup coil/ignitor from the distributor (I had replaced the internal oil seal a full two years ago), separated the pickup coil from the ignitor and tested the resistance of the pickup coil, again in specification (1000 ohms). I'm not able to test the ignitor part myself, but did notice that its bottom metal surface was coated with clean engine oil. So I wiped that clean, and also wiped clean the corresponding surface inside the distributor.





On a lark I decided to re-assemble everything inside the distributor and then I tried to start it, and it started right up, and started quicker than it has for many months!!! So I wonder if the oil film on the bottom of the ignitor was the cause....anyway, this is the factory distributor at 236K miles, I decided I should order one from Rock Auto and use my existing one as a spare...



Maybe if I had a better nose I could've picked up gas smell from the exhaust while cranking, but that is not a talent I have.

 

Yesterday I installed the brand new Wai Global distributor DST882 from Rock Auto, box was torn on the inside, distributor looked OK. No instructions, no labels on the two distributor wires as to which of blue or black was positive. Anyway, set to TDC #1 (did NOT do anything to the timing belt other than take off the top cover), seated/clocked the distributor rotor to just before 9 o'clock, had to use a shorter distributor mount bolt as the new distributor plate is 8mm thinner. Anyway, no spark noticed with timing light or spark test tool, and truck would not start. Also spark wire boots don't fit as well as on the factory cap. I even tried stabbing the distributor "off" one gear tooth each way, still no start. I'll be calling Wai Global tomorrow.....and E-mailing their Tech Help...wonder if I'll even get a return call or E-mail....

 

4 hours have passed, and no phone or E-mail response from Wai Global/WPS help. So I re-installed the old distributor and the truck starts right up. So I'm sending the distributor back to RockAuto for full refund and will let Wai Global/WPS deal with it that way. The Wai Global DST882 mount base was 8mm narrower, so if one didn't use a shorter 8mm x 1.25mm bolt, would've cracked that front piece that bolts to the cylinder head (no shorter bolt was included). The two DST882 distributor wires were not labeled as to positive and negative on the coil, and there were no instructions at all. The DST882 distributor cap recesses for the spark wires were 20mm as compared to 25mm on the stock distributor cap, so the spark plug wire boots could not be installed snugly.

I may consider a new distributor from a different supplier through Amazon, as returns are easier.