Starter motor woes

July 27, 2021

Hi, been a while...

So, recently starting was getting rougher and rougher until, suddenly, my Yaris 1.3 VVTI 2002 automatic did not START FIRST TIME! Ok, this might be reality for some but this car has almost been a picture of reliability itself so it knocked ten bells out of me. It did start second time, then yesterday it nearly didn’t start at all; it started to fade off on the third attempt but just caught.

The Battery is alright, a voltmeter says it is all good and getting charged, and the other half’s father (who knows about these things) and his brother (who used to run a repair shop) have implied that I need to get the starter motor replaced.

I know less than diddly squat about motor mechanics (just put fuel in, check the tyres and water, service it, and get really worried when something happens) so immediately contacted a local garage, who assured me they would call back with a price. While I waited I called another one, same response. And would you believe the same thing happened with a third... Today I called the first one back only to be told that they had my registration but my vehicle could not be verified or something. (Had this problem with Halfords when I had to replace a wing mirror that some idiot smashed; not on their computer so the guy tried to flog me one for something that was a different shape entirely but still a Yaris, he said. Same thing with their batteries – I had to get the number off the original, and the guy behind the counter insisted it was the wrong Battery for a Yaris until I showed him the picture I’d taken on my phone).

Sorry. Back to starter motors.

The guy on the phone admitted that there are about five different starter motors, and they wouldn’t know which was required until they looked at the one currently in place. Then came the scary bit – some of those different motors are no longer available. Scary because last MoT the car failed because the integrated adjusters on both headlights were ‘not working’, coincidentally after being adjusted by a different garage to pass the previous MoT. The car worked fine, it just had a light throw that you could spit beyond. And those headlights, after being quoted £295 plus VAT each (!!!), turned out to be unavailable new – thank goodness for scrapyards/recycling centres (£20 and £25, unfortunately not quite an exact match, slightly misty but polished out a treat) because otherwise the car was a write off.

Sorry, starter motors. I believe the car was built in France. It is a 2002, 1.3l, VVTI, automatic, petrol Yaris. Putting that into several car spares sites brought up that none of their recycled parts would fit my car.

Any idea which starter motor it is?

July 27, 2021

Can you please PM (message) me your VIN - So i can find the correct part

August 4, 2021

On 7/27/2021 at 4:22 PM, flash22 said:

Can you please PM (message) me your VIN - So i can find the correct part

Sorry for not getting back sooner - I got pinged the following day, and in addition had a bad throat and headache (apparently not Covid, but confused the hell out of the woman on the phone!), so have had to isolate for 10 days. Meanwhile my step daughter took the car to her 'tame' mechanic and beat my debit card to within an inch of its life, but the car is back and starts extremely well. Just need to wait a few more days to check it out.