So I came into possession of an '03 Ranger XLT and after about a month or two it stopped wanting to start. I got the starter out with some help from my dad and went to Autozone to have it check and yep its no good anymore.

What I wanted to know is what y'all think the best way to replace it is. Should I just jump on one of the ~$280 items from Autozone or Oreilly's, is there somewhere else that I can find a good one for a better price, or would getting it rewound be better/maybe a junk yard?

I differ to y'all expertise and experience, so if you had to replace your own started how would you do it?

 

Have you opened it up and checked the brushes? What makes you think the windings are bad? I have rebuilt more starters than I can recall and never bought one. Sometimes the commutator is on it?s last leg but I file it down and get a bunch more life out of it. You do have to check that nothing is shorting to somewhere it?s not supposed to.

 

If you have time you can buy a new or rebuilt one at Rockauto for $50-70. There?s also 5% off coupon codes out there as well.

 

For parts like starters, I always just get whatever the parts store has in stock with a lifetime warranty. Buy once, cry once is how I've always looked at it. That being said, a lot of the brick and mortar stores offer special pricing if you do BOPUS or Ship to Home.