[mcars2020]

So I had the OEM (at least I think OEM - car was bought used so I don't recall for sure) starter go out on me at about 70k miles about a year ago in july. I replaced it with this NAPA remanufactured one https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/RAY2446921?impressionRank=1 (interestingly napa's website search shows that part as being guaranteed compatible with the 2016 forester but when clicking thru to the product page it says it doesn't fit - hopefully a website bug) and it has been working well.

However just in the past couple days I had issues with the car occasionally not starting - no loud grinding noise just the classic clicking noise - almost got stranded but luckily was able to tap on the starter and get it to work and get home. So I immediately head to napa and swap out this <1yr starter AGAIN. I mount it up and on first start it works, second start it gives a loud grinding sound. So I pull it apart, look at the starter teeth, and attempt to look at the flex plate teeth with a camera - as best as I could tell they all look okay tho hard to say for sure.

Put it all back together again and notice that when the issue happens, if I manually turn the crankshaft a little the car will start backup fine usually. This sounds a lot like bald spots and/or warped flex plate / flywheel. Is this a common issue on these foresters? Is the non-oem starter a possible issue/culprit?

I know that recently these cars have been extended to 100k/10yr warranty on the CVT - is the flexplate covered under this? Thanks!

 

[mcars2020]

If tapping on starter fixes the issue, it's got worn out brushes that need replacement. I bought a reman starter for my 2001 and it ran about 50000 miles so I took it apart and put new brushes in and been driving it ever since.

Yes in my post I describe tapping the starter to fix it but I then replaced it with a new starter and have seeing a new issue. please take another look if you can

 

[mcars2020]

Well I did another more careful inspection of the flexplate/flywheel whatever its called and dont see any damage to the teeth. Splines starter look fine too - and contact point is about 2/3s which I believe is correct. Barring something like a warped flexplate (which is hard to tell from looking at a camera shot of a small section of it) I am leaning toward what you guys are saying - issue with either the remanufactured starter or its clearance.

 

[mcars2020]

Another update, swapped out the starter again, reinstalled it and notice an odd noise and louder than normal engine. Turned off and discovered the starter was actually stuck on - I imagine that the bendix was stuck on the flywheel causing the contacts to be energized. I would blame myself but this is such a stupidly easy part to install. Can't believe the luck I'm having.

 

[mcars2020]

Just to cap this off - I switched to an autozone reman and that appears to have fixed the problem. The autozone reman looked nearly identical to the napa one (and both made in mexico). Hopefully this lasts a while but definitely going OEM next time lol. Thanks for all the comments.