Using a stock Subaru starter with VW gearbox and VW flywheel ?

I have never used a Subaru starter on a VW trans, and the benix on the Subaru starter is shielded so i can't see how it could be done easily at all...   but there is a dune buggy company that makes an adapter plate to use a VW TDI starter and they seem to work great!

Oh-oh....

My nephew is gonna wonder how the heck the starter fell out of his TDI.....   🙄

Last I checked the IMI 101 starter was the way forward.

@edsnova posted:

Last I checked the IMI 101 starter was the way forward.

The intensity with which people avoid it and the lengths they'll go to has always been a mystery to me. Is a $220 starter THAT hard to swallow?

They work. They're not expensive.

@Stan Galat posted:

The intensity with which people avoid it and the lengths they'll go to has always been a mystery to me. Is a $220 starter THAT hard to swallow?

They work. They're not expensive.

Indeed, I have a Hi-Torque starter on my 1966 MGB and it's performance is outstanding!

Jason

@Stan Galat posted:

The intensity with which people avoid it and the lengths they'll go to has always been a mystery to me. Is a $220 starter THAT hard to swallow?

They work. They're not expensive.

Exactly. Every time this comes up,  my response is the same. Get an IMI-101, and your problems are done. This is the correct answer, especially if you have a higher displacement and/or higher compression motor.

If you are cheap and have a stock-ish engine, you could easily use an auto-stick starter. Why? Because this starter is self-supporting and doesn't care which bushing is in the transmission, or even if there is none.

The stock VW starter, either 6v or 12v requires the correct bushing in the trans bellhouse.

The starter gears ARE different for 6v/180mm or 12v/200mm flywheels.(Before someone else comments, yes I know that there is a 6v/200mm flywheel that was used on certain years of the bus. It's pretty rare.)

The reason we stopped using IMI (which was our old standard) was they started having engagement issues.  The Bendix would hit the flywheel and not index into the teeth and just free spin.  It would only happen about 25% of the time, but was loud, embarrassing and annoying.  And I mean the SAME starter would work 75% of the time then all of a sudden it would skip/grind.

I switched to WOSP Hi Torque (only $40 more than IMI) and never had an issue (except they mislabeled a 928 starter as a 911 starter and it spun backwards, that was interesting to figure out...), so I use WOSP on ACVW transaxles and my 901/915 stuff. (coupe and speedster use Subaru starter on a Subaru transmission).

I'd bet it was a short lived problem, especially since so many here seem to have good luck with them,  but sometimes it is just easier for me to move on, especially when I reach out to a company and they aren't interested in listening or helping.

Interesting experiences there, Carey.

The one on my 550 has been flawless.

I only had trouble with one, it was on my customer's 550. I took it apart, cleaned and greased it, but it still did that 1 out of 4 times like you experienced. Mike replaced it and gave me the old one. His new one worked perfectly on a CB dual mass flywheel in the 2276 I built for him.

I took it apart again, cleaned and fresh grease, but assembled it with a 6v gear for my FV. It has worked perfectly all season.

I believe that there is interference where the lower bolt/nut holds the IMI starter on. I relieved the aluminun housing on the starter a bit and used a 15mm wrench size 10mm thread nut(old cylinder head nut). You could also just use a socket head bolt.

This interference causes just enough of a shift in the starter to cause it to not engage. Which sounds AWFUL.

Cheers

When needed on projects I buy a VW Auto Stick Starter it has self supporting nose come - no bushing replacement needed, no issues with the Auto stick starters. From NAPA about $79.00  exchange