Luckily, the very kind @nicktuft furnished me with a new bush whilst we were at techenders. I put it somewhere safe....
Sarah, before you do anything make sure you disconnect the battery Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
Just a little aside here, before I remove for refurbishment... the photo I took at techenders of my starter motor, which was the first time I realised it was a Bosch - all the coding comes up with T3 caravelle if I google the part numbers. (The box is a CU code one, so obviously a replacement on my '74 camper) Is this okay? I mean, it's been working fine for the 7 years I've had it. I was just googling, in case it would be easier to buy a replacement and remove / fit all in one hit rather than go down the refurb route. Any thoughts?
Yeah, fair point, I appreciate that, I just wondered if anyone had any thought about suitability or if it would actually be better to swap to more appropriate at this stage as it’s coming off.
LB's have the same starter as a t25 - https://www.heritagepartscentre.com/uk/091911023xbq-starter-motor-for-manual-gearbox-bosch.html Look at the price !
@theBusmonkey might know owning both types of Bus, but at a guess it's either a later version of the same part, VW would simply bump the letter at the end of the part number to signify this. So 123 456 7B would become 123 456 7C. Or, it has a higher torque output to start the later T25 engines, or perhaps both? Or, it's the same part for both? Unless your being purist and want an age specific part, then a refurb what you have seems a sensible approach to me. Bar, the week's wait when your Bus will be stuck on the drive. PS crossed with @bluerustybucket's post which answers the question. A refurb is probably cheaper too
Well...the starters are matched to the factory combo of bell housing and flywheel aren't they. We've recently seen some confusing hybrid set ups so I'd be inclined to go with getting what is on there reconditioned coz as you said earlier we know it works...assuming there's no obvious damage ove the last 7 years due to 'forced' fit. We already know Clem has has a transaxle swap at some stage? Incidentally, for the TDI engine in the syncro we have a choice of 4 starters, assuming the use of an aftermarket adaptor. 3 have 10 teeth, 1 has 9, they vary from 1.8kw to 2kw and all work . It gets a bit confusing lol
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head Neil, in what I was thinking…. This has pretty much confirmed that my CU gearbox has kept its own bell housing, rather than being fitted with an earlier one from the original box… and therefore it ‘May’ have been a bit of a job to get it all to fit on a 1974 van. My thoughts were if it would be better to try and source an earlier bell housing (or even gearbox as mine does whine), obviously there’s no point refurbing this starter motor. I don’t know, I’m over thinking it all probably!!
First question,not withstanding the whining box, do you like the way Clem drives? If so, get your current box and clutch and starter combo refurbished and be happy. If you don't like the way Clem drives, then it's time for overthinking lol
You are overthinking it . If you’ve had a box swap, only the box will have been changed - the bell housing stays. The starter matches the bell housing, not the box or van. I’ ve got an older CE box with the original CU bell hosing, so I need the later starter.
Have a look at what GSF have got. I got a refurbed one from them, done by a company in the UK with original Bosch bits. It's worked fine. You get a surcharge refund when you take the old one in later.