Got to thinking about underbody carwash?????

[speedygonzales]

My replacement starter started cranking slow or not at all as it got hot. This time I got a Nippon style (no nose cone) type from Summit. That's a whole nother story about shimming those but I noticed my old starter was rusted like it was 5o years old.

This paragraph is useless only to entertain.
The original starter was grenaded by my ex-friend that thinks he knows auto repair. You know the idiot that you tell your engine won't start so he thinks he has a secret way to turn the key that will magically make a EFI engine start. So when it failed to start but got a small fire from the cylinders that weren't firing, BOOM blew the nose cone right off the starter. So I got this cheap auto parts one that I just replaced.

Back to the story for which I would like your opinion.
Anyway, as I was changing out the starters, I noticed the old one was way badly rusted. Then I remembered that I go through an automated carwash quite often and get an under car wash.

So is the under carwash douching the starter and perhaps giving them some issues?

Something I never gave thought to as I went through the carwash!!!!!!!

[Restrorob]

Hmmm, Must be a yankee thing.....Never seen a underbody car wash, But I can see how the pressure could blow water into places it shouldn't be.

[speedygonzales]

You sure you understand what a "yankee" is? If you didn't notice, I'm in Virginia. Since you don't know where I was born, how would you have determined it was a yankee thing?

[ChevLoRay]

Simple. You're north of Florida.

Then, it seems that half of the folks living in Florida are from New England....just sayin'.

[TCS7]

It's down with all the roadspray when it rains and snows normally, I doubt the car wash would be much different. Besides, you'd think the starter would catch enough engine heat to keep it dried out.

[speedygonzales]

Some mist from road spray may go up when you are driving. I say may, cause by the time the spray comes up from the wheels, the starter has probably gone too far forward for most of the water to get too it. Yes the starter would also be hot from the engine running as well.

BUT, the engine is off when it rolls through the carwash and it is under high pressure, directly UP. Picture 7 or 8 high pressure washer nozzles pointing straight up. Definitely much MUCH different than road spray.

[ChevLoRay]

My thinking is that the people who own/operate the car wash are aware of the road salts and proximity of the beaches and are not going to use any water that would NOT dilute and rinse away the salts.

Whatever may have happened to your starter, didn't happen in the car wash.

In fact, my bet is that the rebuilder reuses components that look sound. If it had some corrosion/rust on it, that grey "as cast" paint that they used made it look good. That's one problem with paint...makes stuff look better than it may be when you peel it all off.