How much does a starter motor replacement cost?

How much does it cost to replace a starter motor?

Based on Fixter’s repairs and replacement figures, the starter motor replacement cost (UK) ranges between £228 and £498.

The average cost of a starter motor replacement balances out in the UK at £290.

What does my starter motor do, and what’s likely to affect the price of a replacement?

The starter motor is a hard-working piece of kit. To crank the first revolution of your engine takes a mighty amount of torque, and you’re going to use it every time you climb into your car. It goes without saying, this is a heavy-duty electrical motor—it has to be—to do its job.

Replacing a starter motor isn’t the simplest job for a mechanic. Quite often, there are a lot of components to get past to access it. It can take a good couple of hours to clear the way, remove it, pop its replacement in place and put everything back together again.

What are the symptoms of a failing starter motor?

When you turn your key in the ignition (or increasingly commonly now, hit your car’s start button), you expect to hear your engine turn a few times before roaring into life. The first symptom of a failed starter moment is nothing happens.

You might hear a single click or a continuous clicking sound, both of which can guide you to where the problem lies.

A single click is your solenoid firing without the motor engaging. If you hear multiple clicks, the issue is more likely to be with your battery than your motor, as those clicks suggest the motor is trying to turn, but without the power it needs to build its required torque.

Another typical symptom is the grinding, buzzing, or other unusual noises coming from under the bonnet when you try to start your car. Those noises could be the gears in the motor failing, damage to your flywheel, or all sorts of other issues.

In other situations, your car could have developed electrical or mechanical faults that cause your starter motor to draw too much current. In those cases, your battery won’t be able to keep up, and the starter will appear to operate far slower than usual.