Starter Motor in Rhode Island

Road salt reaches the terminals and the bolts

The starter sits low and takes everything the front wheels throw at it. Two things corrode: the heavy battery cable at the solenoid stud, and the mounting bolts into the bell housing.

The first is a resistance that reads as a weak starter. The second is why replacing one here is a longer job than the labour guide says — plan for seized fasteners rather than being surprised by them.

Road salt on a state small enough that every mile is a salted mile.

The climate, in a number

Providence's normal annual snowfall is 36.6 inches, on top of 47.54 inches of precipitation. A starter draws its heaviest current on the coldest morning of the year, which is the morning it is most likely to be asked twice.

Salt from the water as well as the road

Narragansett Bay and the South County shore put most of the state within reach of salt-laden air, and the winters are salted heavily on top.

That is two corrosion mechanisms on one car. Road salt works from underneath, thrown into cavities and trapped; shore air settles on what is exposed and attacks aluminium, connectors and brake hardware. Very few states apply both to the same vehicle.

What else Rhode Island does to a car

Narragansett salt air.

The shortest journeys in the country: the engine oil dilutes rather than warms and nothing under the car dries out.

What we hold, and what it costs

5 options from Bosch, Cardone, Denso, Remy and Valeo, from $199.99 to $249.99. Prices are firm — where we have no price we publish none.

We are a reseller rather than a manufacturer: we source the part, check it over and sell it, and we confirm it against your year, make, model and engine before it ships rather than asserting a fit on the page. We ship anywhere in Rhode Island, including Providence, Warwick, Cranston and Pawtucket.