99 D2, 105k miles. Starter suddenly went out in June 08. It worked fine, shut the truck off, went in the house and changed, came back out, NO START. Battery testwas good, cable had no voltage drop and is in great shape with no corrosion (sp?). The solenoid would sometimes just click. (Had good luck, this happened in the driveway at home.)

Replaced the starter. Called Land Rover, they wanted a crazy lump of cashfor a new starter on the far side of town and had to order one. AutoZone had one in stock 2 miles away for $90 with a LIFETIME WTY! Sold!!

Now fast-forward to Saturday. Drove to dinner, came out, same starter issue. NO START, just sometimes a clicky. Battery checks out ok still, battery cable still in good shape. Smacked the starter with a ball-peen hammer while some stranger is holding the key in the start position, starter barely kicked once. No problem, AutoZone is two doors down. With a few tools I can have this changed in 30min. AutoZone had to order another one. Had a very kind lady pull through the parking lot in a tow truck.A nice tow bill later, the truck is sitting in my driveway at home. Still waiting for the part.

Done ranting. Thanks for reading this.

Should I put another "free" AutoZone starter in the truck, or just bite the bullet and get one from Rover?

Arg, David

 

Thinking I'm gunna have to roll the dice again. A new starter from LR is $675, a reman from LR is $442. Not the kind of cash I'm holding just after the holidays.

 

Their starter are pure junk, take yours back and get your money back, then order a good one. Rover Connection has new aftermarket starters from $150,
http://www.dap-inc.com/parts/d2/d2_parts.shtml has new ones for $450.

 

I had a similar experiance with a AutoZone alternator.
Lasted 5,000 miles.
I went with the free replacement but I am going to buy a genuine LR one from a junk yard and have it sitting in my garage for next time.
www.autosportsunlimited.com has alot of import parts, they are 20 min from me so I buy alot from them.