Sky-Tec starters

[sailvi767]

We have a light weight Sky-tec starter on our RV6. We replaced the starter with the same model last spring when the first starter would fail to crank if the engine was hot. If the engine was cold or shut down less then about 10 minutes or more then about an hour it would start fine. In the 10 minute to hour range however it was a problem. We swapped it out for a rebuilt starter from Sky Tec and the problem was fixed for about 6 months and then we got the exact same failure mode in the new starter. Once it starts doing this it gets worse and worse until it finally fails to start cold.
The good news is that we returned the second starter to Sky Tec. Yesterday I got a personal phone call from Sky Tec and they explained exactly what was wrong, fixed the starter and shipped it back to me at no cost. Turnaround time was less then 4 hours from when they received it. I would call that outstanding customer service. The reason I am posting this is that Sky Tec stated they have had issues with the brand of Solenoid they were using on their starters. They are failing at a unacceptable rate. Sky Tec has now sourced a new solenoid and so far they have had zero problems with the new one. If you have a starter that starts to have the above symptoms I would pull it and send it back to Sky Tec for the new part.
I was very happy with the service from Sky-Tec and their customer service and efforts to insure this does not happen again.

George

[olyolson]

George,

I had the exact same problem in my RV-4. I have an IO-360 with a C/S prop so the little Lightweight starter wasn't cutting it. My symptoms were identical to yours. First one burned out, rebuilt then solenoid failed, rebuilt, failed so I finally gave up and upgraded to the High Torque 149NL Skytec starter. Problem solved, starts perfectly every time now. By the way, I did not buy it new. I put an ad up right here on the forum and found a guy that had the 149NL starters used and got a great deal. Don't remember his name but the starter has worked great. I believe it was $175. I'm sure he has more. Throw a post up, he reads the forum.