Hey guys, I had a couple of exhaust manifold gaskets leaking, and tackled taking off all 4 exhaust manifolds. What a job. Anyway, my car was doing great. Yet, seeing how difficult the starter appeared to be to get off, decided to take it to a friend that rebuilds starters and alternators just to have it checked out. It was the original Marelli Magnetti starter. Well, it was what my friend calls "crispy". Although it worked, two of the 4 brushes weren't even touching the armature. The wiring on the armature looked like it had been really really hot, as did everything else in the starter. He could find no parts available. He sourced a new gear reduction starter for me with a lifetime warranty. The problem was, it was "exactly" like the original starter. I almost didn't think it was going to work. But it did. The second problem, is that it had two wires going to the start post. One was solid red, the other was black with a diode wired in. He had no advice, as both went to the same terminal. Anyway, since my original didn't have a diode inline, I clipped the black wire, and used the red one only. The car starts great. However, it now drains the battery almost overnight. Has anybody on here switched to a gear reduction starter and had any similar problem? Btw, he said the Marelli was gear reduction as well, just inline.

 

I know I'm not breaking new ground here, but hope I've resolved my problem. Find out in the morning. When I looked at the wiring diagram for my car, (160310), I see that there is a diode in the wire going to the start post on the starter. My wiring did not appear to have a diode, so the Magnetti Marelli must have a internal diode. I went to the starter relay, and put a diode in at the relay. We will see if it runs the battery down overnight tonight.