Starter motor Denso or Duralast

Denso is the only option you should go with.

Some aftermarket starters are garbage, some are good. Denso starters are usually pretty solid if they still make them for your vehicle.

The best will always be OE Honda (or Denso, that's the OE manufacturer). RockAuto has a remanufactured Denso for $183, that's the one I'd go with.

No need to go OEM on part. Plenty of good refurbs out there. Think I picked up a Duralast at Autozone for $190.

I finally had to replace my OE starter on my 2nd gen at \~230k miles. The OEM Denso starters that Toyota uses on these trucks are solid. You are more than likely fine for a long time.

I too have a 87 wagon. However, my experience with Duralast starters was with my 2005 Subaru. Was recently in jam and needed quick replacement then. The duralast was essentially a remanufactured part and seemed ok quality. Has been almost two months since installation and no problems at all.

Denso starter in my Toyota 4runner lasts like 15 years / 150k+ miles before needing a rebuild and can take it out easily.

After every diagnostic I could think of I got a Duralast reman starter from Auzotone and the engine cranked right over first try so looks like a defective reman was the problem. Lesson learned that you can’t always trust bench testing to find issues.

Assuming the diagnosis is correct , My advise is to replace with an OEM STARTER. I have had many issues with autozone starters and alternators (duralast brand…I call it duraNOTlast from my experience), I have done many; and have redone many. You will never get the service time from a autozone starter that you have from the OEM starter.

I just had a similar issue with my 2015. I changed the starter with a duralast part from autozone, still didn't work. Ended up biting the bullet and taking the car to Ford. They explained to me that a genuine ford part was needed as the starter is part of the security system.