Starter motor OEM FORD or OEM Volkswagen

My almost stock winter beater has had minimal issues minus exhaust and front end which goes just because the wear and tear. Replaced the original starter last year and alternator a couple weeks ago.

I ran the smaller mk3 starter for many years, and it was fine, but now that I have a new-to-me car with the original starter still in it- I prefer that one. It never bogs down, seems to have more torque.

I installed a 02J VR6 starter after cleaning up and regreasing the the bendix and solenoid. Testing of the starter:

So for those who want to know a mk4 tdi manual starter does fit in a mk4 1.8t manual car! The starter is a bit longer so make sure you have clearance for it. It fit fine in my car but it's a mk2 so not sure if there is clearance issues in a mk4. I had to adjust my boost piping a bit to not hit the longer starter but, that's no big deal. Keep in mind this starter cranks like a mother ****er but, does require a strong battery in some cases more cranking amps. My car doesn't get driven much so the battery wasn't at it's full capacity so I charged it up and she cranked like hell!

It’s shitty material and if the nut holding your signal wire on is at all too tight or a little rusty seized that piece will snap right off.

It's just the shittiest plastic on the starter motor.

They're brittle, they do break

They suck , they break , they are brittle when old its Ford engineers fault !

Mine has done this on my '23 Arteon a couple of times. Mine has even went so far as not wanting to start with the start button! Acted like the starter was dead.

Replaced starter motor and battery within 30,000 miles in my 2015 F150