Here is info on a problem I just had to deal with:

Starter would not work at all.
Removed front under pan and looked at starter
A 12 or 14 ga. wire that hooks to starter was loose
Removed starter and found that terminal that slides on to connector on stater had broken in half
Installed new terminal end, reinstalled starter and now it works fine

Starter is easy to remove and reinstall
This may well be a freakish isolated case as heat is not an issue around the starter and the wire termianl is located in a spot where it should not get hit by anything, etc.

Just wanted to report it in case anyone has the same problem.

 

I don't agree about the heat issue. Given the DP is right there next to the starter and the starter is on the turbo side of the motor there is a considerable amount of heat concentrated righ in that area.

Has the starter ever been out of the car, ie. for a clutch install?

 

timzcat:

Starter has never been out of car - still original clutch.

When you realy get under the car and study the situation, heat really does not seem like an issue in that location at all. And besides, heat did not cause the failure; the push-on wire terminal was broken in 1/2 in the middle. Now, someone could have bent it somehow from the time it was built or dealer preped, etc., etc. That is probably what happened. It is in a hard to reach location and hard to see how anyone bent it once the car was built?? My guess was it is an assembly line goof-up, but who knows?