Comparing the 3rd party upgrades to OEM 6.4 starters, what are you guys' opinions on that?

 

For me going with an OE 6.4 starter out of low mileage, salvage motor was a no brainer. But you have to be able to identify it as an OE assembly line part.

I could go on as I have in the past about OE vs aftermarket. (Edit - I guess I have). In my early years, I believed the aftermarket could do better than OE. After working in the auto industry for a manufacturer that supplied both OE and aftermarket, working on both engineering sides the aftermarket does not have the engineering background and certainly not the test resources to prove out products. Can cost-cutting hurt the OE side, yep! And FUBAR engineering can hurt both sides. But on the OE side the guy that screwed up electronics or whatever gets moved over to the trim department. The aftermarket guy still is a major player.

Here is the most telling thing I ever experienced. One of the years I got sent out to do a SEMA show and since I was in charge of vehicle testing I got to talk to other companies aftermarket people about testing when I could. When I was asking about testing their products, a competitor said "we'll know how we did based on warranty returns, then we adjust. Long term testing is too expensive." The next time you have a coolant leak from an EGR bypass or a failed rebuilt alternator, remember you are the test subject, and paying not only for the part but the "testing".

Another problem with the aftermarket is they have to rely on other aftermarket suppliers to build out. It's a problematic loop, the OE has a hammer in the contract.

My own old company. We would have quarterly engineering progress meetings, and usually, it would be two days of the OE side and one or two days of the aftermarket side. Some of us were carried over to both sides. Those of us that interfaced with both several times talked about the disparity. We were able to share our OE experience with the aftermarket side, which did help the company's aftermarket products compared to the competition, but man some days it was like banging your head against the wall.

There are some really good engineers who break out of OE to form a specialized product. But that is few and far between, and you have to figure out who broke out on his own, or was being transferred to "Trim".

Mean Green was too expensive to me to consider since its the same rpm as OE.

 

^ What he said.

 

And it could be the case that my old-azz injectors and or original FICM were holding back the full potential of the MG. I guess I'll see if my start times improve after injectors get replaced. That's happening at the same time as studs.

 

Mean Green - complete and utter overkill, total waste of money. The Ford / Motorcraft products are the way to go................

 

Well, that’s just like, your opinion man...

 

Even the wife laughed. I guess it's time to watch that again.

 

I love to read family squabbles.

 

I watched that movie a thousand times at least. A lot in college...

 

I have a Ford dealership starter motor in mine. I think it was put in a bot 30000 miles ago. No problems at all.
One thing I will say is, it really does depend on on Ficm, injector health, oil and fuel filter conditions.
35° this morning and I went out and started within 1 1/2 to 2 sec's or "really quick"

 

any quicker than a 6.7 starter

 

Don't know, never needed, or tried.