Bit the bullet and paid a pricey sum for a new GoWesty gear reduction high-torque starter. We are kinda hoping that the days of having to crawl under the passenger rear wheel to whack the solenoid with a mallet to turn the bus would be behind us.
Looking back, we've been (temporarily) stranded in many interesting places because of this no-start issue. At freezing campgrounds beside foul amounts of horse shit. In the cold mornings of Utah, Quebec, Montreal. Perhaps the most iconic was when the border agent had to help us push Vanessa back into the USA from Canada.
Did the swap earlier today, and everything came together nicely, which is always a definite cause of worry as Murphy tends to remind us. Upon test fire, Kat and I looked at each other as it buzzed into life in a much higher tone than what we are used to. It kinda sounds like a spaceship taking off, and will take some getting used to. In the meantime, I will go write a song about The End of a Starter is the Start of Another.