Starter went out on my CAT 259D. Of course it was when I needed to move the machine out of the way of my garage doors to take a vehicle out! Anyhow, pulled the battery, brackets, and removed the starter. I called the CAT dealer to find out that this starter is $560!! Rediculous! I took it to a starter rebuilder and he replaced the solenoid and rebuilt the starter motor with all new windings, brushes, etc., steam cleaned it for $150. 3 hour turnaround. Reinstalled and all is great!
Hard to find a good rebuilder around here anymore used to be some amazing ones that have passed on
Thankfully, there is still one good one about 30 miles from me. It is 2 brothers who inherited the business from their father. Every year since the late '90s, their business has dropped off. Now, one of the brothers has had a stroke and retired, the younger one is about 60, so I don't know how long he'll keep it going. Sadly, everytime I need something, I call first to make sure he hasn't quit.
There is a young guy near us who bought the business from the old timers but thankfully he sees the need to keep up with the times so he sells batteries, works on larger AC motors and pumps, and other things like that. The old guys never used to do that, if it was not a starter or alternator (or old generator) they did not touch it.