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Does you brother-in-law import cars parts from Japan? Maybe its indeed your additude, maybe its just the way it came off (to me) in your posting, but if you have such blind faith in the Japanese, perhaps you should just get rid of that piece of junk old Volvo and its piece of junk old starter and get a Toyota! Welcome to the Forum either way!

Before asking about a conversion, the first thing you should maybe have informed yourself about is the history and track record of the OE starter both of which are impressively EXCELLENT!

How did you determine "a heavy current drain" is occuring?...it sounds like the battery may now be low... JohnMc has it right...if high current indeed flows when the solenoid picks (and the motor turns freely), it's likely that the startermotor has a problem...the solenoid merely supplies it with electrical power (and mechanically engages its gear to the flywheel), but from your symptoms, I'm not convinced yet its a starter problem...a low battery might give symptoms which could be misinterpreted as a starter problem.

What is charge state of bat? What is bat voltage under starting load (measure at bat terminals with a meter)? STARTERMOTOR voltage should be within .5V (measured at heavy wire between sol and STmotor). Are all high current connections clean and tight (poor connections result in voltage drops under starting current, symptoms are subject to misinterpretation)?

Cheers