Leaderboard

Good point, but i think you will be OK just keep it covered out of the weather, its taken 22 years to get this bad, and probably sat directly out in the weaather for many of those years.

I doubt silicon will keep the water out for long. I'd use vaseline or some soft seal, but you need to be careful where it goes if the starter is a press contact, rather than a sliding contact. Press contacts get dirty easy and even vaseline can stop them working. Sliding contacts cut through vaseline or soft seal so those contacts can be covered in the stuff.