A starter for moving a movable portion of an engine to start the engine
includes a gear housing, a gear assembly within the gear housing, an
output member at a first end of the gear assembly adapted to operably
couple to the movable portion of the engine, a motor housing, and a rotor
rotatably mounted within the motor housing. The rotor has a shaft portion
and a vane portion that are an integral, unitary piece. The shaft portion
has splines for mating with the gear assembly. The splines prevent
relative rotational movement between the rotor and the gear assembly and
permit relative axial movement. The rotor is formed from aluminum and at
least a portion of the rotor includes an anodized coating.