I installed one of thoese E-bay mini hi torq starters about a year and a half ago. It has just 500 miles on it and has worked great until last summer. I hadn't started the car in a while, and when I would start the car, everything was fine until it actually fired and the starter wouldn't disengage.

McMark suggested changing the starter button I had installed a few years earlier thinking that was faulty, but the problem continued. I did notice that the more frequently I started the car (every couple of weeks instead of months) that it would disengage quicker until if finally started working normally. Now that it has been sitting most of the winter, the couple of times I've tried to start it, the problem continues. Has anyone else experience this? Is it a lack of use issue? I e-mailed the company I got it from to see if they had any suggestions, but haven't heard back.

Sounds like the shaft needs some lube...that didn't sound dirty at all did it? Seriously, this happens on a lot of cars, not usually on a new starter, but since you don't use it that often that's my best guess.

Also the mechanism that "kicks" the gear out. Any misalignment can cause binding. Might need some higher temp lube on the solenoid and shaft. Maybe disassemble the solenoid and clean everything up and lightly lube. During disassembly, you may see what the binding is caused by.
Tom

They won't call you back. Pull the starter and test it on a bench. You may be able to lubricate the mechanism that extends the gear, which is probably what is sticking. You also need to closely examine the ring gear on the flywheel, as the small starters have been known to eat them up!

Any lube recomendations?

Call a local starter rebuild shop a ask them if they use a high temp lube, if they seem like bozos use a bearing shop and see what they have. The front bearing grease for disk brake cars is called high temp lube but there is probably a better lube. We even had a lube to help stop electric motors from eroding the bearings in the big industrial motors we monthly checked in the preventative maint program we implemented. We knew within a month when a motor needed rebuilding.