22Ryota

And the 87 pickup has yet another thing come up wrong... grrrrr... by the time i fix this thing i will have spent enough money to buy a new car.... But anyway.. My starter is going out it seems.. sometimes i will turn the key only to have the dash lights come on and radio etc.... there is a click but no start... after about 8 or 9 tries it will sometimes start.. sometimes i have to get a jump to get it running.. talked to a mechanic that is a friend of the family and he comfirmed that it is prolly the starter.. now.. fun question... How easy are starters to replace? What brand would you recommed? and anyone have a write up on how to replace starters?

cruizin01

Being the expert that I am "not" it seems funny to me that your able to get jumped and the starter works. unless the starter is wore out and is sucking too many amps to turn over...but I dunno im sure someone with more experience will chime in. My buddies got a 22r truck and it took him about a whole 10 minutes to change his starter out. He didn't even have to raise the hood. (he did his through the fender-well on the pass. side i believe)

22Ryota

The mechanic friend told me that it sounded like the starter cylnoid.. but that was inside the starter so either way i would be stuck replacing the whole thing. Was he correct in this?

cruizin01

The clicking sound u are hearing is the solenoid. So that means that if u are getting the clicking sound the solenoid is fine.

cruizin01

Try this page out

Starter Info

jruz

Yup, as far as I've read...no need to replace the starter...you just need to rebuild it (new contacts and possibly the solenoid).

<$30 instead of >$150

I bet that is good news...

Jim

22Ryota

Lol.. very good news

Arnold

Maybe the battery is starting to go since it'll start when jumped? Anyway, check the batt terminals/cables and the wires going to the starter before anything else.

22Ryota

time to go asearching for the starter

rimpainter.com

Just pull the starter and take it in to Checker Auto (or similar). They will put it on a bench and confirm everything. If you are going to pull the solenoid, you might as well just pull the whole thing and have it tested.

Our 94 Accord just did the same thing. I thought it was the solenoid, and after R&R 'ing the starter 5 times, I finally just took it in. They tested it and confirmed that the whole thing was shot. Like you, I was getting a "click" only.

$130 for a reman starter with a lifetime warranty.

StingRay

Toyota's are well known for the starter solenoid contact going out and giving those exact symptoms. I have personally done three of these in my Supra's ( I have three of them) in the last two years. It's about a 20 dollar fix and a kit should be able to be obtained from any good starter/alternator shop.

rimpainter.com

[threadjack on]3 Supra's! Please share with the rest of the class.[/threadjack off]

StingRay

Happy to share with ya 96runner. At least one of the three is gonna go. The 98 runner we got has displaced one of the cars driveway spots and 5 licensed vehicles is more than I can handle without my own fleet mechanic. My wife and I currently have two 83 Supras and an 84 she bought brand new. All three are in very good shape but all have some minor issues. These are 3 of the most solid cars anywhere around here. I am also into 67-72 GM trucks and have a driver, half of one occupying half the garage as it in the resto process and a couple of others as parts/project vehicles not to mention a storage unit full of GM and Toyota parts. The runner gets the other half of the garage. Pleeeeaaaase come and buy one. I'd love to share

cruizin01

If you take your starter off and take it somewhere to get checked the only thing they are gonna do is hook a hot wire to hit and spin it over which doesn't really tell ya much. I would recommend getting it R&R'd..They do them at Napa all the time for a 1/4 or less of the price of a new starter.

My99

I was having similar problems on my 99. It would click, and so i'd just hit the key again, and usually by the 2nd or 3rd time it would fire u. I doubted it was the battery, because the indicator was still good on it, and it had plenty of firing power when it would finally start. I took the starter off, and I replaced the contacts. If you don't want to do this (i'm sure it's easier to get the starter off on the older models), then you can take it off and take it to a repari shop. I implore you to keep your toyota starter. Have it rebuilt if you'd like, but I would never suggest getting an autozone special. They ahve a lifetime warranty, but this doesn't cover your time for replacing them each year, because they're still peices of crap... with a warranty (Remember Tommy Boy ..I could take a crap in a box and mark it gaurranteed...)

22Ryota

that is what i was thinking.. having it rebuilt... i tried to get the thing off yesterday to no avail... it is hard as hell to reach.. the top bolt i could not remove for anything... the bottom one was already half way out when i slid under there.. and i noticed something else funny about my truck... There is a hose going into the top my my engine (one at the very back and behind the air filter) that is just electrical taped onto and into the engine block.. little scarey.. Anyone know what this hose is?? it is the only on the top back of the 22R engine.. It seems like there was a plastic connector coming up and out and someone broke it so they just electrical taped it back together.. well.. thank goodness the tape hasn't come off while i have owned it

Sucellus

Yeah, that sounds like a solenoid problem I had with my '84 pickup. One way to be certain would be to take the factory jack bar they included, pound on the starter a time or two, thebn try to start it...It should start right up. For me it worked every time. I had done an auto-zone special starter replacement and had to bang on the thing so often i wore a hole in the starter casing. POS! If you do replace the whole thing I'd definately recommend going oem unless you like standing outside banging on your starter....