Blair

So it seems my starter motor has become uncranky...pardon the pun. When I turn the key...CLICK...then nothing. Now, I've searched and read the articles available and I'm leaning towards pulling and replacing the contacts. Most say it's a one banana job.
However, I've found that, if I turn the key slowly...not all the way to the stop, I get a quiet bzzzzzzz and then the starter kicks in.

So I'm wondering if maybe this is ignition switch related, rather than starter contacts. Anyone ever have this occur???
Anyone got any advice re: pull starter or focus on ignition switch??
Thanks,

Memphis4X4

Blair: I had two instances of my starter in my '91 V6 Runner acting the way you described:

1. Starter Contacts were bad. I replaced these and problem soon returned after a couple of months.
2. I found that the wiring resistance goes up in our vehicles as they age.....not enough amps were getting through to the starter. I ended up having to add a auxillary relay. Do a "Search" and you can find several threads describing it.

In my vehicle (same age as yours), both of these things needed to be fixed. Mine now cranks perfectly. (I don't think it is your starter switch.....I did the old turn it slowly trick when mine was acting up and thought it was the switch but it wasn't). I'd start with the relay and see if that helps (it's a pretty quick fix....quicker than pulling the starter.....that's a PITA).

David

bamachem

I have a 99 Limited. After replacing the battery thinking that it was losing juice from a bad cell, I crawled under the truck and found the nut holding the wire on the starter so lose that it was about to fall off. I tightened it up and have never had any trouble since.

jimrockford

When mine was going out, I tried to put off having it fixed as long as possible. I would turn the key repeatedly hoping to get it to start, try it slowly, wiggle the key, turn the key and hold it a few seconds, etc. Usually it would eventually start.

I found that turning the key slowly would sometimes give me the same bzzzzzz. I don't think it's your ignition switch. I haven't replaced mine and all is well after the (probably unnecessary) starter replacement. I replaced my contacts but that only fixed the problem for a few days. I bought a new starter and replaced the whole thing. When I opened the old starter, I found that one of the contacts was crooked, preventing contact with the other one. So, I'd say it's probably your contacts.