joshik

hey, i began troubleshooting my starter last night. its been acting CRAZY the past few days! last night, when trying to go home after work, i started my car and my starter went nuts! i think its possessed! the motor turned over and started and then rrrrrRRRRRRRRRRR the starter motor wouldnt stop, it kept on getting faster and faster! i turned my truck off..... rrRRRRRRR it kept on spinning and then turning the motor over with the key in the off position! then i put the key in the on and it started. hahHHaHA. it finally stopped and i drove home.

ive been reading up on 4crawlers site about rebuilding the starter. very good info there. but in the troubleshoot section it says to test the battery side contact of the starter to see if i get good voltage. the battery side, thats the small clip part, not the big wire with the O clip thing that attaches to a copper bolt and nut right? i tested the bold side, and i got good voltage. i stuck my voltmeter into the clip itself and no reading. does the car need to be on?

what do you think caused the starter to not stop? bad starter relay? btw, where is the starter relay in a 91 p/u V6?

thanks!

Sequoia'd

On the '91, you don't have a starter relay. At least I don't have one on my '91 4Runner V6. I added one but that's another story...:pat:
Sounds like the contacts have either stuck or fused. On 4Crawlers site the rebuild shows the contact replacement so the pics should guide you to the problem. I would replace the contacts first and test it before reinstalling. OTOH, as big of a pain as it is to remove,might just put on a new started and be done with it!!

O'reilly Auto Parts has remanufactured and they have a lifetime warranty, no questions asked. Hope this helps. Good luck!

joshik

ahhh icic, no relay, gotcha. so i guess ill just take the starter out. i tried taking out the starter last night but couldnt get the bolt to come loose and i couldnt find my liquid wrench. so i gotta go get some today to loosen the bolt up.

ive been reading up on 4crawlers site. the contact are $15 vs a rebuilt starter is $50. is it that much better to just get a rebuilt one?

wrenchmonster

I just repaired the starter contacts in my starter. It was a piece of cake. I don't know where you found a rebuilt starter for $50, but I can't imagine the quality would be good. I'd definately go for the contact repair first. You may have done some damage while your starter was running with your motor, but you'll be able to tell once you get the starter down and inspect it. If the starter smells like burnt toast you probably did some damage to the windings. If not, throw in some new contacts and you should be good to go. Good luck.

joshik

welp, i tried to get the starter out today, but holy **** the bolts are STUCK! i mean, STUCK STUCK STUCK! so i blasted them with PB once, twice, three times...let it soak.... tapped it lightly with a small hammer, and tried to break it free with my wrench. unfortunately i couldnt find any steel tubing to use as a breaker bar. i have a breaker bar but my dad has all the sockets that fit it in his truck and he's at work! so it will have to wait for now. for the time being i just cleaned up the terminals on the battery and the 2 points on the starter. it starts fine for now. i cant imagine what will happen when i try to leave work tomorrow.

any other suggestions on how to free the bolts? imma blast them again tomorrow with some PB.

AH64ID

dont know the 3.slow that well, but are they in a place you can get some heat to?

ctcost

That starter replacement is a beeeeotch! There is barely enough room to get it out, and getting it back in I had to try 15 million different angles and turns to get the spindle into the hole. If you have to unhook the hard tranny cooler lines till you get it remounted. Good luck!

snap-on

you think its a PITA... try it with NWOR headers on! had to jack the motor up 3/4" to get it out... that was the ONLY way it was comming out

joshik

dang, yeh its a beeeetch to get out. i read other people saying its a 20min tear out, 20 min rebuild, 20 min install. hmmmm. must be for the older yotas with a more accessible starter.

i heard that with headers its even HARDER.

the starter is on the passenger side of the tranny by the bellhousing... i can get some heat to it. i have a pencil torch i use for building custom fishing rods. that will prob work ok huh. hmmm i hope the PB stuff isnt flamable or that it is all dried up. what if i hit it with some break parts cleaner to clean it off, let it dry, wipe it down and then hit it with some flames. how much is too much heat?

snap-on

when the bolts are glowing orange and starting to change shape cause they are melting.... somewere BEFORE then would be good....

AH64ID

i have hit PB with flames before and I still have my eyebrows it wont burn....

With the pencil torch you can really direct the heat, so I would get the nut as hot as you feel safe for the surrounding components...

joshik

hey, cool cool. ill be sure that i stop before they start to glow and let it cool before i try to break it free.

ill let you know how it goes. oh i have a 2" body lift too so its a lil easier than stock but a LOT easier than having headers!

thanks for the help guys!

joshik

btw, do you need to let it cool before you try to break it free?

ctcost

If I remember right I used my breaker bar with like a 3 inch extension, 2 universals and a converter...Just barely managed to squeeze it in there and had like 2 inches to operate in.

And geez...I can't even begin to think about doing it with HEADERS on!!!

AH64ID

Nope, the point is to expand the nut more than the bolt, thus by mere thousandths, if that, the nut spins easier...

joshik

ah icic, hmmm... if i remember right, the starter is secured on by bolts that bolt to thru the bell housing into the starter.. so if i were to heat it up, it would actually be harder to brake the bolt free...? do i want to heat up the part of the starter that the bolt bolts into?

AH64ID

You want to heat up the female half....if I remeber that the tranny housing...aluminum...should heat MUCH faster than the steel giving excellent results....in theory

joshik

cool, i will give it a shot 2nite!
thanks!!

AH64ID

G/L with it

joshik

ok im home now and i broke out the tools and started. i got one bolt loose... the one that faces into the truck that you have to get to from directly under the truck. it came loose fairly easily with my breaker bar. i dont know if it was the PB from last night or the heat from the motor from driving home that loosened it but its free...

ok so now i got one more to go... the one that i have to access from the front end of the truck that is below the starter. i had to take off my skid plate to access it.
i rig up 2 extensions, one adapter and universal. i pull and push, no go. forget this...i have my dad's electric impact wrench. so i take off the universal and rig up a longer extension. i have a straight line of site with the extensions and the drill! who woulda thunk it! so i give it a light tap to see if it breaks free. nothing. again. nothing. i hold the button down for a longer time. even longer.... NOTHING. OMG! an electric impact wrench cant even break this thing loosE?! WTF? now what?