Hey guys, just a quick question, i need another opinion if i need to change the start contacts on my starter
im not positive if mine are fine or done, ive been going along with this site http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/starter/ and now at the point to see if mine are worn or not.
I have pictures also, and would it help if i took one side of the starters contact and take a picture of it?
Thanks guy

 

What are your symptoms? If you already have it apart you might as well change them.

Rob

 

They look hammered to me. Change 'em.

 

Alright, yeah i had the problem that i would try to start it and all it would do is a single click from the engine, also the i called the dealership and talked to the parts guy and said i should also replace the plunger and said that i would make no sense to replace the contacts and not do the plunger, in the pics how does the plunger look like?

Thanks guy

 

you might as well just get a rebuild kit for it, usually they are like 15-20 dollars, comes with plunger, new drive gear, contacts, and brushs. the contacts look pretty beat up anyway. as long as you have it apart and out of the vehicle i think its worth the money to just give it a total freshen up so you dont have to worry about it, the parts are so cheap theres no reason not to.

 

acutally when I did mine I just did the contacts and cleaned the plunger with emery cloth. Cost me 3 bucks and an hour and a half of my time. Works great.

And my plunger looked the same as yours. The clicking is caused not by the plunger, but by the one contact being worn down, causing the plunger to not contact both. If they both wore at the same rate, you'd virtually never have to replace them til they wore clear through. And the plunger doesn't wear a whole lot.

 

yeah, hmm
apalmer1, you say do rebuilt the whole thing?

il see how much that costs, im kinda low on funds haha

 

should you replace the contacts? the answer is... YES. as for the plunger, i would try to clean it up with a wire wheel or maybe some sandpaper before replacing it.

 

I agree with everybody else. The copper ring on the plunger doesn't look too bad (in the picture, anyways). I didn't replace my plunger when I did my contacts. The wear is quite evident on your contacts, though. When you get new contacts, it should come in a kit with one contact the same as the ones in there now, and one contact with much more surface area. The large surface area contact goes on the battery side of the solenoid, which is the side that wears the fastest.

 

damn, i think i put the bigger one on the battery side, i just took one out at a time and matched it with one another then put it back in, the guy at the dealership only gave me the contacts.. and i want to think that they were both differnt, but who knows. Anyways i got a new plunger, and man it does start a bit better, i guess time will tell if it'll do the random click or not. It started up fine thoe witch i guess means its work, haha