GaBowman

I got a '91 pickup (my avatar). The noise sounds like a sylinoid switch clicking when trying to crank it up, but cannot find that switch. It'll click a few times from turning the switch but finally does engage. I'm afraid it's gonna leave me stranded one day. Guy at Autozone tells me it's inside the starter and I need to replace the whole starter. Does this sound about right? That starter is around $90. I havent taken off the starter yet so I dont know if there's any kind of brushes to change out either. I dont want to have to pull the starter more than once if possible, so I was needing some advice. Thanks.

GB

jimbo74

its a common problem, usually the starter contacts, also there is a wierd design with toyotas.... here is a bit more on it.... http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Starter.shtml

nightsurfride

90 bucks sounds good to me. Safe to say it's the starter if you have good Batt. Always a good idea to see how many amps the starter is drawing when all it does is click to determin pos. the fate of the starter and of course all connections. If it were me, I'd slap a starter in it. But that's just me.

humanoid

Check your starter contacts first, it's cheaper to replace. If those are worn then replace those first. If you still have the same problem then it's definitely your starter.

TOYJZX100

yea its the starter, i had the same thing on my 96 4runner. i almost got stuck but i took a stick and hit the starter with it. the next day i changed the whole starter. i wanted to rebuild my old one, but i didnt have time.

motorhead99

Yeah its definatly the starter.. thats the problem with the gear reduction starter.. all of the solenoid is internal. heres a site that should help with the price a little bit.

http://www.toyautoparts.com/

rock on,
matt

98 Joes

Mine did the same thing. New contacts and it's always started since. Cheap fix. Kind of a pain to do it though. Be sure to pull the little heatshield off the mainfold. Makes it much easier to starter out.

jamil

Common 'yota problem! If you are like me and have more time than $, or if you want to learn about your machine, and have access to a friend who can do gas welding/brazing, you can have a blob of brass brazed onto the worn areas of the contacts then grind or file them down to the right thickness and shape. I've done this to 4 starters so far on my 4Runner, a Tercel and a
Corolla I had. I di once buy the contacts from Toyota and was amazed how they felt justified charging so much for two pieces of copper! (can't recall how much, years ago.....)

98 Joes

The kits are $20 each from the dealer. And all you get in them is a contact, bolt, nut and 2 plastic spacer/insulators. I did mine and thought, "yeah, they're expensive, but cheaper than tow." My recommendation is take the starter apart before buying the contacts. My battery side one was almost gone, but the starter side looked fine. Saved myself $20. Brazing new material on would definitely be a lot cheaper.

kevin444

I have the same problem here. Is that usually if I dont drive my runner for more than 12 hours. It would click on the first turn and than start. One time i didnt use it for 2 days. It took 4 turns to start up. So i dont know if its the starter. But it turns up right aways if i used it in the past 4 hours or less.

98 Joes

Mine was doing exactly the same thing. After it sat overnight, it would click once or twice. Then it was fine all day. After about 3 months of this it got to the place it would click 5 ot 6 times. That's when I changed the starter contacts and it's never did it again.

BruceTS

I just went down and bought some copper stock and made my own for my other cars that burned out the contacts.

BLKNBLU

iTrader: (1)

1) $90 is a good price
2) $20-40 is even better if you can get away with it

I'd try the repair.

kevin444

Starter contact replacement it is. It just the hard thing is trying to get it out.

98 Joes

No kidding. When I did mine I followed the instructions in the manual. No luck getting it out. I started looking at the area around the starter and decided to pull the small heat shield off the exhaust manifold. It's magic, the starter came right out then. 90 minutes to get it out, 20 minutes to get it back in.

kevin444

well my starter seems to be on the driver side under the intake manifold.

Scruff

hey guys I'm having a similar problem.... except the engine starts right up when i leave it for a while... I went in for a 40 minute meeting earlier and it took A LOT of turns... most than I've had yet.... but this morning after not having driven for 2 days... started right up... I'm going to check out those contact tomorrow... is toyota the only place to get the contacts? what tools might i need.. I'm a little limited since I'm at school now.

Sludge

I had the same problem with my starter. I bought the new contacts for $14 from a local toyota dealer. I pulled the starter replaced the contact and it has been working fine for 18months now. If you like working on your rig then i would opt for replacing the contacts.

22Ryota

Lol.. I don't have the money nor time for my starter problem.. So basically my quick fix is that if it clicks it gets hit with the tire iron.. Great for a late night show at work.. I go out and they see me hitting something in my engine with a tire iron. They ask and I tell them i am beating it back into working order and they all fall over laughing when it cranks right up.

4Hummer

91 22RE. My starter Clicks once in awhile now too. And its a Brand new BOSCH starter (Well 1 year old)

I've been told its from Wheeling. Water and muc gets in the starter, then the next time you start it you arc the contacts for a quick second.. which eventually wears them out. I carry a tire iron aswell. Couple taps and it starts right up.

Wierd part is that it only does it if I let the truck sit for a couple days.