SHANEMAN

I posted a problem I had with my 2000 Toyota Tacoma Starter. After I posted, I had a number of solutions form the board within minutes. I learned that the contacts in the starter my be worn. I order the parts for 22 bucks and installed them this past weekend. The job took us 1.5 hours. I would like to express my thanks to those who offered their experiences which immensely helped me with my project, This saved me several hundred bucks. Here is what we did

1. disconnected the negative battery terminal
2. Removed the rubber lining from inside the passenger wheel well to give us a better look at the starter.
3. Disconnected the leads to the started
4. removed the starter bolts. Now here is where the right tools came in. The top bolt is kind of up there. We used 16 inches of extension and a socket with a nuckle which allowed us to loosen at a 45 degree angle. with the right tool it was a breeze
5. removed the transmission line dip stick bracket from the motor and moved the line aside.
6. Pulled back on the starter and turned is sideways and fished it out of it cavity.
7. removed the end cap of the starter and removed the plunger assembly
8. inspected the contacts....one was very badly worn.
9. replaced both contacts. Be sure to install new parts just as the old one were.
10. cleaned up the plunger. i should have bought a new one but did not. I recommend buying this also
11. put the starter back together and re-installed
12. fired up the truck and Bammm!!! It worked