Starter at fault or battery on 1998 Camry

yep sounds like the solenoid which is part of the starting systems may going bad once it does you will not be able to start the car unless it is a stick.

Low voltage will make a starter just click terminals inside and battery posts must be completly clean, you already know this is an issue. A battery fully charged is 12.7-12.85v at 12v it is 10% charged, start with the simple things.

Get those battery connections all cleaned up. coat with a little Vaseline to help stop corrosion. It may be you have a volts drop over the rather dirty connectors.

That's the FIRST place to start.

Johnny UK.

"m Ransley" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3133.bay.webtv.net...

going back to the beginning of your question, I'd start by doing a thorough cleaning of the battery terminals, removing the clamps and going after the corrosion around the terminals, making sure the insides of the clamps are clean with steel wool or a steel brush, and reassembling the leads on the battery. If the starter motor always kicks in with the turn of the key, that was your answer. BUT, if as in my experience of a year or so ago with my '97 Camry, when the first turn of the key yielded only silence, and the second or third got the starter motor to kick in, I felt a little too old, a little too fat, and a little too rich to take on the repair task myself, so took it to an independent shop with ASE qualified techs. They took off the starter motor and found there was a "flat spot" on the ...armature? rotor? ...and had to replace the starter lest it give trouble in future in a more inconvenient spot than my driveway. They used a genuine Toyota starter, since they don't trust aftermarket alternatives. and no trouble since. It may be you're in the same boat with your starter. As you probably know, the starter is located way below the engine, and unless you're willing to get underneath, with adequate jackstands, and risk the hazard of being underneath a ton and a half of automobile, AND know the difference between a good starter and a bad one, I'd take it in and pay the labor if I were you.

Sounds like a sticking starter motor. I had an old van, which behaved in a similar fashion to what you describe. I think the teeth on the starter motor cog that engaged with the engine to turn it over was damaged in some way. Sometimes the only way I could start it was to slip it into a high gear (manual stick shift only) and gently rock it forward and backwards to free the starter motor cog.

hey all thanks for all the help and suggestions

i just cleaned my terminal connections with steel wool

ill check in the morning if it starts fine (as it only happens when the car hasnt run for like atleast 4 hours)

if that didnt work ill try checking the solenoid connections, but i am not too sure where that is

thanks again

I had a similar problem about a year ago with my 99 Camry.

1. How old is your battery? These days they tend to last only 2 - 5 years.
2. Ended up having to replace the starter. Relatively easy, I know almost nothing about fixing a car and I was able to do it. I didn't need to get under the car like the previous poster mentioned. It's next to the battery and I only needed a wrench to remove it I believe.

Pen

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

I think it was snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com who stated:

You didn't mention the 4-hour consideration in your original post, and that could be a key bit of information!

One possibility that suggests is that something is drawing more current than it should when the ignition is off, such as a partial and/or intermittent short somewhere. If that's happening, after four hours the battery would be mostly drained and would have the symptoms you described.

Don't post a question without mentioning everything you've observed about the problem; diagnosis from afar is difficult enough when all the information is available!

-Don

Either battery no good due old or alternator not charging the battery OR loose, dirty connections at battery or starter OR the starter needs work. If you are lucky it will just need some new contacts. Make sure when tightening the starter post-nuts (copper coloured), that the posts dont turn otherwise the contacts will be c*ck-eyed inside and wear rapidly.

Jason