91 SR5 4x4 won't turn over

The toughest part of the starter removal / installation is orienting it correctly to slip it out through the access hole in the inner fender. Starting the bolts is easy, you just lay flat on your back and start them by hand from under the starter, then put the long extension on and tighten them up. My assumption is that the starter contacts aren't really the problem if you initially were not hearing any clicks when you attempted to start the truck. If the contacts were the issue you would have heard the click of the solenoid pulling the plunger in to hit the contacts but then the starter wouldn't turn. You said you had no click so I would think the solenoid got a little corroded sitting for those 10 weeks and then wouldn't pull the plunger in until you gave it that love tap with the hammer. Hopefully if it is a reputable shop they will clean or at least check the solenoid too. Best of luck.

This is good to know, because if the starter ever acts up again, I might do this. But on my particular truck, I don't know if I can even reach the starter from under the truck. It sits on 33" tires, and has a 4" lift kit. Getting up through the wishbones to the starter might be longer than my arm, even with my body pressed up as high as it could go. I just remember looking WAY UP at that starter from under the truck thinking, "Are you kidding me?!" I had to find a 2-foot dowel just to tap it.

In the beginning I heard no clicks. No nothing. Then the last few times I tried, I heard a single soft click coming from what sounded like the area of the dash behind or under the glove box, which is the general location of the starter. I only heard it because it was at night and everything was very quiet. It is possible it was making that single click all along, but it was too noisy to hear it previously.

I was very unhappy with what happened, as it turned out. What I wanted to do was ask the shop to pull it, let me rebuild it, then have them put it back. I wanted to do this because I don't trust rebuilds unless you see and do it yourself. You never know if people actually do a good job or not. But I expected the shop to do the rebuild, and never drempt they would agree to pull it for me, so I just told them I wanted it rebuilt. They said they would replace it and turn in the core. I said no, I want it rebuilt. So they said ok, they would do that for the same price. Quote was $225. I figured most of it was labor. To make sure they rebuilt it completely, I asked for all the old parts. I told them I wanted to eyeball them.

Turns out they do NOT do rebuilds themselves, but send out to a shop. (Had I known this, I *would* have asked them to let ME rebuild it.) So I go to pick it up, and pay the bill, and they hand me "the parts." Two contacts, and what looks like a broken off black plastic part with a spade connector, like from where the ignition wire fits on. I asked about the plunger and brushes. He said "that's all they gave me." I was a little irate. The labor was $90 which was fine, but I was charged $115 for a "rebuild" when all they apparently did was replace $11 contacts. And what was with the ignition part broken off? Did that mean they kept my original Toyota starter, and gave me a crappy after market starter after all? (When I got to the shop to pick it up, I peeked through the access panel and it actually looked like a different starter to me, but I figured it was because the old one was dirty. This was before I knew anything.)

So I tell the guy I am not happy that I paid $115 for two contacts, and that I wanted it completely rebuilt. He says he doesn't have a good answer for me and that he'll call the shop Monday and ask what they did.

So he called me this morning (Wed). I didn't really expect to hear back from him, so I give them credit for following up. In a nutshell, even though he didn't say this all in so many words, the place only replaces worn parts in a rebuild, not all parts. (Which makes me mad because the brushes could have been the problem, and leaving it up to THEM is not right because they replace as little as possible to make as much profit as possible... PLUS I have to pay full labor to have it taken out and put back if something else goes wrong!) And the other weird thing was, he said this particular starter of mine does not have a plunger. He said it's a heavy duty starter, called a ... damn. I can't remember. But I asked what wore out the contacts if not the ring at the base of the plunger. He didn't say anything. And I asked about the brushes, and again he said, "that's all the parts I got." He said they've been doing biz for 25 yrs with the other shop, and he understands why I'm mad, but he's in the middle and can't do anything but offer me $50 credit on future work.

Life is too short to be upset, but I was not happy. I told him if something goes wrong with the starter again, I want the $50 credit towards labor to pull it, and *I* want to rebuild it. He said ok.

The moral of the story is.... never let anyone else do your rebuild!

Btw, have you heard of a starter without a plunger???

Not so happy after all! :) (See my reply to Handyman.) But at least my truck is starting again....

All starters have some sort of solenoid type plunger, that is what engages the starter gear with the flywheel to start the vehicle. Once the engine starts the plunger retracts and pulls the starter gear back away from the flywheel. If they didn't have a solenoid type plunger mechanism the gears would be engaged all of the time and your poor starter would be turning at 50,000 rpm when your engine was idling. (to say the least, the starter wouldn't last long in that scenario). The Toyota design is very good, the starter gear meshes with the flywheel before the starter ever turns. This prevents chewing up the flywheel and starter teeth if the solenoid is slow at engaging the gears. In many other manufacturers the starter actually starts to turn before the gears have meshed. Anyone ever hear the grinding of an older Chevy of Ford starter against a flywheel on a cold morning? I remember people having to try starting several times before they actually would get the starter to engage with the flywheel, and each time taking a little off the width of the flywheel teeth. I've pulled some old starters with nearly 50% of the width of the teeth worn away. (I've never seen this happen with Toyota starters).

want real fun? change on starter on a mk3 supra. i was suspicious when a rebuilt national brand was only $35. here's what you can do: take off the driver's side fender. a bitch, try to reach it from underneath. even harder. try to reach from the top. clearence is about 1/4 inch. a socket won't fit in. you can only unscrew 1/8 turn at a time. solution? get one of the ratcheting box ends, drill a hole on the end opposite to the box, hook a still wire on. use one hand to ratchet the nuts off and the other with a long rod to keep it pressed against the nuts. it will still take 1/2 hour per nut, but you won't be picking up sockets every 2 minutes. surprisingly, the starter goes on and off easily.

Right. Plus what would have worn the contacts if not the ring at the base of the plunger??

Well I hope to heck 'the rebuild shop' gave me back the original starter like I asked for then, but I don't know. What makes me doubt that is the broken off plastic part with the spade connector that is NOT a replaceable part, AFAIK. Argh. I can't think about it anymore. It makes me sick. The only people who should have older cars are people who know how to work on them. Taking an old car to a shop, especially if you are a woman, is almost a guarantee of getting ripped off, even when you educate yourself to avoid it!