Visitor # 156098 since 28.AUG.2001
Have you noticed your starter turning slower and slower, or worse yet, you turn the key and all you get it a loud click and a slight (or no) dimming of the lights? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, your starter may be due for some R&R. My 22R-E equipped 1985 4Runner, had over 210,000 miles on it, and I'll bet the starter is bone stock. The starter is actually composed of two main parts, the series-wound starter motor itself and a solenoid which serves dual functions of pushing the drive gear into the flywheel as well as making a high-current contact to supply battery power directly to the motor. Starters can pull many hundreds of amps of current under load and the solenoid acts like a giant relay taking the low current signal from the ignition switch to control the high current for the motor.
The solenoid consists of a steel plunger that is pulled into an electro-magnetic coil, that is energized by the ignition switch. There is a rod extending from the plunger that actuates the starter gear and a spring on it to retract the gear after the engine starts. Also, at the other end of the plunger is a copper ring that makes contact with two copper contacts, one from the battery and the other that goes to the starter motor itself. When the plunger is pulled into the coil, the copper ring completes the circuit between the two contacts, current flows and the starter motor spins, driving the small gear which in turn spins the flywheel, making the engine turn over. Over time, the two contacts are eroded by the inductive arcing that occurs when the starter motor is started and stopped. In every case I have heard of, only the contact on the battery side of the solenoid wears out.
Before removing the starter and tearing it apart, you should first remove, clean and re-install every power, ground and control wire between the starter and battery. Especially check the small control wire that energizes the starter solenoid, it can either be loose or the wire itself can easily break where it is soldered to the connector.
If the problem is repeatable, one thing you can do to troubleshoot the cause is to use a voltmeter to check the voltage at the starter solenoid when it acts up. You want to check the small wire that plugs into the solenoid coil, not the heavy gauge wire direct from the battery that supplies power to the starter motor itself. Shown below is a simple test jig you can use to make this test properly, that is under load. You.ll need one male crimp-on spade lug and two female connectors and two short lengths of wire, ~16 ga. Strip the two lengths of wire and insert both wires into one of the female connectors and crimp it. Then crimp a male lug onto the other end of one wire and the female onto the other wire end. Now plug the single female end onto the stater solenoid terminal and the wire that used to connect to the solenoid to the male spade lug. Now, you can connect the positive lead from your volt meter to the center female terminal on your test wire, negative lead to a chassis ground and you can now measure the voltage at the starter while trying to start the engine:
What sort of voltage should you see?
Before condemning the starter and going to the trouble of removing it, you should first remove, clean, and check all the wiring connections at the starter, including the heavy power cables, the control wires and the ground straps between the engine and frame. Recall all wires have at least two ends, so be sure to follow the wire or cable to its other end and check that end as well. Also, clean and re-install the connections at the battery. If the problem goes away, great. If it gets better for a while then returns, time to do some more digging.
If you have a clutch cancel switch or a neutral start switch, make sure it is adjusted and functioning properly. If the starter can be made to act up reliably, check the voltage at the solenoid control wire. If it is weak, suspect the wiring between it and the ignition switch (and the switch itself). If the voltage is strong, then suspect the solenoid, the repair of which is below.
Whether you contemplate doing this repair now or in the future, by all means get the parts (see part numbers below) and carry them as spares. When you go in to get the parts, you'll either be told you need a new starter or that they have never heard of this part. In any event, don't be swayed, give them the part number (below), special order them and when they arrive in a few days, you'll be ready to tackle the repair. Since there are two contacts, get two kits, they don't cost that much and if it turns out you only need to replace one, you'll have a spare.
So, parts in hand, first step is to take off the starter (assuming you can find it). The starter is *always* located where the transmission bell housing attaches to the back of the engine block. Why? Because the starter engages the teeth on the outside of the flywheel and the flywheel is attached to the back of the engine and drives the transmission. So. if you have a body lift, you are halfway there. If not, better start limbering up your arms.
So, first thing is to disconnect the battery (+) lead, then squeeze and pull off the small solenoid wire connector and big high current wire from the starter (usually a 12 or 14 mm nut). Now, get a 14mm wrench or socket and an assortment of extensions and take off the bolt at the base of the starter and the nut at the top. Both screw out to the front of the engine. It will help if you either take off the passenger front tire or jack that corner up. Also, pull back the wheel well liner for better visibility and if present, remove the 4 - 10mm bolts that hold the access panel in place at the side of the wheel well sheet metal. On IFS Toyota trucks ('86-'95), it can also help to remove the front skid plate and possibly the steering stabilizer to get a straight line shot at the nut and boot holding the starter in place.
Once the starter is loose, slide it forward then drop it down and clean it up before tearing into it. I sprayed mine down with brake cleaner to remove the accumulation of clutch dust and engine grease. Now, on a clean bench, remove the 3 Phillips head screws or bolts that hold the plate on the end of the solenoid next to where the battery lead connects. Do not remove the two long screws that hold the starter motor itself together. You only want to open the solenoid up.
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| Solenoid end cap |
Carefully pry off the cover and the plunger and its spring should pop out. Examine the copper ring on the plunger and the two contacts. On mine, notice how the contacts are worn. it looks as if a step has been machined into the copper. In fact, aside from being dirty, they looked normal, like this step was supposed to be there. Compare this with the new contacts, that are flush all the way across their face. I think what happens is that as the copper is worn away, the plunger bottoms out and doesn't make full contact, resulting in the poor starting performance. The contact on the battery side was worn almost all the way through and the motor side (visible in the picture) was about halfway gone. Spray down the inside with a good electrical cleaner. I decided to replace both, keeping the better of the two as a trail spare in my toolbox. Using a 14mm open end wrench, carefully back off the nut holding the copper stud in place. There is only a bit of the nut exposed, so be careful not to round off the corners. Notice too, the pitted copper ring on the plunger, visible in the lower left corner of the picture.
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| Solenoid Plunger |
Do one side at a time, so you can use the other as a guide to put it back together. My starter kit came with all the parts of the assembly, however, I found the stud on the motor side was not knurled at the base like the one in the kit (I had unknowingly ordered two battery-side kits, instead of one of each), so I re-used the original stud after replacing the other parts (apparently if you buy the motor-side contact kit, it will have the non-knurled stud - however, the studs don't wear out, so no need to replace them). After rebuilding the contacts, I took a wire brush to the copper ring on the plunger and put it all back together. Notice the appearance of the new contacts.
I put a bit of disk brake grease around the starter drive gear. One item take note of is that that there is a ball bearing that drops into a hole in the end of the clutch assembly. The spring that rides on the plunger in the solenoid rides on that ball bearing. Whenever you take the starter solenoid apart to replace the contacts, make sure that the ball bearing remains in the hole in the end of the clutch assembly. It can come out and yet remain inside the starter and cause a grinding noise and lock the starter if it falls into the right spot.
Installation is the reverse of the removal process. I found it easier if I bent the bracket that holds the hose for the clutch slave cylinder off to the side, then hang the starter from the upper stud and get that nut started first. Then move the bracket back over and get the bottom bolt going through it and the starter into the bell housing. Finally, hit the connector on the wire from the battery with a wire brush and hook up all the wires and finally the battery. Now its ready for a test. If your contacts were worn, it should feel like a brand new starter after this repair. Mine must spin at least twice as fast now as before the fix (when it actually would spin).
I saved the half-worn starter-side contact for use as a spare. It seems that the starting problems are related to the unequal wear on both sides, since the plunger can only accommodate a small amount of height difference before it starts losing contact. So, my thought is that in another 200k miles, my battery-side contact will be worn out and the starter-side will be half gone. I'll now have a half-worn spare to put in for another 100k miles of use. Then at 500k, I imagine I'll need a new starter :-)
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| Before - worn contact | After - TIG welded |
I experimented with a technique to rebuild the worn contacts using a TIG welder to re-weld copper into the worn area on the contact. I used a "red" (2% thoria) tungsten rod, DC Straight Polarity, 15 CFH Argon and approx 100A. current and was able to build up the worn copper with a length of copper filler. I should be able to rebuild contacts for literally "pennies" a piece (if pennies were still made of copper that is:-). Another even lower cost solution is to make your own replacement contacts out of a piece of copper water pipe. Cut a piece of pipe, long enough to make the bent piece, cut it to width, bend it and then drill a mounting hole to match the original. Owing to possible differences in thickness, it would probably be wise to replace both contacts to keep their surfaces level for the solenoid contact ring. However, if your time is worth anything, you may want to look at this.
Subject: Starter rebuild details on a '94 V6 4Runner
From: Eric Maher;
Thanks for the great site. I replaced the contacts on my '94 4Runner about a month ago, and no trouble since then. Here's the part numbers, courtesy of Bob at Kent Brown Toyota (great parts department, by the way!)
- 28226-72010
- 28226-70040
Now for the details:
The battery side contact replacement looks to have been redesigned. There's some additional material (approx. 3 mm tabs) on either side of the contact where the solenoid strikes. Perhaps Toyota is looking to solve this problem once and for all.
Accessing the starter on a V6 is aided by a access hatch cut into the passenger side wheel well, behind a rubber splash guard. The splash guard was easy to remove, but I succeeded in breaking all the plastic clips that hold the guard on. A trip to Lowe's fasteners section yielded parts that worked. The fasteners in question are in the "automotive body" fasteners section, and are labeled "Nissan Clips" or something along that line. I tried some of the "Help!" brand fasteners, but they were a hair too small and fell out in short order. I had do to do some tucking and shoving to get the starter out, but it was a fairly straight forward task getting it in and out. There were some 1/4" long rubber breather tubes that were lost when I removed the starter, but I'm not certain that this will be a problem.
There is an error in the Toyota service manual in regards to the placement of the bolts that hold the starter to the bell housing. The manual shows two bolts pointing towards the back of the vehicle. This is incorrect. The top bolt is pointing to the rear, the lower bolt is facing the front of the vehicle. If you look from underneath, up through the front suspension "wishbones" you can see the bolt, and get a wrench on it from this angle. Thanks to Newark Toyota in DE (their service department works weekends!) for tipping me off as to where the second bolt was located.
Again, thanks for the great site. Feel free to post this email on your site so others may benefit.
Further tips to aid starter removal on the V6 are to remove the heat shield off the exhaust manifold to create more room to physically maneuver the starter out of the engine compartment and you can unbolt and move the clutch slave cylinder to the side (manual transmission of course). Another option is that the starter solenoid housing can be opened and repaired with the starter still in the engine bay, but oriented to give access to the parts.
From Bob Shuman:
Also, FYI, here is some additional information that I was provided regarding Chrysler applications that also happen to use the Nippon-Denso starter. While I can't guarantee it is 100% correct, I believe the information is accurate since it came from a person whom I know to be knowledgeable and very detail oriented. You may want to add this info to your already great web site. BTW, the A, B, and C refer to the photo you had posted on the site that had each type labeled
"Daniel J. Stern" <dastern@127.0.0.1 <mailto:dastern@127.0.0.1>> wrote in message <news:Pine.GSO.4.58.0406091116260.24681@alumni.engin.umich.edu>...
From my rotating-electrics builder:
~$16-25 - qty. 1, Starter Kit, Toyota P/N 28226-72080 or -70040 (battery side) ~$16-25 - qty. 1, Starter Kit, Toyota P/N 28226-72010 (motor side - if needed) See: Write-up here for 3VZE/3.0L/V6 repair, uses the same part numbers ~ Dealer parts cost were based upon 11/2002 data from a reader of this page ~
Or, save time and money and have the contacts shipped to your mail box with convenient on-line ordering:
| Picture: Note: Digital caliper shown for size comparison only; It is not included w/ the contacts :-) |
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| Contact Style | A: Smaller Contact,US$4.95/ea. | B: Larger Contact, US$4.95/ea. | C: Larger Contact, US$4.95/ea. | D: Larger Contact, US$4.95/ea. |
| Toyota p/n (equiv) |
28226-72010 and 28226-72080 | 28226-72040 | ? | ? |
| Order On-line -> | 
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Priority Mail Shipping (US only) |
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| Express Mail Shipping (US only) - US$16.00 additional, 1-2 days w/ tracking: - Insured w/ optional signature required |
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International Shipping |
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View Shopping Cart/Check Out: 
If you need more than 1-4 contacts, volume pricing is available:
| Order quantities of 10 any mix of styles $45.00/set of 10 |
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| Order quantities of 50 any mix of styles $200/set of 50 |
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| Starter Solenoid Contact Styles: A - B - C - D |
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| A-Contact width = 12.5mm | A-Contact height = 16mm | A-Contact length = 16.5mm |
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| B-Contact width = 14mm | B-Contact height = 16mm | B-Contact length = 22mm |
| Same as B... | Same as A and B... | |
| C-Contact width = 14mm | C-Contact height = 16mm | C-Contact length = 24mm |
| Same as B... | Same as A, B, & C... | |
| D-Contact width = 14mm | D-Contact height = 16mm | D-Contact length = 22mm |
- More w/o
body lift, should take ~1 hour.
If you've gone through all the items above and the starter is still acting up, its time for a little bit of re-design. From the factory on certain years, the starter solenoid is operated directly off the ignition switch. Over time the switch contacts can wear, the wiring and connectors can age and increase in resistance, etc. A solution is to use a relay to power the solenoid. Use a standard 30A headlight relay, wire the relay coil to the ignition switch and then use the relay contact to power the solenoid. So now the ignition switch only had to supply a milli-amp current to operate the relay and the relay supplies the higher current required by the solenoid (which in turn supplies the 100s of amps needed by the starter motor itself).
I recently installed a Painless Wiring Hot Shot starter relay kit in my 4Runner to cure an intermittent starting problem. While my starter solenoid contacts were in good shape, I would still get an intermittent "click" when I tried to start the engine. Since my '85 has no starter relay of any sort, the ignition switch provides power to the starter solenoid directly. After 19+ years of use, I figured it was getting tired. So, by adding the relay, I took the heavy current load off the ignition switch and let the relay handle it. Installation was a snap, clip the wire running to the solenoid and run it to the relay coil, then the output wire of the relay to the solenoid and finally run the heavy relay power wire (via the supplied circuit breaker) down the the 12V post on the starter. The relay kit includes an engine "bump" switch which allows for bumping and starting the engine from under the hood. I may also run a second switch in parallel back to the dash to use as a starter button for on the trail. Take the wear and tear off the old ignition switch and make it last as long as possible. Since installing the Painless relay kit, I've experience no more starting problems, it cranks as soon as you turn the key every time. The wiring of the Painless relay kit is very much like shown below. To install it all you need to do is to cut the wire running to the starter solenoid and splice in the relay. I used connectors to tie in the relay, the incoming signal (that originally came from the ignition switch) is run to the relay coil, the output from the relay contact is tied into the remaining wire at the solenoid. Only other relay kit connections are a chassis ground and constant power from either the battery or the starter power terminal. The kit includes a circuit breaker to protect the relay and wiring from over-current.
But if your vehicle already has a starter relay (check your Factory Service Manual wiring diagrams) you may want to just troubleshoot the existing system and make it work properly. Troubleshooting the starting system is not really complicated, just pick some point in the circuit that you can access, say the control wire on the solenoid, and see if the voltage and current at that point are good or not. If not, its something between the stater solenoid and the ignition switch. If you have relay, check out out, you can put your hand on the relay and feel if it clicks when the key is turned. Check the coil resistance and see if the contacts have continuity when the relay is energized. Check wires and connectors for corrosion or damage. Make sure any neutral-start or clutch-cancel circuits are working and adjusted properly. Spend the time to find the CAUSE of the problem and don't just treat the SYMPTOMS.
Below is one interesting fix from Big Ern on the Pirate BBS. He noted that on later model vehicles with manual transmissions, the factory starter relay is energized by the ignition key as expected. However, the power source that the feeds the starter solenoid also comes from the ignition switch. He reasoned that if you cut the wire at the relay that connected to pin 3 (the relay coil) and pin 4 (the relay contact) and ran a separate wire (fused of course) to the battery to pin 4, then the relay would be able to pass the full battery voltage to the starter, instead of the somewhat reduced voltage present at the ignition switch. This would also take most of the current load off the ignition switch making it last longer. You might want to make this wire modification easy to access, since if the relay were to ever stick in the ON mode, the starter would continue to run even though the key were turned off. See below for the wiring diagram and modification:
[Last updated: 01.March.2008]