Starter Refurbish

[hberdan]

I refurbished the starter on my 87 4x4 this morning, it took only about an hour, and saved me big bucks over replacing the starter with a rebuilt one from an auto parts store.
The diagnoses for this was pretty simple--in cold weather, turning the key= no start, or delayed start after a couple of seconds. And this with a new battery. And a long cranking sequence at some other times. A worn out starter.?
This is a common problem with Tercel 3A motors--It's happened to 3 different Tercels now.
What does a rebuilt starter cost? More than a few bucks! My solution is cheaper.
I removed the starter after disconnecting the battery--it's easy, it only requires turning out 2, 14mm bolts from the back of the starter, unplugging a connector, and unbolting the wire lead--presto, a 10 minute job.
Next, I removed the back plate from the solenoid, pulled out the plunger, and dianosed the problem-- the very very worn out contacts inside the housing. When these contacts are spalled, ground down, or damaged, the starter has a tough time funtioning. Sometimes it will not even work, and will freeze up and refuse to crank. Replacement is extremely easy! The contacts are a couple of small right-angle bronze bushings, and need to be purchased at an alternator rebuilding shop--I'm not sure a regular auto parts store would have them--but the total cost is around $6 for the pair.
Another ten minutes to replace the bushings, it's very straightforward. A few more minutes to buff the contact plate on the plunger--reassembly, and the starter was ready to reinstall.
On this starter, all the teeth were in good shape on the wheel--if the teeth are damaged or broken, then that needs to be replaced, also easy to do. This is a part to get from the same repair shop if needed.
The reinstallation is just as easy as can be--this is one motor that is easy to get around on.
Total cost for starter rebuild--$6. Time involved--less than an hour, plus the time to get the parts.
My point to all this? Well, I'm no great mechanic, but this was a simple and easy repair, saved me big bucks, and more important, keeps the wagon going. Next time you have some starter problems, consider a rebuild yourself before dropping a pile of money at Pep Boys or Checker.

[takza]

Good info!

But this needs to be posted in the Repair Guides section so someday in the future when my starter starts crapping out...I could go to that section and look for "How to fix your #?@^$?# starter" or something like that.