Friend needs help

[DAEDALUS]

Hi all,

Sorry to post this here, but I think some members might know the answer to this one.A friend of mine has a '95 Camry that is having problems starting. I believe it is most likely the starter or the relay. Anyone have knowledge with regard to this? How hard is it to replace the starter?More importantly, anyone know of a good Toyota website out there, maybe a NICO equivalent? (OK, OK, there's no equivalent, but you know what I mean)

Just looking for info here, and appreciate any help. Mods, feel free to delete this thread after a few days.

TIA

[Mayhem_J30]

what's it doing?i thought i was having a problem with the starter on the I30 but I got lucky and it was only the battery. It showed 12.75 V under no load and 14V from the alt after started. but as soon as it was under load during starting tghat thing dropped to 10V's! Hardly enough to start it. That was on a warm day. When it had real cold morning it was even enough juice to turn it over..just click click click. I'll take $50 over $180 any day.

[DAEDALUS]

Yeah, I thought the battery first thing, but he took it in and had it charged and load tested and they assured him it was fine. (Still, I will get my power-start on it just to be sure when I go to look at it.) The relay clicks everytime he tries to start it, but it takes several tries before the starter actually turns. Sounds to me like a half-sticking relay or oxidized contacts. I tried doing some research on Toyotas...I found out that the Celica relay is behind the dash and not that accessible. Hopefully that's not the case with his Camry. Luckily, the starter can be replaced without too much trouble if that's the problem. Thanks a lot. If anyone has any more info, I'm all ears.

[Mayhem_J30]

can you replace just the solenoid and not the whole starter? if i ever had a starter problem it was only the solenoid that has went bad but i always had to buy the whole darn thing!

[DrewQ45]

...Common problem..... What you described is a starter gone bad. There's a brittle copper wire in the starters that tend to develop cracks causing an open circuit. You can confirm this by tapping on the starter with a metallic object (lug tool works great) while the ignition key is being held in the starting positon. The starter should jump to life immediately.

Owned a Camry for 9 years. I can't imagine an easier starter job... it's staring you right in the face.

Remove the Battery cables. Remove postive power cable (plug) from the starter. The negative cable is held down by a small nut under a rubber cap. There are two long bolts that hold the starter in place--14 mm socket? When putting in new starter, you may need to rotate it slightly so the teeth engage with the flywheel gear. The job should take no more than 25 minutes to half hour. Dont forget to bring back your old starter so you get back your core charge (roughly $70 average). They rebuild it and sell it again after getting a silver paint job. Buying aftermarket is not a sin since it's so easy to change.

..Drew...

[DAEDALUS]

Thanks for the info guys. My buddy did a voltage drop test this morning that seems to indicate that it is the starter (or solenoid), as opposed to the relay. Agreed, starter is pretty accessible. I saw it yesterday for the first time. My buddy had it taken to a local mechanic he has a good relationship with, so the repair cost shouldn't be too high. I called Pep Boys yesterday in my quest for the relay, and I asked them the book time on replacing the starter. They told me it was 1.7 hours! To be fair, I was somewhat impressed that the part has a lifetime replacement guarantee, but just on the part.

[DrewQ45]

Why not just install it yourselves? It's truly not a difficult task. Don't know if this will work but.... if you decide to have it done somehwere.... ask them to refund you the core cost which they will keep if nothing is said.

..Drew...