With a fresh charge on a fresh battery, my BJ barely cranks over. I know it is not the battery, and think it is either the cables not providing enough voltage or a weak starter. Are there any recommendations on a place to order a good starter, or a part number, or a place that with do a remanufacture in Northeast US? THanks Dave.
1978 BJ40 Starter (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter DM993tt
- Start date
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It may be the bearings in the starter. If the battery and wires are good, and when you turn the key and the starter quickly engages but is slow to turn, then probably bearings. But if it does not always engage but takes a couple of key turns to get it to engage then it may be the plunger and contacts.
Daryl
Daryl
As Daryl says, the solenoid contacts and plunger are a good place to start. (Burnt contacts can restrict current flow to make your starter perform badly .. even when it always engages properly.)
If you really want a replacement starter, I doubt you'll find any new ones available. So that leaves you only with soucing "second hand". Just make sure the voltage matches your cruiser and remember that a 3B in the same voltage BJ42 should have the same starter.
(There is another alternative where you get a second-hand starter off another Toyota ... such as some prados & some hiluxes .... and swap over your old nose cone..)
But rather than sourcing another starter, I think you should concentrate on fixing your existing one. They're pretty robust and usually only get damaged from extreme events.
Firstly make sure your battery is not only fully charged and in good condition but also of sufficient CCA rating.
And make sure too that you have a good earthing circuit to your starter motor (as well as having a good circuit to it from the +Ve battery terminal).
Toyota connected my battery's -Ve terminal to the bodywork (LH mudguard/fender) and neglected to run a lead from there to my engine (thus leaving returning current to find a more tortuous path back to my battery). When I corrected this situation by installing a thick lead from my fender to my engine it resulted in a noticeable increase in cranking rpm.
bj40green
Tssss, tssss
I would start with the clamps and cables.
Take the clamps off, clean the battery posts with sandpaper, clean the clamps inside with some sandpaper rolled up.
Check where the cable meets the clamp. Check the connections to ground and to the starter. (I prefer a direct ground cable from the - battery to the engine block, but that's me.)
If all is OK, hook up a voltmeter (red wire) to the +bolt on the starter and the black wire to ground.
Crank engine, the reading should be more than 10Volts with a fully charged battery. If your reading is lower with a full battery you have a resistance point somewhere in your + or - cable or your battery is too small (not enough CCA's).
Good luck,
Rudi
Take the clamps off, clean the battery posts with sandpaper, clean the clamps inside with some sandpaper rolled up.
Check where the cable meets the clamp. Check the connections to ground and to the starter. (I prefer a direct ground cable from the - battery to the engine block, but that's me.)
If all is OK, hook up a voltmeter (red wire) to the +bolt on the starter and the black wire to ground.
Crank engine, the reading should be more than 10Volts with a fully charged battery. If your reading is lower with a full battery you have a resistance point somewhere in your + or - cable or your battery is too small (not enough CCA's).
Good luck,
Rudi
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