3B starter replacement - nose cone swap (1 Viewer)

[amaurer]

This is old old old news, but since I was a little frustrated finding pics and part numbers, this is my contribution...

Starters for 3B's like mine (p/n 28100-56080 for a 12V 1982 BJ42 w/ EDIC) have long been discontinued. The motor itself, however, is used in other Toyota starters and can be swapped into your existing starter housing/flange/gearbox/"nose cone" to bring it back to life.

The starter for the 2L is one such donor (28100-54090 or 28100-54090-84) but it too has
been discontinued (ref https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/2lt-starter-for-3b-nose-cone-swap-discontinued.806642).

An aftermarket 2L starter is still available (actually many aftermarket options are available, see thread linked above) - I ordered a Remy 16830 from Rockauto.com ($156 including $30 core) to do my swap.

Side by side its easy to see how similar the starters are - only the clocking of the mounting flange is different:

The motor is held in with two long bolts in the rear - the hex bolts, NOT the screws (which hold the brush holder):

Also disconnect the motor wire from the side of the motor house and it should slide right out. Don't worry too much if the case also splits in the center, but hold it together so the brush springs don't pop out:

The new starter also is a free source of a new plunger and contacts, gasket, insulators, etc, so remove the three screws from the solenoid cover:

And unscrew, disconnect, remove, or otherwise extract all of this good stuff:

Assemble all these goodies into the new starter in the same way they came out. Easy! Voila:

Two things I think are worth pointing out...

#1 The motor housing is SLIGHTLY different. The 3B motor is positioned with a drain that points straight down towards the ground (upwards in the picture) but the 2L motor has the drain pointing right at the block. See:

You could cure this by drilling a new hold in the motor case and moving the plastic tube. Or you could ignore it and risk it. Up to you.

#2 The aftermarket starter motor might have parts of a lower quality. I did notice that the amount of material in the aftermarket contactor was somewhat thinner than the part I removed. The one I removed is not original Toyota either, however - it was a replacement I bought from the Heavy Duty Denso catalog, so I don't really know what thickness Toyota used. But food for thought. (Denso left, Remy right)

 

[amaurer]

I should add that not only is my intermittent starting finally fixed, the new starter is FAST.

Easily twice as fast as my old one, if not more.

 

[AlbertoSD]

Thank you for documenting this, Drew.

I know the starter on my BJ40 (with a 3B) is old and tired....will have to go this route.

Thanks again!

-Alberto

 

[lostmarbles]

Great contribution Drew.

Pictures are always a big help to understanding what's involved in a job.

 

[samwise]

I know this is old but wanted to put a small update on here.
First big thanks to Amaurer and others for posting this up (and many other well documented posts by armaurer)!!
I have been out of mud for a while now, but was refreshing to come back here for easy to find information when my starter went out.
My Bj is my daily driver so while I could whack the starter with a hammer I needed it fixed asap, so I found NAPA had a starter that would work with the nose cone swap
Napa part #2446152

Not the cheapest out there ($130 after core) but was the fastest for me by several days.
I followed what Drew posted and worked out great.
I did want to add a bit of nontechnical advice. It was a pain to get the top bolt of the starter, I couldnt get to it with a wrench from the top and didn't think at first I could from the bottom. I realized I could by going from the bottom by using a 6" extension and I think its a 17mm bolt? But go above the bell housing and you can reach it with the extension to get it out, was easy once I banged around for a hour. Pics below showing the extension in relative position, the bottom of the pic is towards the front of vehicle.

Also the Napa starter had the drain pointing down.

 

[SuperDuperCruizer]

amaurer, thanks for documenting the nose cone swap in detail. I'm wrapping up my nose cone swap with the NAPA part that samwise posted. I found a square sort of woodruff key in the original 3B starter motor. Here's a picture of the slot it sets into on both the ND & NAPA starters. The "key" was missing in the NAPA part. Doesn't seem to be critical since the bolts hold the motor in place. I guess someone could potentially reassemble the starter with the motor rotated 180 degrees with the piece omitted.

 

[ToyRoverlander]

I rebuild starters and alternators for a living. These Denso starters are very good quality. The brushes hardly wear out. The bendix basically never goes bad.
Bearings are hardly ever renewed.
All it needs to make the as new again is a set of new contacts and plunger if that one is badly pitted or damaged, and brushes. Together with the brushes it's important to get rid of the black glazing on the collectot. I use a lathe and some sanding paper as that makes quick work of it. You could do it by hand, just takes a bit longer.
All parts are still available.

 

[GarrettS]

I know this is old but wanted to put a small update on here.
My Bj is my daily driver so while I could whack the starter with a hammer I needed it fixed asap, so I found NAPA had a starter that would work with the nose cone swap
Napa part #2446152

Not the cheapest out there ($130 after core) but was the fastest for me by several days.
I followed what Drew posted and worked out great.
I did want to add a bit of nontechnical advice. It was a pain to get the top bolt of the starter, I couldnt get to it with a wrench from the top and didn't think at first I could from the bottom. I realized I could by going from the bottom by using a 6" extension and I think its a 17mm bolt? But go above the bell housing and you can reach it with the extension to get it out, was easy once I banged around for a hour. Pics below showing the extension in relative position, the bottom of the pic is towards the front of vehicle.

I'm reviving this post because 3B starter availability is becoming more spotty and now that its 2017 it may only continue to diminish.
I was in need of a new starter for my 84 BJ60 and went with the NAPA part number that samwise posted. the nearest part was a few days away but arrived undamaged. Everything with the nose swap worked well except the phillips head bolts on my broken OEM re-man starter were too tight and stripped. NAPA's website says their part re-manufacturer is "NipponDenso" but there was no paper work in the box or any sticker on the starter to confirm a Denso part. I will say that it ended up working great!