74 FJ40 Starter Issue? Help needed

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J

jschlosser

10 Year
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Threads
14
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63
Location
Silicon Valley
Hi All,

ok.. so I had a fuel pump leak which I fixed over the weekend. My FJ40 starts beautifully when it's cold (first start of the day), I drove it to the gas station to put in some gas and stopped to air up the tires, when I did that it would turn over.. I waited another minute or so and it started just fine.

I drove it around for another 2 miles, drove it into the garage. Turned it off and when I tried to start it again nothing.. Won't turn over at all.

The battery is fine and charged as it also has a new alternator. I'm hoping when it cools back down it will start up again just fine.

Any ideas as to what could be the problem.. is my Starter bad? My ignition coil is only a few years old.

I hope someone had this problem before and knows what's going on.

Thanks for the assistance.

John
 
Could be one or more of a few things...Bad solenoid, needs new brushes in the starter, bad electrical connection.
Try wiggling the wires to the starter, cleaning the grounds, hitting the side of the starter with something (a hammer or your shoe) next time it won't crank, jumping the electrical connections to see if it cranks.
Might be nice to replace it with a later 60 series starter, cheaper to put new brushes in the old one.
 
If it won't crank, then it's not the coil or any other ignition items, it could only be the starter, the battery, cables (especially including ground) or the ignition switch. If it cranks one minute and not the next, you can rule out the battery. It's simple to check if the cables are loose or broken. While you have the positive cable off the battery, disconnect the cables at the starter and clean up the connections. To test the ignition switch, have someone turn the key when it won't start and see if you've got 12v at the solenoid terminal on the starter. If it passes all of these tests, then it's most likely the starter/solenoid. When I was young and cheap, I used to carry around a pipe to whack my starter. I went for a year like that until I broke down and got a new one. Pighead is right that the newer gear reduction starters are a nice improvement, if you determine that the starter is your problem.
 
Make sure the ground is clean and hooked up off the starter. Once I forgot to put it back on and couldnt figure out why my 40 would start some times and sometimes not....it would only start when the ground was brushing up against the frame. Yeah....I did that. Embarrasing.
 
alrightly.. checked everything out.. looks like when I removed a bottom brush guard when I was replacing the fuel pump, I must've nudged lose one of the other connector wires to the starter solenoid. so I took it off.. brushed it off and popped it back on.. and am back in business.

If I do want to replace the start though.. it's is an easy thing to do? Once I get the new one in would I have to do anything special like set timing or anything like that?

Thanks so much for the help.. really making working on my FJ a lot of fun!

John
 
Replacing your starter is an easy job. Just the wires you've already seen and a few bolts. No timing, or any other adjustments. The only trick, if you decide to go with a gear reduction starter, is that there is no provision for a wire to your coil. You can leave it off and you will be just fine though. The new starter is smaller and works better (see below). On mine, the wire from the battery to the starter was a little too short to work with the new starter so I had to get a new battery cable too. No biggie.
IMG_0157.webp
 
Swapping in a GR starter is pretty easy, plenty of threads on it here. You will probably need a slightly longer cable from the battery post to the starter. No need to adjust timing. Stop calling it an FJ.
 
awesome thanks.. did some more searching now that I know what a gr starter is and found part numbers and that they are from fj60's...

I want to give it a try on my FJ40 now.....

Thanks!
 
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orangefj45 (georg) has a personal stash of fj60 GR starters for around $45. PM him. very good guy. i just got one from him days ago.
 
Did you solve your problem? I have the same problem with my 71 1F. Starts every time when cold, but she's a bit temperamental when warmed up. Usually needs to cool off before it'll re-start. Had one trusted mechanic believe it's a cooling issue. Has anyone here had/solved this problem before?
 
IDBJ said:
Did you solve your problem? I have the same problem with my 71 1F. Starts every time when cold, but she's a bit temperamental when warmed up. Usually needs to cool off before it'll re-start. Had one trusted mechanic believe it's a cooling issue. Has anyone here had/solved this problem before?
Click to expand...
What exactly does it do when hot? Temperamental is a very broad term.
 
What do you mean wont restart. just cranks and cranks and wont catch?
 
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Thanks for the replies. It starts every time when cold, but yes once warmed up it cranks and cranks but just won't spark up. It will bump start. So far I've cleaned up the ground connection but that didn't solve the problem (although it was certainly a bit rusty). Temperature gauge never rises to a point where it would seem to be the cause.
 
what is your starting procedure when the engine is hot?
 
So far I've tried to start by just turning the key with my foot off the gas, and also by giving a few pumps, and one time I just stepped on the damn gas pedal and it did crank up. Are you telling me you guys give it some gas even when warmed up to re-start?
 
in the user manual "Hot Start" it says to pump 1-3 times and keep foot on accelerator pedal while cranking, remove foot when it catches. I found this works well after the engine is hot.

Vapor lock can occur in these vehicles.
 
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