Changing a 93' 4-runner starter

[Aseif007]

I am helping my friend change his starter on his 93 V-6 4X4 manuel 4-runner and I have run into a problem. I work on Cruisers mostly. He bought a aftermarket rebuilt starter (yes I know OEM is better but it is not my truck, and I am there to help) and the case looked identical to the Toyota starter. Well, I removed the broken starter and installed the new one. It went in with no problems, the body of the starter was completely on the bellhousing. So when we go to start it all I hear is what sounds like the gear turning. So I tested the old starter (should have done this first) but the old starter would shutter instead of spin so I know the old one is no good. So I am thinking that the part is incorrect, but the supplier says it is correct. Did I forget something while installing? I know on Chevys you sometimes need shims, but I haven't had to shim any of my Cruiser starters. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jukelemon]

Andrew:

As you probably know, you shim to get 100% surface contact on the gears. It would seem unlikely that you would be so out of tolerance that all you would get is a spinning. Could be though BUT you should have seen shims on the OE starter during R and R. Might want to check depth of starter gear while at rest for both and see if they are the same. That at least eliminates one variable in the picture.

 

[Aseif007]

Sorry for not saying this before, there were no shims on the starter that we removed. And I do plan looking closer to the gear when we pull the new starter.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Mine does that every so often. Check this out:

http://bbs.off-road.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=offroadtoytruck&Number=1145523&Searchpage=4&Main=1142064&Words=starter&topic=&Search=true#Post1145523

That seems like a reasonable solution.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

I've never seen shims on a Toy, only chevys... wasn't Cadilac the company that started the whole thing about "interchangable parts"? Whatever happened to that?

 

[Tools R Us]

Is the battery cable installed on the correct side of the starter? There are terminals on both sides, if it's hooked to the wrong side the solenoid will not kick in. If the old one just clicked it probably just needed contacts.

No shims on a Toyota, that's a GM thing, if it kicks and turns with the key and the motor doesn't turn ether the ring gear is bad or a faulty rebuild.