Hi Folks,
I needed to rebuild my starter because I was having issues (i.e. continually having longer and longer cranks, more frequent no cranks on my '91 3FE). Everything else checked out fine.
I searched and found these really useful guides:
forum.ih8mud.com
forum.ih8mud.com
The only reason I am adding anything here is because when I got to my starter I saw that it was a remanufactured one and many people had asked about rebuilding these but I was not able to find any confirmation that any one had successfully done it.
So here I am here with some comparison pictures and a little bit of information on doing it (the above links do a really good job).
Part I. Removing the Starter (Pretty straight forward but a lot of descriptions make it sound really complicated on the 1991-1992 3FE or super easy but vague on details).
a. Disconnect battery
b. Disconnect two electrical connections to starter (one is a bolt and the other is a simple black plastic connector that pops off).
c. Remove bolts from starter (I was able to remove both bolts from the bottom of my LC)
i. I removed the bottom bolt first with a ratchet and socket (17 mm I think). Not a lot of room to ratchet it but it came out eventually.
ii. The top bolt is the nightmare for a lot of folks. I slid a 6 inch extension with socket onto the bolt from the top of the engine bay. Used a bright LED light to locate it and then carefully guided it in. Once on I got back under the truck and was able to connect my ratchet to it. Came off easily once I had this figured out. The top bolt is a stud with a nut on it.
iii. Carefully and slowly drop down the starter.
Part II. Clean up and Replace Parts
a. My starter wasn't terribly dirty or oily but I cleaned it a bit with a little bit of degreaser. I noticed no markings or anything with "Toyota" or "Denso". It had a faded UPC bar code sticker on it.
b. Open up the end where the plunger is. Everyone else had 8 mm (philips head) hex bolts to unscrew. Mine had just really tight philips head screws. I replaced those with three 8 mm bolts. I cleaned up the side contact (blue cable) with a wire brush. Here I noticed that most of the stuff was not copper like the replacement parts (and just about everyone else's who posted pictures). Only thing copper were the two contacts. All other materials where something else. Left contact had some burned areas. The right one had what looked like a pitted surface (it didn't feel too rough though). The bottom of the plunger looked pitted with copper marks as well.
Toyota on left. Unknown remanufactured on right.
(Side note: The old left contact was really torqued on there. I had to chip away the circular black plastic insulator and use 14 mm socket so I could get enough bite to loosen it up).
c. Replaced with Toyota OEM parts from above links. Made sure to push the surface of the contacts down so they were flush with the maroon surface. Pushed the plunger down and rotated with to see how it was rubbing the contacts. Looked okay.
d. Close up starter and snugged up with wrenches. Reconnected blue wire and put on some dielectric grease followed by the rubber boot.
e. Test Starter - I wasn't too sure if any of this was going to solve my starting issues and I wanted to make sure I didn't muck anything up so I took the starter to O'Reillys so they could test it (should have initially done with as well but I hadn't really thought about it). It tested fine.
Part III. Install Starter
a. From the bottom of the LC screw in stud by hand as tight as you can get it. It will hold up the starter as you bolt and tighten it in.
b. Carefully (also from the bottom) maneuver starter up to its mounting spot and push it in. Make sure there aren't any wires or cabling in the way of the mounting surface.
c. Bolt on bottom bolt from the bottom.
d. From the top of the engine bay screw on the top bolt with accompanying washer. This took a couple tries. I thought for sure I could do this with my left hand but no luck. Worked perfectly using my right hand.
e. Position 6 inch extension and socket onto nut from up top.
f. From bottom of LC connect ratchet to extension and tighten it up.
g. Reconnect two wired connectors. I cleaned up the nut/bolt connect with a wire brush and added a little dielectric grease it it once it was tightened down.
f. Reconnect battery
I think that covers everything I did. When I started up I expected it to crank a bit and then start. I was pleasantly surprised with a quick and vibrant start. Turned it off and tried again - and again it was a great start. It pretty much starts up like a new truck. Did not expect that from this simple job.
I hope this helps 3FE folks with starter issues (or those with remanufactured ones like me).
I needed to rebuild my starter because I was having issues (i.e. continually having longer and longer cranks, more frequent no cranks on my '91 3FE). Everything else checked out fine.
I searched and found these really useful guides:
Here are the Toyota part #s for a starter rebuild.
I just got done rebuilding the starter on my '87 and I thought I would share the part numbers for the contacts and the plunger. I got the parts from Cdan, and he had to cross reference the numbers for a 3FE starter in an early 80 series. The Toyota computer does not show the individual parts...
forum.ih8mud.com
Finished my '91 starter rebuild
Got the needed parts from American Toyota and replaced the old with the new. Not hard at all. Also dissassembled the motor side, cleaned components, cleaned and regreased the bearings and tested the parts per the FSM. The biggest pain was trying to removing the starter. After that, just time...
forum.ih8mud.com
The only reason I am adding anything here is because when I got to my starter I saw that it was a remanufactured one and many people had asked about rebuilding these but I was not able to find any confirmation that any one had successfully done it.
So here I am here with some comparison pictures and a little bit of information on doing it (the above links do a really good job).
Part I. Removing the Starter (Pretty straight forward but a lot of descriptions make it sound really complicated on the 1991-1992 3FE or super easy but vague on details).
a. Disconnect battery
b. Disconnect two electrical connections to starter (one is a bolt and the other is a simple black plastic connector that pops off).
c. Remove bolts from starter (I was able to remove both bolts from the bottom of my LC)
i. I removed the bottom bolt first with a ratchet and socket (17 mm I think). Not a lot of room to ratchet it but it came out eventually.
ii. The top bolt is the nightmare for a lot of folks. I slid a 6 inch extension with socket onto the bolt from the top of the engine bay. Used a bright LED light to locate it and then carefully guided it in. Once on I got back under the truck and was able to connect my ratchet to it. Came off easily once I had this figured out. The top bolt is a stud with a nut on it.
iii. Carefully and slowly drop down the starter.
Part II. Clean up and Replace Parts
a. My starter wasn't terribly dirty or oily but I cleaned it a bit with a little bit of degreaser. I noticed no markings or anything with "Toyota" or "Denso". It had a faded UPC bar code sticker on it.
b. Open up the end where the plunger is. Everyone else had 8 mm (philips head) hex bolts to unscrew. Mine had just really tight philips head screws. I replaced those with three 8 mm bolts. I cleaned up the side contact (blue cable) with a wire brush. Here I noticed that most of the stuff was not copper like the replacement parts (and just about everyone else's who posted pictures). Only thing copper were the two contacts. All other materials where something else. Left contact had some burned areas. The right one had what looked like a pitted surface (it didn't feel too rough though). The bottom of the plunger looked pitted with copper marks as well.
Toyota on left. Unknown remanufactured on right.
(Side note: The old left contact was really torqued on there. I had to chip away the circular black plastic insulator and use 14 mm socket so I could get enough bite to loosen it up).
c. Replaced with Toyota OEM parts from above links. Made sure to push the surface of the contacts down so they were flush with the maroon surface. Pushed the plunger down and rotated with to see how it was rubbing the contacts. Looked okay.
d. Close up starter and snugged up with wrenches. Reconnected blue wire and put on some dielectric grease followed by the rubber boot.
e. Test Starter - I wasn't too sure if any of this was going to solve my starting issues and I wanted to make sure I didn't muck anything up so I took the starter to O'Reillys so they could test it (should have initially done with as well but I hadn't really thought about it). It tested fine.
Part III. Install Starter
a. From the bottom of the LC screw in stud by hand as tight as you can get it. It will hold up the starter as you bolt and tighten it in.
b. Carefully (also from the bottom) maneuver starter up to its mounting spot and push it in. Make sure there aren't any wires or cabling in the way of the mounting surface.
c. Bolt on bottom bolt from the bottom.
d. From the top of the engine bay screw on the top bolt with accompanying washer. This took a couple tries. I thought for sure I could do this with my left hand but no luck. Worked perfectly using my right hand.
e. Position 6 inch extension and socket onto nut from up top.
f. From bottom of LC connect ratchet to extension and tighten it up.
g. Reconnect two wired connectors. I cleaned up the nut/bolt connect with a wire brush and added a little dielectric grease it it once it was tightened down.
f. Reconnect battery
I think that covers everything I did. When I started up I expected it to crank a bit and then start. I was pleasantly surprised with a quick and vibrant start. Turned it off and tried again - and again it was a great start. It pretty much starts up like a new truck. Did not expect that from this simple job.
I hope this helps 3FE folks with starter issues (or those with remanufactured ones like me).
