Starter Problems

[jzmq]

I'm having issues with my starter and wonder if anybody can assist. I bought a new battery the other day, cleaned up some wiring for an amp and my glow plugs, went to start the car and nothing. Starter relay clicks, but nothing at all from the starter.

What I've done:

1) borrowed voltometer and checked battery- 12.8 volts
2) checked continuity at starter - fine
3) checked at solenoid - fine
4) tried bumping solenoid- nothing happened, I get power between positive and starter, but starter doesn't do a thing.
5) removed starter and tried to bump- first few times, the starter turned feebly, but no kick (the gear turned, but did not move out like it normaly should.)
6) opened up the starter, took everything apart to clean it- now I find that if I put a direct line ONLY to the negative output of the solenoid, I get continuity anywhere on the housing of the starter- is that right? Likewise if I put a direct line to the positive input on the solenoid- I get continuity anywhere on the housing. Is this correct? I would have thought that with everything disassembeled, the solenoid would only have continuity between the positive input and negative output. ie the solenoid is completely isolated and should not be making any contact with the housing.
7) How do you get the solenoid out of the housing? This is the second time I've had the starter rebuilt and I cant find anything but used (possibly in the same condition) starters here.

John

 

[Ron R]

I'm having issues with my starter and wonder if anybody can assist. I bought a new battery the other day, cleaned up some wiring for an amp and my glow plugs, went to start the car and nothing. Starter relay clicks, but nothing at all from the starter.

What I've done:

1) borrowed voltometer and checked battery- 12.8 volts

So batterie is good

2) checked continuity at starter - fine

You mean you have a voltage of 12.8 here as well between the 'fat' cable leading from batterie to starter? That's how it should be.

3) checked at solenoid - fine

What have you checked? the cable is connected to the one terminal of the solenoid and you you still have 12.8V?

4) tried bumping solenoid- nothing happened, I get power between positive and starter, but starter doesn't do a thing.

Don't quite understand what you mean here. Did you 'momentarely' connect the 12.8V from the batterie to the small terminal of the solenoid and nothing happened?

Question: Did you make sure there was ground between batterie and starter-housing?

5) removed starter and tried to bump- first few times, the starter turned feebly, but no kick (the gear turned, but did not move out like it normaly should.)

If you connected the + -side of the baterrie to the small terminal of the solenoid (You also had a 'ground' !!??) and nothing happened, then the solenoid is shot.

6) opened up the starter, took everything apart to clean it- now I find that if I put a direct line ONLY to the negative output of the solenoid, I get continuity anywhere on the housing of the starter- is that right?

Yes this is right. You should measure a resistance of a few Ohm's though.
If there was no continuity then there could not flow a current.

Likewise if I put a direct line to the positive input on the solenoid- I get continuity anywhere on the housing. Is this correct? I would have thought that with everything disassembeled, the solenoid would only have continuity between the positive input and negative output. ie the solenoid is completely isolated and should not be making any contact with the housing.

This is a bit complex to explain but I'll give it a try.
Normally (I'm not 100% sure about your setup) a starter solenoid would have three terminals.
Two large ones. To one of the two the cable leading from the batterie is connected. To the second one the cable from the starter-motor itself is connected. There should not be any continuity between the solenoid-housing and these terminals. Nor in between these terminals AS LONG AS the solenoid is not engaged.
Engaging of the solenoid is accomplished by connecting the third and relatively small terminal of this apparatus to batterie +.
There must be continuity between this terminal and the housing, though, again, here you have to find a few Ohm's of resistance.

For as well the solenoid as the starter-motor use their housing as the negative connection to the batterie.

7) How do you get the solenoid out of the housing? This is the second time I've had the starter rebuilt and I cant find anything but used (possibly in the same condition) starters here.

Sorry. I can't answer that specificly. If the starter is actuated by the solenoid then normally a small pin in the starterhousing (90 degrees across the motorhousing) has to be taken out first. The actuator pivots around this pin. Then, after undoing two screws, the solenoid can be taken apart.
Is the starter inertia engaged, then all the solenoid does is making the electrical connection for the starter motor and might be placed remotely from the startermotor. I don't know how to dismantle these.

Just one more remark. If you engage the solenoid by it's own, there should be a noticable sound and strong reaction from the thing itself.
Should you try to engage the starter-motor off the engine, be aware that the starting-torque is tremendous.
Secure the motor by clamping it to a workbench or something before connecting it to the batterie to test. Do NOT hold it in your hands!!!

Good luck,

 

[cruiser_guy]

The problem I have always had with the starter is the solenoid contacts. The two copper "L" shaped contacts and the disc in the middle. There tends to be more wear on one "L" contact than the other, I can't remember which one, and also there gets buildup on the "L" contactor as well that won't let the disc make contact all the way across to power the starter motor itself. Usually this starts as an intermittent problem and progressively gets worse.
If you can replace the "L" contacts and the disc you probably will solve the problem.

The part numbers we use in Canada are in the sticky at the top of the diesel forum but I imagine that in Africa it's like in Central America and you just take the old parts and match them up (no part number needed). These parts do not show up in the Toyota parts catalog.

 

[jzmq]

Thanks for all the help. After writing the post, I decided to download the engine manual again (my comp crashed with my copy on it) and looked at it a few times. I still couldn't find out where my problem was, but after taking everything apart, cleaning it up and putting it together again, the starter started working like a charm. I'm still not sure what was causing the problem, but I'm sure it was a bad/dirty connection somwhere. I'm pretty sure it was somwhere on the actuator-magnetic switch. Either way, a good learning experience.

John