Need some input on starter contacts

[slomatt]

Today I pulled out the starter and as suspected the contacts were heavily worn. As Mike warned in his instructions removing the plastic plug on the starter was a pain and ultimately it took me under the truck pushing the clip and a friend pulling the wire from the wheel well. The good news was that the two starter bolts were not corroded at all and were really easy to remove. The really weird thing was that the plastic cover over the terminal had broken down and turned in to a sticky goop which a pain to clean off.

I've read that all autos have the 1.8kw starter and manuals have the 1.4kw starter. My 2000 4runner 5spd has Toyota part number 28100-62050 which is the 1.4kw so this seems to be true.

Now it's time to buy some replacement parts...

- Matt

[paddlenbike]

The 1.8kw starter definitely turns the motor over faster and it sounds a little different, but definitely not worth the expense of upgrading if yours is rebuildable.

[Piett]

The really weird thing was that the plastic cover over the terminal had broken down and turned in to a sticky goop which a pain to clean off.

I swear it was like the boot melted and behaved like chewing gum. Super tacky.

[4x4mike]

Maybe it caught fire/got really hot and melted. Was the wire connection tight? If not maybe it arc'd or had a bunch of resistance and got hot.

[slomatt]

The connection was tight with no evidence of arcing. The only thing I can think of is that it is near the exhaust manifold and got melted? Perhaps the previous owner had a huge turbo setup on there or something.

- Matt

[slomatt]

After pulling the starter I determined that it was the 1.4kw unit that appears to be standard on 5spd 4Runners. The contacts are the part numbers listed in Mike's post, they cost about $25 for the pair. Unfortunately the dealership did not carry the plunger, so I just cleaned up the old one and re-used it. Installing the new contacts was easy, and re-installation of the starter was also easy EXCEPT for the hassle of getting the starter past the exhaust manifold and into place.

Thanks again to everyone for your input.

- Matt

[20005spd]

i replaced my starter contacts about 6 months ago. symptoms were occasionally not starting, just clicking, being a tech i said screw it, so i used to park on a hill and pop start it. then it got bad enough to where it would stay cranking i removed the starter and the contacts and brought them to the dealer and matched them up. they had tons of both types in stock. $5 each, i reused the plunger, cleaned it up with sand paper or lightly with an angle grinder. have been trouble free since