How to replace starter contacts

[88 LE]

Well the starter in my moms 95 Corolla has been clicking for awhile and I finally got tired of it. So I yanked the stater out today and replaced the contacts.

Heres some pics I took during the rebuild:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4289640479

[1GR-FE]

if ur considering doing yer own contacts u could instead replace the whole switch itself its only a few bucks more and u get a complete switch

[ganda1f]

Great pics of the rebuild process itself, but I'm having
trouble removing the starter from the car. It's a 95 Corolla with
1.6 4AFE engine. As far as I can see, the starter is attached
to the engine with two 14 mm bolts. One below the starter and one above. Further I'm guessing that I have to remove two cables, one smaller attached to a brown socket (on the switchbox), and one thick which goes to the stud in the switchbox.
Is that all?

How far will I have to pull the starter to get it out of the engine, since there is a metal bar in the way on the switchbox side.

Next, is there anything that might fall out,
get misaligned or generally screwed where the starter is attached to the engine? Thinking like gaskets, oil leakage, bearings or something.

How did you get the upper bolt out? I've already removed the airbox (its upper part) but there is a plastic hose with cables in the way.

How hard are those bolts tightened? I'd just like to know when to give up on them before I manage to snap them off or something.

Have that clicking problem with my starter so I've decided to replace contacts on it.

[88 LE]

Originally posted by ganda1f
Further I'm guessing that I have to remove two cables, one smaller attached to a brown socket (on the switchbox), and one thick which goes to the stud in the switchbox.
Is that all?

Yup, just 2 bolts and 2 wires.

Make sure you disconnect the positive battery cable though, unless you like seeing sparks and arc welding.

How far will I have to pull the starter to get it out of the engine, since there is a metal bar in the way on the switchbox side.

The starter is a bitch to remove on your car. Theres some stuff in the way (axle and crossmember).

I think I pulled it out by an opening near the passenger side wheel.

Next, is there anything that might fall out, get misaligned or generally screwed where the starter is attached to the engine? Thinking like gaskets, oil leakage, bearings or something.

No.

How did you get the upper bolt out? I've already removed the airbox (its upper part) but there is a plastic hose with cables in the way.

The upper bolt is easy to remove compared to the bottom bolt.

The starter is behind and underneath the intake manifold. Just look around that area and you'll see the top bolt for the starter.

The bottom bolt is a bitch to remove. Good luck with it. I think I ended up using a impact wrench.

How hard are those bolts tightened?

Pretty tight. If I had to guess I'd say around 40 ft. lbs. or so.

[shawnstam]

I replace contacts in my starter with some homade bronze ones. I just took apart the solinoid removed the contacts and made some out of thin bronze sheet metal. after you do this you will never replace them again. if you scew up you solinoid just trow it away and buy a new one. if you dont screw it up then you saves you self some money

[ganda1f]

Pulled my starter today and replaced the contacts. Thanks a lot for the tip about how to actually remove the thing from the car. It would have probably taken me a lot more time to figure out by myself that the starter could be removed through an opening near the passenger-side front wheel.

Funny thing though, I couldn't put it back the same way :P
So it went from above, behind the intake manifold. There was however no way to get the starter OUT through there. Guess it's just a one-way street through the engine bay

The bottom bolt turned out not to be such a pain afterall.
I used a really long extension with a universal joint.
The extension reached almost all the way to the passenger-side wheel and once there, I had all the room in the world to unscrew the bolt.

Also saved myself some 150$ for the labour, cause that's what my dealer wanted for replacing the contacts.

[Slant]

I must be the stupid one 'round here but I was having a lot of trouble with removing the top starter bolt... There's this metal plate/guide that holds a wiring harness right smack in front of the bolt & I had no way of getting a socket in there. I had to 1st remove the top AND bottom of the air filter box, took out a plastic clip that was attached to the top of this metal plate to get to this other bolt that holds the metal plate to the engine block. Undid the bolt, removed the metal plate in order for the socket to get to the top starter bolt.

After that it was easy sailing.

[timebuilder]

Compare picture #8 to picture #13. You will see that the new contact is different from the old, and does not line up properly with the plunger opening.

Just an FYI.

Oh, and the battery cable you want to remove for this job is the NEGATIVE cable.

To remove the bolts, a good quality flex socket and the proper extension and a nice ratchet handle is a BIG help. If I recall correctly, there was a brace I used to move out of the way.

[Blackout5]

The image wont work. Can someone re-upload it. Or have any other examples like it?

[new echo owner]

Originally Posted by Blackout5

The image wont work. Can someone re-upload it. Or have any other examples like it?

That was a pretty old thread, so the image might no longer be available on from that link. Have you try do a search to see if there is another thread that may have pics with it?

What kind of info do you need? What model of vehicle do you have?

N.E.O.

[Blackout5]

Haha I got it fixed. I was just trying to look for as much info about the starter in the corolla. I got 1.6L 1997. It (starter) died 2 weeks ago. Today i had someone help me replace it with a refurbished one. Sounds better then before. ;]
Thanks for help tho.

[new echo owner]

Glad to hear that!

to TN too!

N.E.O.

[doggie750]

Newbie here.........

Gotta replace mine again but I forgot about it.....guess after having 3 babies my brain just fried. Help is needed here...got any pics to aid us here fixing this thing. Thank you.

[Tercel GTS]

Repair your own STARTER

[jasonsmith092]

sounds good to me a lot.