Anyone have pictures of their 87-91 starter?

[oscaryu1]

Hey guys, remember me? (Or not).

Couple years ago, it was the 13 year old trying to swap his 88' Camry's motor.

Couple years later, I'm 14 and is half finished with swapping his 1987 Toyota Camry's motor.

Well, motor is in, and most of the plugging up is done, but problem right now is the starter.

She won't crank.

Right now I see three "main" connections with the starter. The + terminal sticking out that you connect one of the... wires to (with a bit O at the end), one place where a little "clicker" connector goes into, and the ground (negative).

So... the moment you turn on the car (not starting), the + and the ground measures 12.5V (same as battery).

Which, to my guess, means the relay is stuck on. Story goes I believed back then that if I kept holding down the starter, the motor would unstick itself

Obviously, eventually it stopped clicking and "trying" to crank completely...

Right now, I'm trying to figure out which connector goes into that... area above the + terminal.

If anyone has pictures, that would be greatly appreciated - or any tips about where the relay is, ect, or what could be happening...

[white90dx]

The ground/negative connection for the starter goes through the transmission housing to where the wire that should be bolted to the top of the transmission and to the battery terminal.

The large connection (ring terminal) should be directly to the battery at all times. It is the only unfused connection in the car - be careful with it!

The smaller connection will only have 12V+ when the key is in the 'start' position. This powers the solenoid that pushes the nose of the starter to engage the flexplate/flywheel.

First, can you turn the motor over by hand? (socked on the crank bolt, try turning the motor)

Second, have you tried to jump the car? (the extra voltage from a running car may get it to start)

Are you just getting the one click? If so, the starter solenoid contacts are old and might need replacing/cleaning. Or you can read Doctor J's thread at the top of this forum for a little more information about adding an extra relay to the circuit.

-Charlie

[oscaryu1]

There is no click when you turn the key, at ALL.

Why? One of my friends though holding down the key in the "start" position would eventually free the motor.

Smart I know, but I wasn't there at the time...

And I came back to see something smoking under the hood, and hold him to GTFO and stop...

And now there's no click. So I believe I fried the relay? Any tips on where it is located?

And the ring terminal should wait... have + or -? Right now I have it hooked up to the + (it's coming from the wiring harness).

Is that correct?

[oscaryu1]

And the little port above the terminal where the connector is supposed to go, is it supposed to supply power also?

[white90dx]

Once again, check the motor by hand to see if it is actually frozen. It probably isn't.

There are no relays under the hood for the starting circuit. If you have a manual trans car, you have a relay in the kick panel.

You may have fried the starter solenoid, which is in the starter itself.

Check what voltage you get on the solenoid wire (the wire with the clip) when the key is in the start position.

Can you post a picture of how yours is hooked up? I can photoshop (errrr... MS Paint) it if anything is wrong.

-Charlie

[oscaryu1]

It's not, I took it out when swapping, and it turns over fine.

Ah... I see. Using the ohm function, from the ring terminal to the metal casing, there's no connecting.

From the little clip thing above it, to the motor housing, it DOES have a connection.

With just the car in the "on" position, that little ring and the housing measures 12V already.

I'd love to post a picture, but I'm away from the car currently (sadly)...

Any tips? I have no idea what's wrong to be honest.

[oscaryu1]

And the wire with the clip that attaches above that terminal, I'm confused...

Is that actually supposed to supply power? We could not find the right wire that goes there... we found something similar to it, but it would not fit, and it was of VERY thing wire.

Nothing like something that would carry enough current (at all) to even flick the starter over once.

[white90dx]

The smaller connection powers the solenoid (not the starter!). The ring terminal powers the starter after the solenoid is engaged by the smaller connection.

You should get some resistance between the small conneciton and the starter case (the solenoid resistance). You should not have any connection between the big ring terminal and the case - the conneciton is only made while the starter is spinning/engaged.

Hook up a battery charger, starter box, or another car (jump start) to see if it works. Your battery is probably discharged enough that it can't engage the solenoid. Also, please read the thread at the top of the forum on adding a starter relay. There is more good info there.

-Charlie

PS. I've said all this stuff already... go do it!

[oscaryu1]

Actually we never hooked that smaller one up

That could be the problem Was it a brownish wire correct? (It sorta broke off when we tried to put it in)

Battery was a 6 month old one we took out of a running 01' Camry that just did 200 miles back home, and measured 13.6V, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by oscaryu1

Actually we never hooked that smaller one up

That could be the problem Was it a brownish wire correct? (It sorta broke off when we tried to put it in)

Battery was a 6 month old one we took out of a running 01' Camry that just did 200 miles back home, and measured 13.6V, so it shouldn't be a problem.

LOL.... so you thought the car would start with one of the connections to the starter not there?

The connector and the the wire should both be black, but they may have faded over the years. The wire is a standard spade connector size, which helps out if you need to replace it for some reason.

-Charlie

[oscaryu1]

Well there are actually two of those "spare like" ones coming from the harness... One slightly larger IIRC... I'll try and look for a black wire spade connector ?

[white90dx]

There are other connectors in the area that might be confusing - the oil pressure warning switch and the water temp sender come to mind. I think they are both single wire connections.

-Charlie