'90 Camry wont start!

[jmaz001]

Hello everyone.
I am new to this forum and had scanned some threads on this topic but haven't seen anything like what I am experiencing, so excuse me if I am repeating a past topic. My wife's car, 1990 Camry 6cyl, Automatic, is having problems starting. In the past she would have to turn the key and turn over the engine several times. If it didn"t start then, she would have to repeat up to 3 or 4 times. Occasionally in the past she would turn the key and nothing would happen but the battery had enough power because if you gave the car a few minutes it would crank up. Now she turns the key and the engine might turn over until you let off the key, or you could turn the key a million times and the engine would not turn over. Seems to happen when it is cold. Something is clicking in the engine bay, Maybe starter. I have hit the starter but still nothing. Any ideas?

Josh

[PaulPR]

If you turn the key and hear a single click, chances are good your starter contacts are worn. Depending on how mechanically inclined you are will determine your course of action. You can get a set of contacts from someplace like www.startercontacts.com, or a local auto electric shop and replace them yourself. Or remove the start and take it to a shop. If you take the car to the shop, they'd just install a new starter and not deal w/ the contacts. I've replaced contacts on 3 Toyotas over the years. In my experience they seem to go ~120K miles

[jmaz001]

I am fairly mechanical. The engine might turn over once if I went and tried it right now, also it might not, but if I let off the key and then tried to turn it over again it wont turn over. Does this sound like the contacts?

[PaulPR]

When the contacts in my old Tercel and Camry died, it was a hit/miss thing for awhile, getting worse over time. When the contacts in my Tacoma went, they actually stuck contacted, so the starter wouldn't disengage. Pretty weired to turn your engine off and have the starter continue to run.

My guess is you have a starter contact issue, but someone more experience than me will have to confirm.

[jmaz001]

Wow. I just looked up starter contacts and the description that other people have written seems to be the exact problem. I really hope this is it. I dont want it to be an ignition or some random wiring problem. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help Paul.

Josh

[jmaz001]

Yeah I would have to say about your Tacoma, I would be a little freaked out. I will take the starter off and check the contacts. If they look fine, I will go from there. Good starting point though. I love a cheap fix. Thanks