Is my Starter on '05 Corrola S on the way out?

[empirefalls]

120,000 miles

Occasionally I am hearing a sound when starting up on cold mornings, a very sharp spinning metalic sound. Maybe once every 2 months--could be more but i dont hear it.

I am thinking of changing the Starter even if it not the starter, just to have a fresh Starter in my vehicle. So far it looks like a starter is not that exspensive and rather easy to exchange.

[MasterTecInSTL]

My '03 does that when it's real cold out... it's almost as if it stays engaged a little too long.

At first I thought it was just the remote starter I installed causing it to hang up (I really only noticed it starting it from outside the vehicle) but then one cold morning I noticed it while starting it with the key too.

Mine started last fall and did it all winter long but then stopped in the spring and didn't do it again until this fall when the weather cooled off again.

I haven't corrected the problem yet but I'm pretty confident that a new starter will fix it. I'll let you know if/when I get around to it. It doesn't seem to be immediately critical.

[invader]

The white grease on the solenoid plunger gets sticky over time, especially when colder. I had cleaned and greased it and the planetary gears, etc in my original starter. It worked well again for a while, until the plunger's brass terminals got too worn down to activate starter.

The new tested TYC starter with lifetime warranty I then got is still more powerful than the original Denso unit ever was.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-St...item5196bddf14

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by invader

The white grease on the solenoid plunger gets sticky over time, especially when colder. I had cleaned and greased it and the planetary gears, etc in my original starter. It worked well again for a while, until the plunger's brass terminals got too worn down to activate starter.
The new tested TYC starter with lifetime warranty I then got is still more powerful than the original Denso unit was.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-St...item5196bddf14

Interesting, it says lifetime warranty in the title but 12 months in the description.

[invader]

I got my lifetime waranteed TYC starter from:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TYC-STARTER-...item3f068e4a81

[MasterTecInSTL]

Originally Posted by invader

The white grease on the solenoid plunger gets sticky over time, especially when colder. I had cleaned and greased it and the planetary gears, etc in my original starter. It worked well again for a while, until the plunger's brass terminals got too worn down to activate starter.

The new tested TYC starter with lifetime warranty I then got is still more powerful than the original Denso unit ever was.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Starter-w-Solenoid-Lifetime-Warranty-/350421376788?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &fits=Model%3ACorolla%7CYear%3A2005&vxp=mtr&hash=i tem5196bddf14

I might have to try doing that and see if it makes any difference... might make for a good hour long project to keep me busy.

[boberic]

Originally Posted by empirefalls

120,000 miles

Occasionally I am hearing a sound when starting up on cold mornings, a very sharp spinning metalic sound. Maybe once every 2 months--could be more but i dont hear it.

I am thinking of changing the Starter even if it not the starter, just to have a fresh Starter in my vehicle. So far it looks like a starter is not that exspensive and rather easy to exchange.

Back in high school on a completely different car I experienced this. It turned out to be bad teeth on the flywheel. I don't know if that's caused by the starter not being aligned properly or what, but if that's your problem it is only a matter of time before you won't be able to get it to start at all. I suppose it might be possible that the starter is turning w/o engaging the flywheel at all, in which case you could just replace the starter, but I dunno if you'd hear the starter turning if it wasn't making mechanical contact with anything.

It should be easy to determine the extent of the damage, though. Take your old starter out and have it bench tested. Before you put it back in, have a friend slowly turn the engine with a wrench on the bolt coming out of the crankshaft pulley while you examine the flywheel teeth.

If the flywheel has been damaged you're probably not going to make the problem more expensive to replace by waiting, except that you'll eventually need to get it towed (unless your car is a stick shift and you can push start it). The flywheel replacement would cost several hundred dollars, I'd bet as they'll have to take the transmission out to do it, and that's probably a good time to replace the starter anyway. Hopefully your starter is just not engaging as that's a lot cheaper.

I just changed the starter on my car yesterday and it was an easy 2 hr or less job. Toyota dealer wanted $400 for the starter but I got one from Advance Auto for $98 (closest place as I had to bike to get there).

I did not have to take the battery or airbox out, but I have a stick shift in my '03 Corolla so that might have made it a little different than what others have posted.