97 Camry LE Starter Question.....

I have a 97 Camry 2.2L (American Edition) Auto Trans that has the starter
"click of death" problem. I plan to pull the starter and try a few tips I have read on your forums about fixing or replacing the contacts. I have two questions. Is the starter easy to remove? And if I do have to replace the whole starter the parts shop said it could have two starters. One choice was the regular variety the other was a cold weather starter? How do I know which one I need?

Thanks for all of your help.

John Z.

Yes, the starter is easy to remove. The generation 4 Toyota factory service manual stickied at the top of this forum will have the procedure.

As far as the question reguarding the cold weather starter, I went through this on my 98. If I recall correctly, the cold weather starter will have the electrical connections on the back side of the starter as it sits in the car. That is, closer to the back of the car. The normal starter will have the electrical connections on the front side. Which starter the car came with depends on the location where it was delivered. My car, delivered here in the Chicago area, had the cold weather starter.

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the quick response. This car was originally from Kentucky so maybe it has the regular starter (maybe why it died up here in Buffalo, NY). I will check the wires for that setup. I looked for the manual posted at the forum top but I did not see any manuals that were free online. I'm guessing they are not. I will see if I can't poke my head in and figure it out but if not I may buy a manual. Thanks again.

Mike,

Thanks for the quick response. This car was originally from Kentucky so maybe it has the regular starter (maybe why it died up here in Buffalo, NY). I will check the wires for that setup. I looked for the manual posted at the forum top but I did not see any manuals that were free online. I'm guessing they are not. I will see if I can't poke my head in and figure it out but if not I may buy a manual. Thanks again.

Here's the link for the manuals:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=497839

Yes, they are free.

Mike

Just a tip. Make sure you disconnect the battery before changing the starter unless you want to see some fireworks.

How does this sound. Change the starter. Save the old starter and when you have time change the solenoid contacts. You'll have a spare starter. Guess the practicallity of that depends on the core charge.

THIS SHOULD HELP YOU.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/13/e2/1e/0900823d8013e21e.jsp

Thank you all for your help. I was able to pull the starter and replace it in under 30 minutes! The starter lifted right out through the top without having to remove extra parts to get at it. Thank you Toyota! The starter was only 125.00 from NAPA with a 50 dollar core so I just bought the starter and returned the core for a refund. I called the dealer prior to buying the starter. He said that there were two started a 1.2Kwatt and 1.4 Kwatt. We both guessed that the cold weather starter was the 1.4, the only difference noted in the pictures was the size of the starter, the cold weather starter was slighly longer on the top, probably for extra windings. He said the VIN couldn't tell him much but no cold weather package was listed so I went with the regular starter. It was an exact match. I'm guessing I could have plunked the cold weather one in its place if I had bought that one. The price difference was only 5 or 10 bucks.

Hope this helps another fellow Camry owner. Thanks again for the advice.

John Z

just wanted to mention that when I did this, changing the contacts took only 1/2 an hour. In an hour total the starter was back in and kicking, was very simple to do, and has had no problems since, its been a year. I would highly recommend changing contacts instead of starters.

I was going to go that route but the wife was going to get stuck somewhere soon as it would still start and she wanted to use it so for the sake of time I just shotgunned it. I put in a remote starter myself about a year ago and noticed it would not start on the first try every time now she starts every time with half a crank, the starter motor may have been weak too, who knows.

Since the car came from a "warmer winter area" and you are now in a "colder winter area", and replaced like for like, your new starter may not live as long as it should. The 1.4kw stater has more windings for cold weather starts since the engine oil is thicker and there is more resistance to turning, it won't overheat from cranking. Lower wattage starter has to work harder in cold weather and can cause the windings to overheat and the insulation can breakdown long before it's time.
If you ever change to solnoid conact, don't forget to check the brushes. Whenever "overhauling" a starter, replace both and if you have a lathe, true up the comutator. Dosser

Hopefully we will be moving back down to Kentucky this year, at least that's what we are shooting for.My poor starter will get a break. :-)