Tips on 4wd starter replacement...

This is on a '98 4-wheel drive Rodeo (3.2 V-6). I was getting the dreaded click, click, click, then start that these starters are famous for (due to bad contacts in the solonoid).
It wasn't that bad of a job.

- Disconnect the battery before proceeding. (Thanks Gizmo42!)

-Get the truck up in the air high enough to comfortably wiggle under it (use safety stands!).

- You'll have to loosen the exhaust down pipe both at the manifold and back where it connects at the flexible joint. Spray these liberally with penetrating oil. I used a long (2 foot) 3/8" extension and a long breaker bar to get the three exhaust flange nuts broken free. An impact probably won't work well here because the long extension would absorb the blows.

-You'll need to disconnect the wire connector for the rear O2 sensor. The front one can stay connected.

-You can now lower the pipe enough to get it to just clear the manifold studs and move slightly rearward. You don't have to remove the rubber hanger. Just move it back while you move the pipe rearward. This will provide the room to squeak the starter motor out.

- Remove the two starter bolts. They are straight up near the flywheel end of the starter.

- With the starter loose from the engine you can reach in through the wheel well (if the wheel has dropped down or remove the wheel) and remove the one nut holding the large wire to the starter and the clip for the one small wire.

- The starter can now be worked out of the bottom of the truck. It's a tight fit with the vacuum tubes right there but it will come out with out too much fuss. Just be patient and manuever it out.

- Installation as they say is the reverse of removal!

- It took about 2 1/2 hours but having done it I could do it much faster now. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated from reading a few threads here.

Lucky you! Took about 7 hrs to do mine but most of that time was spent trying to get the heads to snap off the bolts for the flange between the cat and flex pipe. There was no way those bolts were coming out. I eventually gave up and waited till the next day when I brought home my sawzall from work to cut them off. I just clamped it back together and been that way for about 2 yrs now LOL.

You forgot one of the most important tips..

Disconnect the battery before starting removal

You forgot one of the most important tips..

Disconnect the battery before starting removal

Doh! You're right. I'll go back and edit it in case that part isn't intuitive.

I soaked all the bolts with PB Blaster before removal. The nuts at the exhaust manifold seemed to be the tightest. I reassembled them with anti-sieze.

What brand of starter?

Doh! You're right. I'll go back and edit it in case that part isn't intuitive.


LOL, you have to be very clear these days. On another car forum I had the pleasure of answering someone who complained of brake problems. He said the new pads wouldn't fit so he "sanded down the rotors and banged the calipers on with a hammer". This doof knew nothing of bottoming the caliper piston with a c-clamp. My answer to him? "You should not be doing brakes" is all I could say.

What brand of starter?

I used an Autolite starter (http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=ATI&MfrPartNumber=17546&PartType=123&PTSet=A). They seem to be the most complet rebuilt ones. They are actually fully rebuilt OEM denso starters.