I just replaced the contacts in the starter on my 22re, (85) and it worked great for a week, now it's toast again.

I'm gona just get a new one, and I want to know which ones are shit to stay away from. I have the following choices in my area

Napa
Autozone
Kragen's
Toyota
Online or Mail order

Most have Lifetime warr.,

So, let's here to good, bad and the ugly on Starters

Note - All connections are good to starter, I have not pulled it again to check the starter itself to determine why it's failed.

NAPA. The guys in Placerville are great and NAPA really stands behind their warranty. Plus they usually have a few options for you to choose from. But you know Autozone will be the cheapest and give you a lifetime warranty.

My stock Toyota starter has served me well for many years. When you replaced the brushes were they VERY worn? Might need to have the commuter turned. You could have the one you've got rebuilt by an auto electric shop.
I know you say the connections are good, but sometimes the wires themselves can corrode, hidden by the insulation. You might want to try new wires...
My experience, not on Toyotas but could be relevant, is that "lifetime" parts are usually crap. They are cheap shitty parts with high profits to cover the ones that need replacing. My opinion if you want a starter you can rely on buy a Toyota or have yours overhauled by a competant shop. I'd replace the wires first though because likely they are very old, and Toyota wiring is not always the best.

every time my kragens liftime starter gets wet it needs to be replaced. i say go toyota, a little more $$$ but worth it.
my $.02

I had a problem that seemed like the starter contacts were bad but it turned out to be a missing ground strap to the engine. Might be worth checking.

Make sure the contact(s) didn't twist when you tightened the nut down. My '97 manual shows how to do this, but my '86 manual doesn't. They used a press and a SST, but I just used a clamp and a big socket. Worked great.

http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/pics/temp/contacts2.jpg

And make sure you don't over-tighten the nut when you attach the battery cable to it or it will still twist. ;)

Originally posted by ErikB
Make sure the contact(s) didn't twist when you tightened the nut down. My '97 manual shows how to do this, but my '86 manual doesn't. They used a press and a SST, but I just used a clamp and a big socket. Worked great.

http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/pics/temp/contacts2.jpg

And make sure you don't over-tighten the nut when you attach the battery cable to it or it will still twist. ;)

Good one to check, i'll be pulling it later today to go through it again

Sounds like a question for the Newbie section:flipoff2:
My choice was not there, get a orginal from the junkyard. They work great, well you know what I mean, good orginal starter,...I run an Autozone on my jeeps dodge motor last 4 months, perfect so far. But it's the same brand I replced...they have 3 different models though, 1 year, 2or 3 year, and lifetime, think I bought the middel one.???

EDIT::
P.S.
guy I know that works there said the 1 year was crap, he sees alot of returns;)

You may want to do some troubleshooting to find out what is causing the problem. Could be a bad connection or wire running to the solenoid. Maybe adding a starter relay would help.

http://4crawler.cruiserpages.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Starter.shtml#OtherOptions

Avoid Kragen starters and alternators, they are junk.
Lifetime warranty is worthless if it fails on Walker Hill.

Fix the one you got, or get one from a wrecker.
I ran one from a Celica for over a year.

Originally posted by 4CrawlR
You may want to do some troubleshooting to find out what is causing the problem. Could be a bad connection or wire running to the solenoid. Maybe adding a starter relay would help.

http://4crawler.cruiserpages.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Starter.shtml#OtherOptions

Great sugestion! One of the steps I am going to do before pulling it back out is dissconnect the ignition lead and hit it with 12v right off the battery. That should tell me if I need to add the relay or go ahead and pull the starter and dig into it. I also did many of the same steps as you when i worked on the solenoid, IE, cleaned it up, and lubed it with the high temp silicon disk brake lube from Napa.

Hey Seabass!
.
.
.
.
.
:flipoff2:

Fixed!

I should have cleaned up the cover for the solenoid, it had some corrosion in it. What happend wast he plunger got stuck to the end cap, and could not pull into the contacts.

I cleaned it all up and put some Sil-Glyde in the cap to prevent further corrosion. Works like a champ now!

Thanks to all who had Ideas, I'll compile them in one post and add it to our FAQ