2jzgte starter repair

[manny]

Symptoms are a whole lot of clicking coming from the starter but no cranking over of the starter or flywheel.
Started as just random missing during the starter cranking over and then every now and some clicking which eventually lead to it cranking over.
At it's worse it would not crank at all and just clicked away.

Turns out it's pretty common on this type of reduction starter motor used by Toyota on 2jz-ge and 2jz-gte engines as well as on numerous LandCruiser, Hilux and other commercial type engines.

Repair parts and prices from Toyota are

Starter Kit, Motor terminal : 28226-74070
Starter Kit, Battery terminal : 28226-22050
~$40 for both
and optionally
Plunger: 28235-55050
~$50

Procedure is covered in various levels of detail on the following links
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/boophoenix/starter.html
http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/for...howtopic=61874
http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wa...r-rebuild.html

In a nutshell, the contacts wear away and the solenoid's plunger fails to complete the circuit when it is extended and as a result the starter does not crank at all - it just clicks away as the solenoid actuates the plunger which pushes the starter gear onto ring gear.
Replacing the contacts restores the ability for the solenoid plunger to complete the circuit and for the starter to operate normally.
Some recommend replacing the plunger as well as the contacts but in my case the plunger was still in good condition after a cleanup, Toyota was out of stock of the plunger for 3 days and my local auto sparky remarked that he has never replaces the plunger unless it's obviously damaged and has not had any come back in almost 20 years with a subsequent plunger issue.

Some pics

















Hope this helps anyone else in similar circumstances