Well after all the intermittent starting problems due to worn out contacts, my truck finally refused to start. Thanks to all the others who have posted how to replace the contacts, it was a relatively straight forward yet tedious fix. I was kind of disappointed that the contacts wore out so fast and noticed a couple of things that I hadn’t read in the previous write ups.
- In most of the write ups I read, there was only mention of replacing the 2 contacts, but not the actual plunger that was very worn down as well.
- The smaller square copper contact was worn down more than the other side which was larger and had more surface area.
Looking at the wear pattern on the contact, it appeared that if both contacts were longer and touched the plunger with more surface area, the contacts might last longer than the original design.
Since it was such a pain in the a$$ to get to the starter, I decided to replace both the normal starter contacts as well as the plunger so that it would last just as long as the OEM design. I also added a 1/16th washer in between each contact and the starter housing to push the contacts more toward the center of the plunger. This will hopefully buy some more time before the starter needs its contacts replaced again. If aligned properly, there should be about .5 to 1mm clearance giving you more surface contact with the plunger.
Sorry for the blurry pictures. I only had my cell phone camera.
Hope this helps those with the same problem.
Randy
Tundra Starter Contacts Mod
Linear Mode
