My '99 w/195k miles was having random starting issues. Sometimes it would start fine, sometimes I would get a click and nothing. Sunday it had one of it's little no-start episodes with the wife in the truck. She was not amused and said "fix this damn thing!".

So, knowing the battery was OK I found a reman starter at the local auto parts store that day. I didn't think to come in from the wheel well for access, I just crawled underneath and swapped it leaving everything else in place. Surprisingly easy to do even for a rookie using just a few sockets, an extension and a swivel.

Now that I'm not under pressure I'm reading about replacing the bits inside the solenoid.

The starter that came out was "rebuilt for toyota" according to the sticker on it, the one that went in was slightly larger but still fit and seems to work.

Bugger about these intermittent problems, I won't know if it's really fixed.

If the old one was a factory Denso that's a shame. If you haven't sent in for the core charge, keep it and swap the contacts. You'll either have a great spare for when that reman dies or something you can e-Bay for way more than the core charge.

Don't think you are especially talented, the starter swap for us stick-shifters is a breeze compared to the slushboxers.

Um... yea, sigh. Didn't know and I dropped it off at the parts store while I was picking up the new(er) unit so I didn't have to drive back.