Here's a video I did for my starter repair:
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Thanks for this video. Big help doing mine ('98 SR5 4x4 auto) today. Haven't actually got it back in yet, getting it out and rebuilt was my Saturday. Sunday will be putting it back together.
Like others have mentioned, the larger contact was well worn, with the smaller contact and plunger still looking good. I considered leaving them alone, but in the end replaced them since I had the clean new parts in hand. The parts total with tax was just under $70, with the plunger being the most expensive at $35. The fact that dealer, after the fact, said there would be a 20% restocking fee also weighed into my decision to just put them in.
***THE ONLY PROBLEMS I HAD (SO FAR):***
(1) Getting the inside brake bracket off was a huge pain of short strokes and constantly dropped wrenches. I was wishing I had a 12mm ratchet end wrench. I have one now for the re-install.
(2) my upper trans dipstick tube would not budge from the lower. I worked at it for probably a couple hours, first with blaster and visegrips, then online where I found no help for dealing with it, then tried putting a flathead against the lip of it from underneath, to tap it up and out. Finally, in desperation, realized I might be able to pull it forward enough with a bungee to do the trick, and hopefully not tweak it in the process. Done.
(3) Couldn't get the starter connector off while the starter was still installed, due to not being able to reach it with more than a couple fingertips. Opted to dismount it first and then disconnect. Not my preferred method, because I don't like heavy parts to ever hang by their wires, hopefully no damage done.
(4) Once the starter is dismounted, and everything is out of the way, it is still a challenge to orient the starter to pull it out of the hole and onto your bench. On my V6 4x4 Auto, I only had room to get one hand on it at a time. What you need to accomplish is turning the nose of it (the end facing the front of the truck, NOT the end with the gear) towards you in the wheel well, while also spinning it 180 degrees to rotate the connectors from bottom to top. The video shows how it should look coming towards you, but doesn't show how to turn it to accomplish it. If you can do that with one hand cleanly, without needing multiple attempts, and several stops to stare at it and quietly curse in mounting desperation, then cheers to you.
(5) my parts kit for the large contact included a piece of paper that I didn't know what to do with, and Timmy didn't mention it in his video. However, when Timmy is showing the torque specs in the shop manual at the end of the video, you can see a piece of "terminal paper" in the diagram. I'm NOT taking the starter back apart to put that in, and saw no evidence of it inside my starter, but lesson learned to *always watch the whole video first*. If anybody knows what it is for, please let us know.
For my '98 SR5 V6 4x4 auto, same parts as in the video:
28226-54340 large contact kit
28226-72010 small contact kit
28235-54380 plunger assembly
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Next Day -- Install Notes (I had similar challenges during install as during removal):
(1) getting the starter into the engine compartment is not the hard part. Orienting the starter once you get it in there *is* the hard part. In hindsight, if you could insert it into the cavity "nose first" (in other words "gear end" last), then it should be easier to just back the gear towards the bell housing. But based on Timmy's video I maneuvered it in "nose last" (gear end first, same orientation as the removal) so it was a difficult to turn it around once it was in there backwards.
I pushed the mounting bolts through before trying to get the starter in position. Once I had the starter in position, I was able to leave it hanging on the top bolt while I crawled underneath to actually work the bolts. NOTE: If you have smaller arms/hands you may be able to work the top bolt while in the wheel well, with your left hand finger tips, while holding the starter in place with your right hand, but...I was not able to get my left hand in there.
Having a helper to hold the starter in position could also have been helpful at this point, but I was able to get it done. You'll be under the truck with your legs out the passenger side, with left arm snaked up to support the starter, while right hand is working with extensions and swivel to spin the bolts into the starter.
(2) the connector was very hard to get back on, due to minimal (barely fingertip) access. I could just barely touch it, and turning or guiding it was nearly impossible. A very long set of needlenose or forceps might have helped. I possibly could have re-attached while threading the starter back into the engine compartment, but due to the gymnastics required to turn the starter around in that limited space I wouldn't recommend it.
(3) The brake line brackets went back on with almost zero effort using the ratchet end 12mm. Highly recommended.
(4) My efforts with the trans dipstick tube during removal apparently tweaked it out of alignment a little, so that reattaching it to the engine block required having one more hand in that limited space than I had available. I almost called the wife out to help, but got it done with the bungee instead.
Good luck! You can do it, and probably faster than me (54 and out of shape).
I've never replaced mine either. All good.
