castironman
New member
I know is an old thread, with my 4runner, oil leak from the valve covers for years made into the starter motor brushes and became sludge, looked like butter inside the cover. The starter would engage but barely turn the engine, when I got the truck I replace the cover gaskets and noticed a lot of oil. So I removed the starter, replaced the solenoid contacts, and then out of curiosity opened the motor cover to check it out, and there it was, used a lot of brake cleaner and contact cleaner. I was having a problem also with the battery going bad, alternator going bad, and cables burning, I guess from the starting system dropping too many amps from the battery to turn the engine. Now battery holds charge and truck starts and runs great. So oil inside the starter, maybe because the O rings were dried and broken on both covers.
