Another problem. You may have seen my other threads recently. It just seems my 4runner is falling apart quickly My new problem is whenever I turn the key, there is an awful grinding noise. Sounds like metal to metal. Yesterday I managed to get it started after trying for about 2 hours (not by holding the key in the on position the whole time, but by trying every 20 minutes or so to see if I could get lucky). Well I did get lucky and it slowly fired up. Idle was fine, and it ran great all the way home which was 55 minutes away. I asked my dad and his first response was "bad starter". Anyone have experience replacing a starter on my engine (see sig)? It makes sense that this would be the problem because the truck ran great once it fired up. Are there any other possibilities I should check before pulling the trigger on a new starter? Thanks again for all the help I get from this community.

 

Might be the starter drive. Might be damage to the flywheel/flex plate ring gear. Might be a loose starter, might be a combination of the preceding things.

Probably necessary to remove the starter for inspection.

 

Usually the starter is fine but the solenoid plunger or contacts gets sticky, especially when you describe it spinning but not engaging, you can rebuild the solenoid using the "victory Lap ND-34SOL 1.4KW or it might be the ND-36SOL 1.8KW, I think there is 2 options depending on your year, or buy Toyota PN 28235-54380 as well as contact replacement kits 28226-54340 and 28226-72010 for a Denso 228000-4082 starter. These Toyota parts fit perfectly, Victory Lap is hit and miss. The starter is in a bitch of a spot to work on through the wheel well, might be easier to remove the entire starter. And your truck is a over 20 years old with mostly original parts, expect to wrench on it every now and then.

 

I just went ahead and replaced the starter myself. Truck starts right up now.

But now my CEL is on and it says P0305. NEAT!

 

P0305 on a 96' model would make me lean towards plug wires, plug boots, coils, connections at coils and related components including the MAF(maybe clean the MAF as well), and make sure your running Denso or NGK dual electrode spark plugs, I have serviced a dozen 5Vz-Fe's only to find those crappy iridium or whatever super magical plug that claims increases horsepower and fuel consumption in them, and the truck runs like crap intermittently, why people ignore the picture on the T-belt cover is beyond me. If it was a 99'+ I would think its a injector, but check the cheaper and easier items first, then move towards the injector and related components, your truck is what 23 years old now, you could get classic car insurance, and soon antique insurance for it.

 

I can't get the truck to turn over now. Still makes the same grinding noise it made before I replaced the starter. I turned the crank bolt clockwise to maybe see if the teeth were just not lined up between the starter and the flywheel and that did make it fire up. But now I cant seem to turn the crank bolt anymore so the engine will not start. I'm thinking about pulling all the spark plugs and try turning it again, then putting spark plugs back? Not sure. Possible damage to my flywheel? Or a bad starter? The starter I bought was from autozone and made by duralast.

 

Flywheel damage is likely. Pull the starter off. Mark a tooth on the flywheel and turn it all the way around and check for any busted teeth. Also, many re manufactured starters are junk. They often work for a week or so then start to give issues shortly after. NAPA branded starters and alternators I've had the worst luck with.

 

I agree^, if its a PITA to change, and a critical component, you might wanna do it once with OEM parts. But there is an inspection cover for the Flexplate(auto trans) & flywheel(manual Trans) that would be "easier" to remove technically at the bottom of the bellhousing, but since you put an aftermarket starter on who knows, might aswell pull it to check the flywheel. From your description it sounds like you made many attempts to start it without the starter actually engaging, not good! a few teeth on a compression stroke could be all that is missing on the Flexplate ring gear, and who knows how long the grinding has been going on. The starter is really 3 different parts, A solenoid that engages the starter motor bendix, and a starter motor that spins, why people change the entire Nippon Denso Starter which is spinning and working, very well designed and high quality, and found on heavy diesel equipment like Kubota and Hino for crap from China is strange. Like I mentioned before, by $30 in parts and repair the solenoid and you will be good for another 23 years if nobody beat the crap out of it. I've pulled the 5vz-fe, its a bear to get out, so drop the tranny if you need to get in there, and you will need 5' of 1/2" extensions to separate the bellhousing to engine bolts.