When did they start doing this?

My wife's starter on her 2010 Highlander has been giving her an intermittent solenoid issue where the contacts are burned and not making contact every time. Of course this one has a sealed and crimped solenoid housing and you can't get inside to replace the contacts. Not a fan, but the new solenoid was only 60 bucks the parts guy tried to convince me I needed to replace the whole starter for 350 dollars. LOL.

Pulled the starter out to get access and found that the wire coming from the starter motor to the solenoid had no terminal on the braided copper wire which they had formed a loop and placed that over the terminal and installed a nut. Anyway my son and I replaced the solenoid and tested it satisfactory and the wife is happy again. Thank God.

Here is a picture:

 

Your Q was when. Well. At least 2010.

Why is easier I suspect.

Another .10 per unit saved, produced by the low bidder.

 

Is this from the Highlander or Tacoma?

wrong section.

 

I know right. Saddened by the lack of pride in a good product. It was a real pain to get that wire off without ripping up the braided wire. Used a small flat bladed screwdriver and worked it off slowly. Works great now and I shouldn't have the need to do it again for a good Looong time.

 

Highlander...
I know...
Sue me

 

99% of people and shops are gona replace the whole starter when it has a problem so they aren't gona worry about making it modular or servicable, been like that for years on most starters.
Nowadays it's all about saving production cost and weight, that's why most starters anymore are permanent magnet gear reduction type instead of field wound direct drive.

 

You have to remove the starter and reinstall it either way. It only takes 20 minutes to install a new solenoid or replace the contacts in the old one like the Tacoma while it is out on the bench. If they were smart they would spend the 30 to 60 dollars on a solenoid and keep the 300 in their wallet. But I guess the shop gets a good core to turn in to rebuild...

No special tools needed. 10mm, 12mm, 14mm combination wrenches a screwdriver and needle nose pliers for plastic interference items. 1 hour of unrushed wrenching.

 

One reason is having parts like that on hand (your local parts supplier isn't gona have things like that in stock most likely).
The other is having to stand behind the repair, any shop worth it's salt that guarantees their work for x number of miles/months isn't gona throw a solenoid on a starter even if that may be all it needs, they are gona put a new/reman starter in with a warranty (even though it's true alot of them are junk).
Just the way it is in today's world, the days of component level repair are pretty much long gone. You replace the whole thing instead of taking it apart and fixing it.

Vehicles in many ways have gotten like appliances, they are made of the cheapest materials possible, made to last just long enough to get out of warranty (many don't even make it that far anymore), and not designed to be repairable.

 

Yeah, definitely not ideal. Something I'd do as a temporary measure. I'm surprised to see that given the potential for possible issues.
Did you add a terminal or leave it be?

 

Reminds me of a shift to park fault on my wife’s Chevy SUV that I repaired myself. I could have replaced the entire shifter assembly as the original TSB dictated, but instead was able to disassemble and replace just the switch that tells the vehicle the shifter is in park. Feels great to spend only about $50 instead of buying a $200 part or paying the dealership $600.

 

No, I didn't add a terminal. I didn't damage the braided cable. The loop was a factory install as we bought the vehicle new. It's all good and working fine.