The starter on my '96 Toyota T 100 won’t start my truck on the first try in the morning. Fortunately, its got a manual transmission so I just roll down the driveway (backwards!) and it starts right up. Even if I then drive as little as a mile or two and stop the engine, it starts right up without any problem. And then its fine all day. Its a work truck that gets started several times a day. Its been doing this for a couple of weeks and doesn’t seem to be getting any worse.
I know I need a new (rebuilt) starter, but I’m wondering why I only have a problem in the morning.
My GUESS is some kind of loose connection within the starter itself. I get many cars with a no start, no crank condition and sometimes a rubber mallet to the starter is all it needs to start working momentarily. Thats when I recommend to the customer to replace the starter. Perhaps the vibration of the engine after you get it started works as a surrogate rubber mallet.
I have always wondered why the rubber mallet way works. Perhaps it loosens the copper washer in the solenoid or maybe loosens up the spring. Maybe like I mentioned earlier there is a loose connection somewhere in the hundreds of feet of wire in the starter.
what does it do when you try to start it? Single click with the turn of the key? rapid clicking or chattering when you turn the key? Do the interior lights dim at all when you try to start it?
I’ll bet that your ignition wires (the ones that go to the spark plugs) are old and cracked. In the morning, dew will condense on the wires and cause a short.
Once the engine is warm and the water evaporates, you’re good to go. New ignition wires aren’t expensive and you can do it yourself.
Contact plate inside the starter solenoid is pitted and/or corroded. Usually the solenoid is part of the starter assembly; a rebuilt starter will usually have this replaced. If there’s a rebuild kit available it might not be too hard to fix that yourself if you’re so inclined.
The truck’s not even turning over though. The ignition wires have yet to even come into play, so I doubt they’re the problem.
My crystal ball sees a new starter too. I think Automagic is right that this is probably the classic “have to whack it with a hammer” starter failure mode with driving it around taking the place of hitting it. I had a similar vintage Toyota “regular” pickup that did the same thing where I had to roll start it or whack the starter with a hammer after it had sat for a while. I drove it like that for a couple of months, but it did eventually get to a point that it required hitting every start. Of course then I stalled it in a huge intersection one day and the dirty looks I got while getting it restarted told me it was probably time to change the starter.
Incidentally, this is also why rebuilt starters often come with mysterious dents on their cases.
Not necessarily. The single click could be the solenoid engaging just fine, but the problem is worn internals on the motor itself. In my experience driving crappy cars of the separate solenoid era (which for Fords goes into the 90’s), bad solenoids usually make terrible noises (or no noises) instead of a single happy click. If the OP had one of those remote start switches that used to come in DIY tune-up kits, he could bypass the solenoid and see if the motor itself is working.
But, yes, unless the OP wants to take the starter apart he has to buy both parts anyways, so it’s academic.