Sounds like some sort of ’50s Sci-Fi creature. We are the solenoids. You will take us to your leaders or we will use our Vehicle Stasis Ray to destroy you.
I considered how I would remove & repair our solenoid. I planned meticulously. I acted with care. The car was on the ramps, plastic was laid out beneath to shield me from unwanted intimacy with the mud, lights were gained, tested, and deployed, the diagrams and instructions were studied….
I climbed beneath the car and regarded the solenoid. Greetings Earth-creature. I’d need an 8mm to get those nuts, a 12 for that bolt…put the light here, fit my arm through there —
–fit my arm through….
Okay, put the light there, instead, and loop my hand over this brace and —
— over this —
Uhm.
Your feeble Earth technology cannot reach us. We are the solenoids.
I consulted my manual of Earth-science motor technology. Then I put the lights & plastic away, took the car off the ramps, put the ramps away, wiping the mud from them and hanging the plastic to dry. I would need to remove various engine parts to be able to fit my hand in where I could reach the solenoid. This job just became more elaborate than I cared to deal with in the dark and mud. I’d be doing it in my shop, with dry floors and ambient light, but there’s a refugee living there, about which I really, really will go into later.
The solenoid has defeated me…for now.
…echoing alien laughter….
I am really sorry that the evil solenoids have you in their clutches. Be brave. Face the danger like a true earthman. Disassemble them and study their various parts. If they still are able thwart you then try infecting them with a cold germ. Or douse them with water, I hear that water is like anathema to them. Or just beat them with a fire axe.
Good luck. I’ll stay up here hiding under my bed until they’re gone.
What? Solenoids and clutches? There’s no way to defeat them both! We are lost! Lost!
Skootch over; I need a place to hide, too.
You could try squashing them with a giant press after electrocuting them and crashing their truck. Of course, then they’d probably just get elected governor.
And, well, I’d like to overcome the Solenoid without trashing my car.
Good point. You’re just trying to enslave them, not crush them, eh?
And they are trying to drive you mad.
Make sure you disconnect the battery ground cable before messing around with those electrical connections on the starter.
I can’t remember where Toyota put their starters (bliss!) so I don’t have anything more specific. Except if you can, remove the starter and do the solenoid on a bench.
I always just get a rebuilt starter complete with solenoid, and trade them both out.
Uh, the solenoid IS on the starter on that truck, isn’t it? Or am I making even less sense than usual?
Good luck, shops are good!
Yes, it is on the starter…but this solenoid is in the car.
I will be taking the starter off of the car this weekend and dealing with the solenoid where there is a bit more room. I’m hoping that I can clean the contacts and replace it, though; the solenoid by itself is $85, and the rebuilt starter-solenoid is $115. Not a happy set of numbers.
Maybe the one in the pickup is easier to get to?
Did you check in local junkyards for a good used starter?
*slaps forehead* The pickup is easier to work on. I’ll change the starter/solenoid on that, instead.
I’m still compiling lists on used starters. It’s much easier to find rebuilt ones, here, and they all run around $100. I’ll try cleaning the solenoid contacts first, and see what that gets me. For $100, it’s worth the effort.