To start or not to start?

[wjbeaty]

This is a well-known classic starter-motor failure. An old starter motor will fill with carbon debris, and the worn brushes extend their springs, reducing the pressure. Either it shorts out from carbon-caking, or the brushes won't push hard enough to make good electrical contact with the rotor.

But if you lightly tap the motor, then it magically starts working! Slamming the hood, slamming the door or trunk, that can "repair" it too.

(But if tapping the little motor does not temporarily fix this, then suspect other things. Since your trunk-slam fixed the problem, probably it's your aging starter-motor finally biting the dust.)

Once you've seen this happen, it will happen again. If you can find the location of the starter motor (between engine and radiator,) you can give it a tap with a metal object. A tire-iron from your jack/spare storage works OK.

When this happened to me, at first, the slightest tap would "fix" the starter. But then over the next week, I was having to tap it more and more times. Then hit it harder and harder. Then finally, when it usually wouldn't work at all, I park on hills, or the loading-ramp at work, so I could start it by popping the clutch while rolling (w/manual transmissions only.) All this in a 2007 vehicle, starter motor 16yrs old.

Yaris starters are like yaris headlights. They can be replaced at home, but it's a medium-large deal. You just need a metric socket set. Find tutorials for the full instructions. Very briefly: from inside the hood, un-bolt the electrical connections on the top of the starter. Then put on the parking brake, add wheel-chocks, jack up the passenger front, put it on a jack-stand and , then crawl underneath, so you can take out the two mounting bolts on the starter, one visible and one behind. (First dress properly for filthy work!)

Perhaps the starter can be removed from above, without jacking up the car? I'd first do it from below, so you can see where everything actually is.

Originally Posted by Doix

turned the key further ...
nothing, no click, no sound, no buzzing, nothing. I turned the key off and tried again with the same result. I took the key out of the ignition lock, pushed some buttons, locking and unlocking the doors and tried again but the car stayed dead silent. After trying this again but now with manual transmission free (it was placed in first gear I discovered) the car still gave
no sign of life.