This started out as a help request earlier in the week. Lady that owns it is a physical therapist that visits the elderly at their homes. Car is a nice, clean 40k mile Camry, It intermittently won't start unless you jump it. Often enough that she doesn't trust it. It's been back to the dealership twice...NPF, Advance tested her battery, tested good. Her father only comes to me when he can't fix it himself, or one of the low cost providers gives up.

I was lucky. Car is setting 8 miles away, won't start. Don't touch it, don't do anything. I'll be right there. Has a smart key setup on it, I was expecting problems with a relay or a PCM function. When I got there, you could hear the starter solenoid clicking. A voltmeter on the OUTPUT of the solenoid showed 12.5 v. I'm getting voltage through the solenoid, problem is in the starter. When I got the starter off, I found these screws for the ground brushes [2010 Toyota Camry SE, BATT/Charging/Starting Photo] were loose on the end cap. Upon taking the starter apart, you could see the arcing[2010 Toyota Camry SE, BATT/Charging/Starting Photo] . The screws for the ground brushes came loose enough to not let it start intermittently. Eventually it would have just not started I imagine, but I think she'd have been very frustrated by then.

Bill Braun
Owner/Technician
Hardin Street Automotive Inc
Coldwater, Ohio, USA

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