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Thanks for making the forum available to us. It’s saved a lot of us a ton of money!
I splurged and spend $2.15 for the bolt from the Toyota dealer (and had to make a second trip since it wasn’t in stock and had to be special-ordered. Just my luck.) I didn’t want to risk using the wrong size or thread pitch tightening directly into the intake!
Thanks for making the forum available to us. It’s saved a lot of us a ton of money!
I splurged and spend $2.15 for the bolt from the Toyota dealer (and had to make a second trip since it wasn’t in stock and had to be special-ordered. Just my luck.) I didn’t want to risk using the wrong size or thread pitch tightening directly into the intake!
I wasn’t actually suggesting making a video, but hey, feel free to file that away at the bottom of your list of ideas for the future. I won’t even charge for that one..heh. (I’d like to see this Growler in action!)
I actually, in the interest of getting the repair done quickly, just ran to autozone and asked for a starter and that’s what they gave me. There weren’t any options other than their “duralast” brand, but who knows what that means. It could be a different rebuilder at each store for all I know. One thing I’ll always agree on is doing any job multiple times is never worth it, regardless of the price.
Thanks again for your info and help as always!
I wasn’t actually suggesting making a video, but hey, feel free to file that away at the bottom of your list of ideas for the future. I won’t even charge for that one..heh. (I’d like to see this Growler in action!)
I actually, in the interest of getting the repair done quickly, just ran to autozone and asked for a starter and that’s what they gave me. There weren’t any options other than their “duralast” brand, but who knows what that means. It could be a different rebuilder at each store for all I know. One thing I’ll always agree on is doing any job multiple times is never worth it, regardless of the price.
Thanks again for your info and help as always!
Hey Eric, thanks for chiming in.
I actually did initially purchase a rebuilt starter at first. 3 days later I was stranded until I was able to find someone else to “tap” it back to life to get home. Having read about the contacts, I opened the shiny, new, rebuilt starter, and guess what? Corroded contacts. Fortunately I had not turned in my core yet, so I ordered the new contacts, installed them in my original starter, and returned the “rebuilt” one for a refund. It’s now been over 4 years and it still starts like new.
I agree with you in the principle of not having to repeat work, but the problem in this particular case is (1) it’s ONLY the contacts that are the issue 95% of the time it seems, and (2) rebuilders are clearly untrustworthy half the time (unless you know of a good rebuilder who can do it for you). I literally think they sanded/polished the outside of the one I bought, sprayed on a quick coat of paint, put a sticker on it, stuck it in the box, and put it back on the shelf. I’ve read of other instances of people discovering this so I know I’m not alone! (In fact, that’s how I found out about this in the first place.)
Basically, this is such a cheap and EASY fix that I feel it’s well worth a shot before replacing the starter. I agree with you in most other cases, though. A power steering pump and an alternator are tricky. I wouldn’t attempt any other starter “fix” either.
One final issue I had was with an aftermarket CV axle on our minivan. The new replacement chinese-made one was, at most, HALF the total weight of the original, made some weird sporadic noises and clunks, and just did not seem to be of acceptable quality. Since the original wasn’t clicking and just had a small tear in one of the boots, I paid a guy $50 to reboot it for me and returned the flimsy one to the store. It’s the wife’s van just like your Odyssey, and I could not get the thought out of my head that the cheaper one may snap or fall apart while she’s on the highway or something.
Thanks again for your reply, and happy Friday!
Hey Eric, thanks for chiming in.
I actually did initially purchase a rebuilt starter at first. 3 days later I was stranded until I was able to find someone else to “tap” it back to life to get home. Having read about the contacts, I opened the shiny, new, rebuilt starter, and guess what? Corroded contacts. Fortunately I had not turned in my core yet, so I ordered the new contacts, installed them in my original starter, and returned the “rebuilt” one for a refund. It’s now been over 4 years and it still starts like new.
I agree with you in the principle of not having to repeat work, but the problem in this particular case is (1) it’s ONLY the contacts that are the issue 95% of the time it seems, and (2) rebuilders are clearly untrustworthy half the time (unless you know of a good rebuilder who can do it for you). I literally think they sanded/polished the outside of the one I bought, sprayed on a quick coat of paint, put a sticker on it, stuck it in the box, and put it back on the shelf. I’ve read of other instances of people discovering this so I know I’m not alone! (In fact, that’s how I found out about this in the first place.)
Basically, this is such a cheap and EASY fix that I feel it’s well worth a shot before replacing the starter. I agree with you in most other cases, though. A power steering pump and an alternator are tricky. I wouldn’t attempt any other starter “fix” either.
One final issue I had was with an aftermarket CV axle on our minivan. The new replacement chinese-made one was, at most, HALF the total weight of the original, made some weird sporadic noises and clunks, and just did not seem to be of acceptable quality. Since the original wasn’t clicking and just had a small tear in one of the boots, I paid a guy $50 to reboot it for me and returned the flimsy one to the store. It’s the wife’s van just like your Odyssey, and I could not get the thought out of my head that the cheaper one may snap or fall apart while she’s on the highway or something.
Thanks again for your reply, and happy Friday!
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I discovered something about the starter in my Camry that may apply to Honda as well. Apparently, with most Nippon-Denso starters (used in Honda & Chrysler as well), the main failure item is the inside metal contacts in the solenoid. For $10 or so on ebay you can get new contacts and a new “plunger”. By removing the three screws on the outside of the solenoid, you can easily swap out these contacts and the plunger (just transfer the spring from the old one.) It took me less than an hour including removing/reinstalling the starter itself, and it suddenly starts good-as-new!
There are some threads on cleaning up the contacts, but honestly, I’ve never been able to fully clean up metal contacts to where they’re even “like new”, so $10 is well worth it to me to just swap everything out.
There is a pretty good youtube video on this too but it’s not ETCG so I won’t post it here. (Trust me, you really don’t need the video. Remove the 3 screws and the contacts will be right there!)
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I discovered something about the starter in my Camry that may apply to Honda as well. Apparently, with most Nippon-Denso starters (used in Honda & Chrysler as well), the main failure item is the inside metal contacts in the solenoid. For $10 or so on ebay you can get new contacts and a new “plunger”. By removing the three screws on the outside of the solenoid, you can easily swap out these contacts and the plunger (just transfer the spring from the old one.) It took me less than an hour including removing/reinstalling the starter itself, and it suddenly starts good-as-new!
There are some threads on cleaning up the contacts, but honestly, I’ve never been able to fully clean up metal contacts to where they’re even “like new”, so $10 is well worth it to me to just swap everything out.
There is a pretty good youtube video on this too but it’s not ETCG so I won’t post it here. (Trust me, you really don’t need the video. Remove the 3 screws and the contacts will be right there!)
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. The problem is fixed!
There’s a support bracket that goes from the top left of the intake manifold to the block on the bottom. The bottom bolt was loose, causing the noise (since the top bolt was missing since god knows when.) With a new top bolt and the bottom bolt tightened down, the clunk is gone and what’s left of my sanity has returned.
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. The problem is fixed!
There’s a support bracket that goes from the top left of the intake manifold to the block on the bottom. The bottom bolt was loose, causing the noise (since the top bolt was missing since god knows when.) With a new top bolt and the bottom bolt tightened down, the clunk is gone and what’s left of my sanity has returned.
The noise is only when you accelerate from a dead stop. When I stand on the brake like that it doesn’t happen. It sounds like someone taps the back of the dash with a wiffle ball bat.
I’m probably going to get a shop to check it out because I can’t find any unusual play anywhere and I’ve checked a couple of times. I also removed the stereo to make sure nothing was obviously loose in the dash and the noise definitely seems to come from the engine compartment when I have that kind of access. (Harder to tell with it all assembled.)
Edit: Thanks for the reply, Eric!
The noise is only when you accelerate from a dead stop. When I stand on the brake like that it doesn’t happen. It sounds like someone taps the back of the dash with a wiffle ball bat.
I’m probably going to get a shop to check it out because I can’t find any unusual play anywhere and I’ve checked a couple of times. I also removed the stereo to make sure nothing was obviously loose in the dash and the noise definitely seems to come from the engine compartment when I have that kind of access. (Harder to tell with it all assembled.)
Edit: Thanks for the reply, Eric!
Those are excellent points. Usually they spring a leak or just don’t dissipate heat well after a while, but “plugging up” sounds fishy.
It’s 1996 so it has to be OBD2 compatible. A $200-range scan tool should give you the actual temperature. Plus, high temperature should set the check engine light, although maybe not right away, so check the live data. If the data indicates a problem, I’d change the thermostat first and make sure that’s not your problem either since that’s such a simple swap and they’re cheap enough anyway.
I’d also get another quote from another shop for that radiator swap. That sounds really exhorbitant. I bet there’s $179 or so for a coolant flush in there too. $818.57 is almost 82 years of premium ETCG membership!
Those are excellent points. Usually they spring a leak or just don’t dissipate heat well after a while, but “plugging up” sounds fishy.
It’s 1996 so it has to be OBD2 compatible. A $200-range scan tool should give you the actual temperature. Plus, high temperature should set the check engine light, although maybe not right away, so check the live data. If the data indicates a problem, I’d change the thermostat first and make sure that’s not your problem either since that’s such a simple swap and they’re cheap enough anyway.
I’d also get another quote from another shop for that radiator swap. That sounds really exhorbitant. I bet there’s $179 or so for a coolant flush in there too. $818.57 is almost 82 years of premium ETCG membership!
Removed dogbone; it’s perfectly intact. No tears at all in the rubber. I’m leaning heavily toward the bottom mount in the front. Apparently that’s the main one that absorbs the acceleration torque in this engine and is the first to fail. But I wish I knew for sure. The cheapest I can find a new OEM front mount for is about $140 shipped! I may pay a shop to diagnose them all for me on a rack just to be sure.