brus brother

Jus Well, you may be lucky with the 99. I just went through this with my 05 OB and the solenoid is not serviceable diy. In fact an electric rebuilder said his reference material concurred. He said you'd destroy the solenoid to get into it as the access is not the three screws that the older models have but a furled over metal case encased in plastic. Wish I could have replaced the contacts but ended up replacing with a denso reman unit and YES tghe bottom nut is a bear to get out. Need to go through wheel well and use an offset socket wrench to get it loose.

Thanks to all. Overpaid at soa for a reman denso but got the starter in. The lower nut was a real bear. Had to go at it through the wheel well with an offset wrench. Even the top bolt needed a breaker bar. WTH were they thinking about when tightening these things at the factory? At least now I don't need to travel with a hammer in hand to start the car and I can just enjoy my cel (P0420)... my old friend.

Darn, I hadn't read far enough to see that the Back Arnley on RockAuto was NipponDenso.

Used part arrived beat to crap. Need to return but while waiting to order orig from Subaru, decided to check one other thing. Does it make sense that I am only getting 11.57 volts at the lead from the ignition to the solenoid? 12.5 on the battery

Second guessing myself, I went out to see if I could just start her right up... nada Whacked it even harder than last time... nada Had wife turn the key while I whacked on the solenoid... started right up. It would appear I have one of those cars like in the olden days when someone turned the crank in front while someone else was in the driver's seat. Pretty sure now the starter has gone bye bye. BTW, the replacement will be on hand tomorrow at 7:30 AM Now that's service. Local Subie dealer says they get parts from LKQ for insurance repairs and gives them the thumbs up. $25 core charge "whenever" I return it. I will be doing exploratory surgery on this "non-repairable" unit before turning it back in for credit.

car-part closest in CT selling for $100 vs. $189 rebuilt from SOA SubaruPartsForYou.com which is local to me. I keep reading horror stories about Autozone Score! LKQ has distribution 35 minutes away 2007 with 51K for $50 My lucky day. Thanks LT for the shopping guide.

From my discussion with the rebuilder (who seemed knowledgeable and checked his references) it appears on the model number I supplied that the access plate is furled over and you can't really get in to change the contacts. this ebay seller has pics that accurately depict what I have http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-STARTER-for-SUBARU-2-5-LEGACY-05-06-3-0-OUTBACK-05-07-TRIBECA-06-07-/171052737709

it is marked denso 32 TN428000-2290

just spoke to a local rebuilder who said these solenoids are not rebuildable he is retiring this week! is he just tired?? this is an 05 OB auto... has anyone done one of these?

Rockauto doesn't carry Denso Partsgeek doesn't stock Denso for 05 OB Autto non-turbo! DOH! Update: Local dealer is hunting around stock bins as they used to carry plunger/contacts

Autozone has in stock nearby Duralast housebrand limited lifetime warranty reman for $90 which isn't Denso but fully rebuilt. SOA wants $190 reman for probably Denso. It is wife's car and I'm more concerned about her getting stuck without the hammer or kick the mule skills to get home.

I know it's only a few bucks for the contacts but with 168K miles on the starter, are the brushes in the starter heading south as well?? Safer to just plug and play a new starter (more than a few bucks)? So the click click click is the solenoid trying to move the plunger?? Then what does hitting the solenoid with a hammer do? (the mule analogy notwithstanding)

I can't seem to locate the contacts on line. Any suggestions or sources? How would I search local yellow pages?

More time on my hands now. I decided to back track. Had just started the car a few hours ago and it was still in the garage so I didn't think to try it then and there and just proceeded to remove the little push on connector from the ignition to the starter solenoid to play around with hot wiring so I can revisit juvenile hall when I am way over the hill ;-) OK key off / plug disconnected, POS of battery jumped to spade plug on solenoid made crank. He thinks to himself, OK if you have a problem again, at least you can jump it with the key ON and start the car and limp home. Great tell the wife "tada... all glory and honor be mine" Notice a little greening inside the connector and use my handy dental pick and scratch inside a little bit. Spade seems clean. Put connector back on and... no start, just click click click click. Dadgummit! OK nothing to tell the wife about here. Push connector on and off a few times. nada. Take a long solid 1/2" diameter solid plastic rod and wind it down atop the starter solenoid and give it a good tap with a hammer. Turn key and it starts. Sooooooooooo not wanting to carry hot wiring tool kit or a hammer to start the car, am I now looking at rebuilding the solenoid or is there more diagnosis to be done before wasting $10 on contacts?

FT for diagnosis. If I hear a "click" what does that indicate? If it is the solenoid contacts, is there anywhere on line to get them?

I can't hear anything from inside car BUT fellow that stopped to help yesterday said he heard something when I tried to start the car

no cel no codes pending drove home and it restarted immediately....

code reader at home. will check when i drag my sorry butt home later.

wanted to add: new battery I had sprayed lithium grease on terminals and that crap had melted and seeped down between the connectors and post but i had cleaned that off yesterday when this all started. I still think something is heating/expanding and malfunctions until cooled. just my opionion from the rowdy cheap seats!

about 3 hours later friend tried and car started right up. soa parts csr says starters fail so rarely that they don't even stock them. so... what expands and fails when heated but revives after cool down?

failing starter motor??

car in commuter lot for next few hours. just a thouight but if the car restarts later after cooling down would that point to anything?

stuck again after 15 min drive no restart but lights on. ran auto shifter through gears. tapped brake. wire from pos to starter. banged on starter solenoid. what else to check?

Thanks FT, the prize went to the Lucky Texan. Security system but hadn't locked the car. Had run the shifter up and down but nada. So, I am curious why the "pop the brake" worked AND if it recurs, what to track down.