I have a 2003 celica GT, came out the other day and when I tried to start it there was nothing, not even a click. I had purchased a new battery a little over a year ago and didn't think it was that but I tried jumping it (nothing) and checked the battery and sure enough it was still good (had charge). I've owned the car for 12 years and the starter had never been replaced so I assumed it was the starter that was the issue. I read what I could find online from others about replacing the starter.... there was not a good online repair video for my year/model but there was some info and (as usual) most of the difficulty was getting access to the 2 bolts that secure the starter. The bottom bolt was of course easy to locate, the top was not... and as others had said it was not easily accessible but after removing the battery and a few other items I was able to locate the top bolt, removed it and then removed the bottom bolt. As others as stated it took a 14mm wrench which I used to remove both bolts.
This is where I ran into my issue in that when I removed the bottom bolt and the nut for the solenoid connector, the starter wouldn't budge, I could not get it off even after various attempts. I've replaced starters before and have never had an issue on not being able to remove the starter once I had the bolts removed. I then assumed I had removed the wrong top bolt but it is the only bolt I could locate so I'm pretty sure I have the right one. I included a pic of the general location of the top bolt, could not get a good photo as it was just too cramped to get the camera in there.
I've included a few additional pictures - any help from you more experienced mechanics would be greatly appreciated.
This is where I ran into my issue in that when I removed the bottom bolt and the nut for the solenoid connector, the starter wouldn't budge, I could not get it off even after various attempts. I've replaced starters before and have never had an issue on not being able to remove the starter once I had the bolts removed. I then assumed I had removed the wrong top bolt but it is the only bolt I could locate so I'm pretty sure I have the right one. I included a pic of the general location of the top bolt, could not get a good photo as it was just too cramped to get the camera in there.
I've included a few additional pictures - any help from you more experienced mechanics would be greatly appreciated.
