my buddy is out of state from me, and he has minimal mechanical aptitude, but he described problem to me, and im about 90% sure its the solenoid, (he turns the key, it clicks once and nothing.. battery is good) i dont remember my vq30, is it easy enough to do? IE: reachable from above the car, or should i recommend he go to a mechanic?

 

The starter is pretty simple to remove. I took out the battery and airbox, then it's just 2 bolts holding the starter on. Took me 20 minutes.

I couldn't find the solenoid switch and the starter was pretty worn anyway so I ended up buying the entire starter instead of just the solenoid.

 

Good luck finding just the solenoid cheaper than the whole unit reman'd. At least at my job the you can get a reman'd starter cheaper than just the solenoid itself. I dont think I've ever just sold a solenoid by itself for a starter that has one attached to it nor have I ever had to replace one on a started back in my wrenching days. Since remans are cheap now and offer good warranties its the most popular way to go now.

 

$30 ... Autozone for the solinoide! FTW !!!!!

To get to it, it's not that hard. It's under the intake crap and it's only 2 - 10mm bolts holding it on. No need to remove the whole starter even. It's really a 5 min job. The stud nuts are 12mm and you just pull the Pos bat lead (off the bat) and off the solinoide, disconect the other wire and the 2 bolts ... slips right out. Do becarefull of the little rubber insulator (space holder) though ... it's easy to loose in the engine bay and then you spend an extra 10 min's looking for it. LOL