First and foremost - I knew this thing was on it's way out, for at least a year and a half. It would spin the motor slow, sometimes stopping, and I would have to turn the key again to get it started.
It decided to die last night in the Outback parking lot. The wife and I get in it after dinner. Turn the key, nothing. No click - nothing. I popped the hood, not really sure what I would do.
I ended up getting the lug wrench from the trunk, and rapped on the solenoid a few times. It started after the 2nd round of rapping. The wife called me a "fscking genius", I basked in it, knowing full well it was nothing more than luck that got the car started.
I ended up having to remove the front exhaust manifold, and score my arms up pretty good swapping in a new one.
Huge PITA to get this thing swapped, not surprisingly, the new starter spins the motor over MUCH faster.
New starter in:
New alternator (That's another story..)
Motor:
Not much left to break....