Anyone know which relay is for the starter on my '96 Corolla ? I think it’s located with the fuse panel on the driver’s side kick panel, but there are four different relays there. Two black ones are right on the fuse panel, and there are two more, a white one and a purple one right above those in an almost inaccessible location. Any help would be appreciated, since I would want to check this component before I tackle the starter swap. Thanx in advance.
This may be what you are planing but before buying a relay it may be possible to trade out another relay of the same size to see if that it the problem.
Like may be the rear defroster has the same specs of the starter relay.
Haynes manual shows it as the top relay on left. However My guess is, its most likely the starter, because these starters are notorious for intermittent starter failure.
I have replaced a bad starter in a 93 prizm with a remanufactured one just to have that one bad, requiring a second replacement. Thankfully the second one was good.
Thanx, americar. At 175,XXX miles, I suspect I have a bad solenoid, but the terrible quality of rebuilt units these days is why I want to eliminate all other possibilities first. The starter swap is not a job I want to have to do twice, if that can possibly be avoided. I already bypassed the clutch safety switch, but that didn’t help. Just to clarify, is that the top left relay on the fuse panel, or the one above that that’s kind of free standing?
If you can pull the starter yourself, you can swap out the contacts in the solenoid very easily, for about $40. Go to a Toyota parts counter, get both the side contacts and the round center contact, otherwise you’ll be doing it again in 30k miles.
I did the exact coarse of diagnostics by swapping the starter relays in the kick panel fuse box.
The car is still in the family but not readily available for me to check exact location. But I do remember it pretty far up, and the two relays above maybe offset slightly from the relays below. Cant remember if its under the cover, but they may not be.
Thanx, again, americar. Have since found an illustration online of the relays and fuse panel that show it to be the extreme upper left location, consistent with your memory. As you might be able to tell, I’ll do almost anything to avoid doing the starter swap, if it’ll fix the problem! My ‘93 Corolla went 250,000 miles on the original starter, although I did have to throw an alternator into it at about 180K, which was a relatively easy job. Gawd, these are great cars! BTW, I couldn’t help but notice your screen i.d. “americar” . Do you have a fondness for 1937-42 Willys’ ? 
Thanx for the tip, texases. I may very well go that route, since I am, by nature, a major cheapskate !
My screen name was because at the time I joined this sight I owned a car from each American car manufacture. A Impala, Taurus, and Stratus, so americar seemed to fit. BTW the Prizm took the place of the Taurus.
Just checked out a 42 Willys Americar pretty cool hot ride.