Quote:
Originally Posted by latuk
97 4Runner SR5, manual
It does not happen all the time, maybe every third time I try to start it. I go to start it and nothing happens other than dash lights are on, no clicks, no crank. I will turn it back to ACC and then try to start it again and it starts fine. Thought is might be my clutch position switch so I tried to start with Clutch Override button but it will only start on second try. Anyone have any ideas on this? Starter relay? Starter going bad? Ignition switch?
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IMHO...bad battery cable(s).
This has happened on 3 of my cars over the years.
Terminal is either loose...or cable is corroded badly internally. So sometimes it works and other times it won't.
The reason for the first time failure is that the first time, you are running a bit of current through the battery terminals (lights, fuel pump, etc)...and it reverses the corrosion just enough that the second time it'll have enough connection to crank.
On my old Mercury, it baffled me because I would turn my lights on for a minute and then she would crank. Over a month...it got slowly worse where finally the headlight trick didn't work. My pop wiggled the negative cable and the terminal came apart in two. Pulled the negative cable out and it literally would snap/crackle/pop when bending it. Totally looked fine from the outside and I even cleaned the terminal a bunch of times.
Same thing happened in the 2002 4Runner and I had to splice in about 18" of negative battery cable and a new terminal.
Then again...maybe it's not it. But my experience would have me going right to the cables. Pull them off and man-handle them a good bit. Corrosion hides inside.
-Mike
