UPDATE/SOLUTION AT BOTTOM

As the title says, I just had my transmission replaced with a remanufactured unit from Yota1 in Riverbank, Ca. These guys are the consummate professionals who really know our trucks and are passionate about making them better. I want to be clear this post reflects zero negative views or opinions toward them. This post only serves to hopefully expedite the solution to my problem as I unfortunately live 7hrs away from their shop. As always, the problem didnt rear its ugly head until I was comfortably back home 400+ miles away.

So here's what's going on:

Picked the truck up friday, felt great. Shifted perfectly, everything felt tight (still does) and had no issues stopping/starting on my trip home the following day, (which I did several times for fuel/food/etc.)

Sunday morning I went to grab breakfast, no problems. About an hour later I was headed back out of my house, hop in the truck and when I go to start it the radio cuts off as it usually does when you crank but there was no response under the hood. Voltage at the battery was good, but no click, skip, or anything from the starter. Truck was still "warm" but not near operating temp. I, for whatever reason, thought to kick the shifter down to "L" and back to "P" and try again. Cranked right up. Weird.


So driving to get lunch (it was a very food-centric sunday) everything was fine. We stop for food, come out to the truck and same thing, zero response under the hood when turning the key. No lights, no warnings, no nothing. Just the radio cutting off when the key is full-turn. Tried toggling the shifter through its courses a few times and cranking again... Nothing.


Let the truck sit for 30-40min, came back and bam, first crank started up no problem. I then drove the 20min back home, ~50mph, no problems. Park at the house and shut the truck off, let it sit for about a minute, then tried to crank again. Same issue as before.


I'm leaning toward the neutral safety swtich? The tech said he wasnt sure if the positioning of the switch would need to be adjusted. There is one oblong hole that mounts the switch to the trans, which to me says there is some degree of adjustability? Could it be that the switch, for arguments sake, is positioned 5 degrees to the rear when it needs to be 5 degrees to the front? (This is speculation on my part, I've searched and not been able to find anything about someone positioning the sensor, only replacing or cleaning it)


This is a new sensor, by the way****


Any input greatly appreciated. I'm working with the guys at Yota1 currently to troubleshoot but thought I might better my chances getting this in front of more eyes.


Much appreciated.

UPDATE 1/30/2024

so far:
-replaced the starter with an OEM reman from Toyota
-replaced the starter relay
-cleaned battery terminals and neg-to-fender ground
-all wires from starter to battery appear in good shape (no worn areas, kinks, tears, etc)
-double checked and cleaned starter connections (new starter)
-adjusted shift linkage
-checked connections on neutral safety switch (brand new Toyota part)
-battery was tested a few months ago, in spec. Will have it retested and replaced if needed this week.
I don’t have a multimeter so haven’t been able to check consistency of power so bar any further recommendations this is sort of where my diagnostic abilities seem to be reaching their limit


2/12/2024 SOLUTION

So it was the neutral safety!!! I’d come to my wits end, wasn’t able to test continuity at home so gave in and brought it to the stealership. They ran through everything I’d done and all the new parts and determined the neutral safety switch wasn’t engaging.

From Toyota “Verified starter relay is not clicking, checked power at relay and had abnormal voltage reading at pin 1. Traced back to neutral/park safety switch and found a poor connection. Reinstalled neutral/park safety switched and verified starter relay now has power. Vehicle now starts after getting to normal operating temp”

Now it starts like a charm every time. Not sure if it was an external attachment or internal component (the tech left for the day when I picked it up) but it’s resolved. I disconnected, cleaned, and reconnected the plug 2x over the past month and a half so to no avail so I assume it wasn’t seated fully and would be out of spec when the engine/trans got to temp. Glad this is sorted and not some electrical gremlin.