I was walking the dog Friday afternoon about 1.5 miles from the truck getting to the top of hill on the loop I jog, enjoy the view for a second, get a text from my sister that it's pouring rain at her house a mile away. I see it's heading my way and in no time it's hailing, better than rain as long as it's small, then it turns to rain and we're pretty wet when we get to the rig, no big deal....but then I turn the key and nothing, no click from the starter or battery. Interstate battery 9 months old, new starter 2 weeks ago, all the electrical(lights, signals, windows, stereo, etc. work), never had any type of battery drain issue. No luck trying in neutral, moving, jiggling the shifter around(it's an auto), all cables, ground, etc. tight, did the Big 3 awhile back. So we jog home another 1.3 miles uphill, in the rain, in the dark. Normally not a big deal, I have a couple thousand dollars of mountaineering/hunting clothing for any type of weather but I'm wearing shorts and a $10 hoody from Walmart and we just got snow for the first time in a couple years here in So Cal(it's rare so we get excited about it, and people drive like crap).
Saturday I swap starter relays with my other truck and still nothing, all the blade type fuses check OK with a meter, not sure how to check the bolted in ones like the alternator fuse but they look OK. The relay from this truck works in the other truck so it's not that. I end up running a jumper wire in the starter relay spot from the 3 to the 5 wire pins(red line in photo) and it starts right up so I drove it home the went back on my bike to get my Subaru I left there. Searched the forum for a while and only came up with the park/neutral safety switch. Not sure how to test this and I'm not super handy with electrical stuff. I'm not exactly sure how to test the # 1 & 2 don't think that's the issue. I think the problem is between the key and the relay. There is no aftermarket alarm system, it has the RS3000 but I have never had a remote and never have used it. I did see a couple drops of water on the drivers floor mat below the inside fuse panel, I cleaned the sunroof drains in summer and all was good. Where should I be looking for the short ?
On a side note when driving the Subaru back at night the passengers headlight was pointing at the ground so I figured somebody backed in to me again... nope, I have a fishbowl going on. I've had this car 6 years and not a drop of moisture in the headlights then suddenly it's full. WTH ?

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An easy test for the neutral safety switch is to try to start it in neutral instead of Park (also try wiggling the shifter around). Sometimes the contacts can get dirty or the shifter can get out of alignment with the transmission mounted switch. Removing and cleaning is possible if the safety switch is the problem.

-Charlie

Possible rear contact in the ignition key going too. How many miles on the odometer?

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OP what year is the rig? I will attach the starting Electrical wiring diagram so that you can trace everything and find the exact source of the problem. :-)

1998 SR5 with ~166K So Cal vehicle, no rust.
Thanks !

Ok. Probably tonight I get you that 1998 sr5 but is it the v6 or 4 cylinder?

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Sorry, it's a 6 cylinder

I’d look for corrosion that has built up possibly in a connector. Look around to see where the water was coming in.

Also dry out the headlamp and connector. Never see a headlight just give up its sealant so quickly before.

Have you tried to start with the shift lever in Neutral (have park brakes engaged)? If it starts then the rear switch unit located at the ignition is working good. From my experience, those switches are robust and hardly fails.

Yes, I tried in neutral, brakes on/off, parking brake set/released, etc. , nothing worked. Another thread said try pushing the shifter the the right in various positions as the contacts are on that side and that didn't work either. Also with steering wheel in various positions, locked and unlocked.

Here you go the EWD of the 1998 5VZ-FE staring and ignition.

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Starting_IgnitionSytem_5VZ_98.pdf (87.8 KB, 490 views)

If it was my Saturn with Lucas electronics I’d say the ignition switch is bad. Lucas sucks!!!!! Look at MG’s.


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My last starting issue on a 3rd gen did turn out to be the ignition key contacts warn out. So its quite possible.

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OP. Still not having luck finding the issue?? If you dont have battery voltage at the relay.

Do you have it through the main wire to you starter stud?

Is the engine grounds good?

You might have to trace the circuit and verify you have good continuity on those wires.

Folks have found oxidation in their battery terminal wires that caused them major grief.

If you take a jumper wire from the battery to the key wire connection on the starter does it activate the solenoid and spin the starter?

This would verify the starter is good and eliminate that possibility.

I know I scratched my head a bit when my ignition contacts went bad.

With the age of rigs, it could be a number of things. Have to do process of elimination to figure it out.



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I can start the car easily by jumping the #3 to #5 at the relay so it's not the starter and the relay works in another 4runner, I'm getting slightly less that battery voltage from the #1 pin at the relay and it's not enough to kick over the relay. That's as far as I got as it's raining here...
Was going to take a look at the park/neutral switch before I started tearing other stuff open. Any suggestions are welcome as I'm not an electronics whiz

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