I have a 2001 4Runner that hasn't been driven much, I usually try to periodically start it to keep a charge but over the winter it sat a while and the battery died. I decided to grab some jumper cables and see if I could get it started without doing a full charge with my trickle charger. Unfortunately when I was doing this I was preoccupied by something else and I crossed the positive and negative leads on the battery (yes, completely dumb, I'm well aware :fish: ) it sparked and I quickly realized my mistake. I went ahead and pulled the battery for a charge in the garage.
When I reinstalled the battery a couple days later after a full charge, the vehicle would not start...nothing happened when I turned the key. I didn't think much of it at first, because the freaking security system on this thing is wonky and it's not uncommon for me to have to screw with it a bit after the battery drains (or I lock the door with the fob and open with the key and it sets it off, blah blah). When I reconnected the battery, the horn chirped lightly about once per second and the red light to the left of the steering column was flashing. Normally it'd be the much louder "full on horn blasting" where I could override it by turning the key in the door clockwise twice, etc. Instead it was just a repetitive chirp.
After getting nowhere with the "security system resets" it dawned on me maybe it was related to the starter cable crossing polarity several days earlier. I checked some fuses and three were blown - namely, the ignition fuse, but there were a couple others related to accessories that I don't specifically recall. I checked both the interior fuse box and the engine fuse box. I couldn't find any blown relays, but I replaced all the fuses that were blown. When I turn the key in the ignition, nothing happens. No dash lights, no odometer, the engine doesn't try to turn over and fail to start, nothing. After doing some research about my "screw up", I wanted to remove a fried ECU from the equation so I ordered the correct replacement part from ebay, supposedly pulled from a running vehicle. Nothing changed or acted differently once I swapped the ECU out.
I can unlock and lock the car with the keyless remote, I can roll the rear window down with the fob, power doors work, etc. It's just like fact nothing happens when I turn the key. I tried unplugging the alarm system brain (black square box behind the kick panel near the driver's left foot, as I saw that as a suggestion to bypass the security system...maybe that doesn't actually work, I don't know) and while the horn doesn't "chirp" anymore, everything else is the same.
So right now I replaced 3 blown fuses, only 1 of which seemed possibly related to the vehicle starting (ignition), bought a new ECU and tested with it, tried bypassing the security system, and nothing is different. I understand there's a fusible link for the starter which I have not checked, but the fact nothing at all happens when I turn the ignition to "on" and there's no engine related dash lights/odometer, it seems to me like we're not even to the point of trying to supply the starter with voltage when I turn the key over. I took the battery to the auto parts store for a test and it checked out good, so that can be ruled out as well.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
When I reinstalled the battery a couple days later after a full charge, the vehicle would not start...nothing happened when I turned the key. I didn't think much of it at first, because the freaking security system on this thing is wonky and it's not uncommon for me to have to screw with it a bit after the battery drains (or I lock the door with the fob and open with the key and it sets it off, blah blah). When I reconnected the battery, the horn chirped lightly about once per second and the red light to the left of the steering column was flashing. Normally it'd be the much louder "full on horn blasting" where I could override it by turning the key in the door clockwise twice, etc. Instead it was just a repetitive chirp.
After getting nowhere with the "security system resets" it dawned on me maybe it was related to the starter cable crossing polarity several days earlier. I checked some fuses and three were blown - namely, the ignition fuse, but there were a couple others related to accessories that I don't specifically recall. I checked both the interior fuse box and the engine fuse box. I couldn't find any blown relays, but I replaced all the fuses that were blown. When I turn the key in the ignition, nothing happens. No dash lights, no odometer, the engine doesn't try to turn over and fail to start, nothing. After doing some research about my "screw up", I wanted to remove a fried ECU from the equation so I ordered the correct replacement part from ebay, supposedly pulled from a running vehicle. Nothing changed or acted differently once I swapped the ECU out.
I can unlock and lock the car with the keyless remote, I can roll the rear window down with the fob, power doors work, etc. It's just like fact nothing happens when I turn the key. I tried unplugging the alarm system brain (black square box behind the kick panel near the driver's left foot, as I saw that as a suggestion to bypass the security system...maybe that doesn't actually work, I don't know) and while the horn doesn't "chirp" anymore, everything else is the same.
So right now I replaced 3 blown fuses, only 1 of which seemed possibly related to the vehicle starting (ignition), bought a new ECU and tested with it, tried bypassing the security system, and nothing is different. I understand there's a fusible link for the starter which I have not checked, but the fact nothing at all happens when I turn the ignition to "on" and there's no engine related dash lights/odometer, it seems to me like we're not even to the point of trying to supply the starter with voltage when I turn the key over. I took the battery to the auto parts store for a test and it checked out good, so that can be ruled out as well.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
