In need of some help! Tired of throwing parts at her

[3Gen_RUNNER]

Alright so I have a 1998 sr5 with almost 244k on the clock. Truck runs smooth as silk, tranny shifts like butter and everything works. Over the 1.5 years of owning it I have changed the spark plugs and wires, got a new battery and had my alternator rebuilt after it went bad a few months back. About 2 months ago I started getting this weird issue where I would insert the key into ignition, turn it and would lose all power. Just nothing.. completely dead. Searched through the forums and found that my loose battery cable was the issue. Fixed that and everything was smooth sailing for about a month.

My new issue is now I get a single click when I go to turn the ignition and nothing happens. I do not lose any power when this happens, the motor simply does not turn over. It is very random as well. I can start the truck 3-4 times in a row with no issues, take it for a drive and come home and try and start it again and CLICK, nothing. Soooo I did some research and decided to yank the starter out for a rebuild. The contacts were very worn out (which I was happy to see, since at this point I think I’m fixing the problem.) get everything back together and go to start it and CLICK. Same issue. I can always get the truck started after a couple tries though but eventually the single click issue comes back.

EDIT: I should also add that as I am turning the key back and forth trying to get it to start that every now n then it’ll BARLEY turn over, to the point where it almost sputters. Idk if this could point to an electrical issue or what.

I’m out of ideas and/or knowledge on what could be causing this issue. Hoping someone can throw some more suggestions my way before I cave in and take it to a mechanic! Thanks for any help!

I added a picture of the truck so the thread isn’t too boring lol

 

[pauldub]

Have you cleaned the battery terminals?

 

[3Gen_RUNNER]

I have cleaned them, starting to wonder if I should replace the contacts that connect to the terminals from the wires. Think I read somewhere that those can get worn/hair line cracked over time

 

[DaMonkey]

Hey - what color is your truck? i like it.

 

[IBallEngineer]

Hoping someone can throw some more suggestions my way before I cave in and take it to a mechanic! l

If the starter was repaired correctly it is very likely a bad connection or cable. Most likely it is the positive cable. I have 2 4runners and a Tacoma, I have done all 3. When the Tacoma clicked I didn't check anything and pulled out the starter, fixed the contacts and put it back in. Went to start it and "click", looked at the positive cable and it was horrible. Cleaned and reassembled it, good as new. Boy did I feel stupid!

 

[IBallEngineer]

I have cleaned them, starting to wonder if I should replace the contacts that connect to the terminals from the wires. Think I read somewhere that those can get worn/hair line cracked over time

Did you look take it apart and look at the cable itself? The cable bolts to the terminal on the battery, that is why you don't lose power, the cable to the fuse block is good, check the cable and the end where it bolts to the battery.

 

[Jsbcarman]

Single click and no start is almost always a starter

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[deves2]

A ground wire will have the same condition that you are describing. I had to run a new separate ground to the engine block. the original wires are almost 20 years old and even tho they might look ok on the outside the inside could be corroded and not letting the electricity to complete the circuit. The starter takes a large amt of amps to start the car and altho all the others systems in the car function the starter might not. run a new ground wire.

 

[wemslie97]

Same exact issue with mine a while back. Starter contacts. I know you said you had a rebuilt starter so it's a little befuddling.

 

[3Gen_RUNNER]

The starter contacts are only 6hrs old at this point. That was the reason I changed them out this morning lol

 

[3Gen_RUNNER]

Did you look take it apart and look at the cable itself? The cable bolts to the terminal on the battery, that is why you don't lose power, the cable to the fuse block is good, check the cable and the end where it bolts to the battery.

Thanks for the input! I’ll check that out tomorrow morning!

 

[3Gen_RUNNER]

Hey - what color is your truck? i like it.

Its a sand color from Monstaliner

 

[MissouriBreaks]

Sounds like the starter. I had a similar problem and narrowed it to the starter with some help.

I keyed in on the starter by having someone hit the starter with a tire iron (or something heavy) while trying to start the car. It should start right away when you do hit the starter with something heavy. That is how I narrowed it to the starter being the issue.

Replaced the starter and no further problems, until the new starter went bad 3 months later. Same issue of tapping starter with something heavy and it would start. Had the starter replaced under warranty and never had problems again.

 

[turbo8]

Check all your ground wires and clean the mating surfaces.

 

[1biker]

Check all your ground wires and clean the mating surfaces.

Second this. Even stacking too many grounds can cause issues. Weather can also play into these weird, hard to track down problems. The right amount of temperature and humidity can make a bad connection just good enough. Took over a year on an old Subaru to figure out all my starter problems were from a bad body ground at the back of the car. Replaced starter, battery, cleaned everything, new ECU etc etc. Bad ground connection the whole time.

 

[BamaDrewski]

Alright so I have a 1998 sr5 with almost 244k on the clock. Truck runs smooth as silk, tranny shifts like butter and everything works. Over the 1.5 years of owning it I have changed the spark plugs and wires, got a new battery and had my alternator rebuilt after it went bad a few months back. About 2 months ago I started getting this weird issue where I would insert the key into ignition, turn it and would lose all power. Just nothing.. completely dead. Searched through the forums and found that my loose battery cable was the issue. Fixed that and everything was smooth sailing for about a month.

My new issue is now I get a single click when I go to turn the ignition and nothing happens. I do not lose any power when this happens, the motor simply does not turn over. It is very random as well. I can start the truck 3-4 times in a row with no issues, take it for a drive and come home and try and start it again and CLICK, nothing. Soooo I did some research and decided to yank the starter out for a rebuild. The contacts were very worn out (which I was happy to see, since at this point I think I’m fixing the problem.) get everything back together and go to start it and CLICK. Same issue. I can always get the truck started after a couple tries though but eventually the single click issue comes back.

EDIT: I should also add that as I am turning the key back and forth trying to get it to start that every now n then it’ll BARLEY turn over, to the point where it almost sputters. Idk if this could point to an electrical issue or what.

I’m out of ideas and/or knowledge on what could be causing this issue. Hoping someone can throw some more suggestions my way before I cave in and take it to a mechanic! Thanks for any help!

I added a picture of the truck so the thread isn’t too boring lol

This is a dumb question but is your battery fully charged? The only reason I ask is that years ago, my battery kept dying and I had similar symptoms as you. I discovered the DRL's (Daytime running lights) were somehow draining my battery overnight. I disconnected them, charged the battery and it fixed the issue. This might not be what is going on with your rig and it is probably the starter as mentioned in the thread. However, could not hurt to check this if you have the DRL feature on your rig.

 

[theesotericone]

Check all your ground wires and clean the mating surfaces.

That's the first place I always start with electric issues. Take the grounds off. Wire wheel the frame to ground and cab to ground. Clean all connectors. Put a dab of die-electric grease on them and re-install. Also do this to the positive leads going from the battery to the starter.

The starter circuit is pretty simple to test. Get out a multimeter. Check voltage at the battery. Put the lead on the main starter wire terminal. Ground the other lead. The main wire should always have very close to the same voltage as battery. If it doesn't you've got a bad ground or corroded main power lead.

 

[Twheatley32]

I'm not much of a mechanic, but does your 4runner have an "Engine Immobilizer" or more commonly known as a "Chipped key". I'm new to the 3rd Gen 4runners but I've heard of this problem on newer Tacomas and Tundras. The part that fails is the transponder. Might be a different avenue to look at. Good luck though

 

[LittleCaesar]

This may help:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/96164-no-start-issue-possibly-starter-relay.html

 

[3Gen_RUNNER]

UPDATE:

So I was under the hood checking all my grounds and noticed the bolt that holds the ground to the engine was cracked and barely holding it together. The bolt snapped so I still have to get that out but I ended up finding another location on the engine and grounding it to the new location and from yesterday morning through today with multiple short trips in the 4runner, it has started every time. I’ll keep an eye on things and keep my fingers crossed that this was the issue. I’m not even mad I went through the entire starter contact project because those were so worn out as well so I see it as a win-win! Thanks for the replies everyone! Love this forum