Occasional Clunk When Starting

[traben27]

So my wife called the other day to say that she had gone out to start the 4Runner and it did the typical crank 2 or 3 times and then she heard a loud clunk and the engine didn't turn over. I had experienced this maybe once before, but I thought I had maybe just turned the key back on accident and prematurely stopped the starter. It happened again yesterday when starting it, it cranked 3 times and then there was a loud clunk and then no noise. I'm positive I didn't turn the key back.

Any ideas?

 

[thegipper]

Interesting. Does it still crank over and start?

Could be a bad starter, the gear on the starter or the flex plate is cracked/broken. Have you heard a ticking/clicking noise when it's idling?

I would remove the starter (not very fun) and see whats going on. You can also remove the inspection cover (also not fun unless you have arms/hands the size of a 10 year old) on the bell housing to inspect the flex plate. You'll need to manually rotate the crank shaft to inspect all of it. Look for any cracks or damage, they often crack/break near the bolt holes in the center.

 

[traben27]

Interesting. Does it still crank over and start?

Could be a bad starter, the gear on the starter or the flex plate is cracked/broken. Have you heard a ticking/clicking noise when it's idling?

Yep it still cranks over and starts as normal and I haven't noticed any ticking (especially not like this).

I may hold off on pulling the starter until it happens again. I'm just hoping someone else has experienced this.