big bear

90' Toy Runner 3vze 4x4 5 speed.

A couple of weeks ago my truck started acting up, intermittently the starter would not crank the engine, solenoid and relay could be heard clicking.
After a few times turning the key from on to start position the starter would crank the motor.

Now the starter will no longer crank the motor, no matter how many times you turn the key.

Put a battery charger on it overnight set on 2amp charge, in the morning the gauge on the charger was reading 'full charge', headlights were bright, power windows moved quickly even when multiple windows were activated at the same time ie tail gate window and drivers window.

No difference in the starter's response, solenoid and relay were clicking strong, had the clutch pedal and neutral safety switch engaged.
Put jumper cables on, connected to my Grand Am, motor running.
No change.

The engine was rebuilt in June of this year, starter not replaced.
The starer appeared original, it was very crusty, and the brand was Toyota.
I cleaned it up as well as all the connections.

It bump starts just fine.

What would you suggest as a next step before I go out and buy any parts ??

snobdds

More than likely it will be the starter contacts and plunger inside the starter. Get some from the dealer or off of 4crawler.com. I believe the dealer has a kit that includes the plunger, but I don't know where the part number is right now. Google will get it for you. Easy to fix and there are tons of write ups on here.

I would check your ground and positive cables for any fraying and corrosion. New wires if any is found. I had a ground wire loose some sheeting and it would give me a no start.

This generation of toyota sends massive amounts of power through the ignition switch. The contacts do burn out, so it's one of those PM's that you can do to make it reliable.

The last thing to check is the starter relay. They really don't go out, but check it for proper switching.

Oh, and toyotas only like toyota electronics, get your parts from the dealer or an on line discount OEM dealer.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

First thing to do is to break out your multimeter and figure out just what is wrong

it comes down to not getting enough voltage to the starter solenoid .

worn ignition switch ??

perhaps a bad connection ??

I have seen the ground attached to the frame instead of the engine block cause this.

I myself would lean towards the solenoid contacts and plunger.

I have also seen the replacement/rebuilding of a starter overcome other issues for a period of time because it was all nice and new.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

Turn the crank by hand and make sure the starter isn't still engaged with the flexplate. I'm having that problem right now and so is another guy. I thought I had it figured out, but I went to start it this morning and I'm back to square one.

big bear

It was the starter, put a new one in, she fired right up.

ciyo77

If the starter goes out again message me. Mine did the same and went out again.

SPARKS89

iTrader: (1)

So did mine. I've pulled the transmission and reinstalled the bell housing on the motor so I can put the starter on also. This allowed me to see how the starter was engaging the flexplate while a buddy bumped the starter. With the main power wire disconnected from the starter you can make a jumper wire for the solenoid and touch the other end to the battery terminal. That will engage the starter, but not turn it. When I did that after a few times the bendix on the starter would hang up on the flexplate. I'd have to reach in the bell housing and push the bendix back off the flexplate.

Then I tried it with the main starter wire connected to the battery and repeated the test. Make sure when you do this that you leave the key out of the ignition. That way the starter will turn but the motor won't fire. When I did that I couldn't duplicate the problem, but I'm not satisfied that anything is fixed yet so I'm pulling the flexplate off to take a better look at it.

That's where I'm at with mine right now.

big bear

I bought the Napa starter with the lifetime warranty.