runnah

Hey all,

New to the forum and looking for some help with my '89 4runner. She runs and drives great but if I don't start er up and drive on a daily basis it will not start without a jump. I can hear a single click, then nothing. Drive it a few miles a day, and starts no problem. If I let it sit, nothing. Live in WY and the problem is worse in the winter (gets colder than a titch's wit out here). Just looking for some insight as to where I might start trouble-shooting this one.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

The 84-89 Runner has a button on the steering column that you have to press to let the key go to the Off position. The 84-89 Ignition System is bad about letting you pull the key out with the key on in the ACC position there by leaving the clock and other accessories energized. A good battery will start the truck if it only sets for a day or two but will run down eventually. On this generation of trucks when I am getting out of it, I always look to see if the clock display is off. That will let you know that the key is in the fully OFF position.

If the above problem is not your problem, look into how is the stereo wired in or other options that are not factory and see if they are correctly hooked up.

coryc85

Wow Terry, I said almost the exact thing in another guys thread on his truck sitting for 2 weeks, I must read too much Yotatech, I'm staring to think like Terry.

To the OP, yeah after only a couple days I would not be happy if my battery was too low to crank the truck. As Terry said, make sure ignition switch is all the way back in the OFF position. If none of Terry's suggestions fix it, I would question the age/condition of your battery.

akwheeler

I just posted the following on another thread, but I'm not sure how to post a link to it, so here's a copy and paste.
if you are looking for a draw you need to be reading amps. if you don't have access to a clamp on amp meter you need to have your multi meter set on amps and in series with one of the battery cables. it is easy to mess this up though. most meters have internal fuses and if you turn anything on while it is hooked up you can burn them out, I managed to do this when looking for a very small draw with my meter connected for the lowest range and I opened a door. the dome light current was too high for the fuse in the meter and I didn't notice. it just seemed like my draw went away because the meter read zero. what I like to do is hook up a test light (a tail light bulb works great, it's large and easy to see) between the negative battery cable and the negative battery terminal. if it glows brightly there is a large draw, dimly means a small draw. removing fuses one at a time will lead you to the draw or multiple draws by watching for the light to dim when you pull the fuse. just a note here, most any vehicle with computerized engine controls will show a draw when the battery (or test gear) is first connected. when the computer goes into sleep mode the draw will reduce noticeably but there will always be a very small draw. if you hook up to the battery and see a draw, wait 5 minutes watching your meter or test light and see if it suddenly drops by itself.
good luck!

runnah

UNbelievable. Thanks a lot fellas! I feel like an idiot but if this works...

RAD4Runner

Birds of same trucks flock together. LOL!

Many potential causes for Runnah's problem:

Dead battery or one that does not take a charge anymore - Have it tested.
Alternative test you can do yourself:
Multimeter in Volts mode, Red probe on positive battery post, Black on negative post. ALL circuits and lights OFF. What do you read?
Now turn on headlights, how many volts do you read?

Bad connections:
Make sure all connections have bare, shiny metal contacting bare shiny metal.

Could be excessive current draw that you could troubleshoot like AKWheeler says ^^^. Yes, a clamp-on ammeter is best.
To test safely using resistance measurement, try this

Best of luck.