payyourtoll

I have been having a sporadic problem with my 4runner starting, ever since this happened. Basically, my + side of my battery made contact with it's metal tie-down and fried the battery. Put a new one in, things are fine until a week ago. I turn the key to start it, I have all power, no turning over, no firing, no clicking, nothing. Just a few minutes ago it did this same thing for 5 minutes, then finally just started up as though nothing was wrong

Is this a bad alternator, ignition, starter, what?

thanks

Brett636

My guess would be starter or starter solenoid. Maybe you should replace the starter solenoid contacts to see if thats the issue.

FORANA

Are the contacts clean on the battery? I had the same problem and it was due to dirty contacts. It was weird cause I had full power on everything else but no turnover. I don't know if thats the issue since you just changed your battery.

InFlames

Your starter contacts are shot...get them replaced somewhere.....dont let someone put a new starter in it...toyota starters are expensive and last forever.....

InFlames

...That is if it goes "click" when you turn the key and dosent start..

GregStevens

Are you saying that nothing at all happens when you try to start the car? The part where you said 'I have all power' isn't clear to me.

If you are saying what I 'think' you are saying, I'm betting it a poor contact with the battery leads. Can you turn the radio or any accessories on? Lights? Anything?

I have seen it where the positive cable was just loose enough not to get enough juice to do anything. Just happened with me when I had it in for some stereo work. Occasionally it would start...other times it wouldn't. Sure enough, I checked the battery leads and the + was loose. Give that a go...unless I'm misreading your post.

Blair

Starter contacts, almost for sure. DON'T get sucked in to a new starter. All you need is the contact kit, and probably just the 'positive' contact. Too bad it's such a PITA to remove. So much so that, my are being done as I type. Pretty sure there is a good write-up in the tech section, but I don't have the time or patience, not to mention the swivel type socket needed to get to that darn top bolt!

4RUNR

Nobody ever listens to me

InFlames

like he said its a pain in the ass to replace....just have a mechanic do it....it shouldn't be more than 120 installed.

freeflyer

Neutral Saftey/Clutch Saftey Switch???

payyourtoll

thanks for the ideas guys. Let me clarify my problem.

Today is another perfect example. Hop in the truck to go to work, go to start the car, and I have ALL power (radio, radar, dash lights, key beep with door open, etc) but no ticking, no cranking, nothing in regards to the motor. I tried to start it 4-5 times and same results. On the 6th attempt it started right up with no hiccups whatsoever.

I found that many have had starter problems and replacing the contacts resolved it, but as someone above mentioned, this was due to the CLICK CLICK CLICKING when trying to start. No clicking here, just absolutely no cranking.

still the starter ??

*edit* and my truck is AT w 75k

L33T35T 4Runner

when you turn the key to start, does all power cut out? if so, this could be a problem with your gear selector. if its in drive or reverse (anything except part or neutral) it wont even attempt to start. something down tehre might have gotten messed up.

but im no pro, listen to those guys first

krem8tr

I've been having the same problems with my '91........get in the car attempt to start it....nothing....tv's...radio...all get power but nothing to the starter......no click clack...nothing.....here's the killer part though....my remote start will fire all the time...so that rules out the starter......after a little digging and testing I found that the problem was with the actual ignition cylinder......i wired a push button directly from a constanty 12+ to the starter...... well to the ignition plug on the starter....fires every single time.......took the cylinder out for a closer look....low and behold the connections on the cylinder were oxidized and shoddy....i'm in the process of cleaning/soldering now....will let you know if it works

Blair

Just got mine back today. The starter contact on the positive side was about as thin as a fingernail! Don't be too concerned about the clickclickclick, or lack thereof. Sometimes it does, others not. Too bad about the AT thing...at least all I had to do with the 5spd was park on any small slope...roll to about 5mph, pop the clutch and away I'd go. The only time I had any trouble was when re-fueling...no slopes at any gas stations...just left her running
Prior to taking it in I tried whacking the starter...worked for one whole day!
Total cost was $175 CDN, about $140 USD. Money well spent if you've ever tried to get at that top bolt!

Next job....HEAD GASKET...but that's OK....the campaign is STILL OPEN!!!!

donc

I had the same problems - would start sometimes and other times just click. I had the contacts chnaged 2 months ago and have not had a single failure to start issue. Do it....

payyourtoll

guys - everything I have read says that the when the contacts go bad, it goes CLICK CLICK. I have no clicking. I am thinking it is something ignition-related

If nobody else has any ideas, I will go ahead and get the contact(s) replaced - but I don't feel that is the issue, we'll see.

krem8tr

It's not the contacts...well not the contacts in the starter...it's in the ignition cylinder...I just finished resoldering the connections on the back of the ignition cylinder and reconnected everything. No problems yet......10 for 10 as far as starts go....I think the contact were just old..oxidized and shoddy.......works for me so far.....

payyourtoll

nice! Can you post a link to any info on this? Or post/pm some details - never did any kind of work related to ignition. Talk to me like I am 10

krem8tr

Ok here's what i did...remove trim from around key cylinder and bottom of dash......look at the back of the ignition cylinder and you'll see 4 or 5 wires coming from it that goes into a plug.....unplug it......then you have two bolts 10mm that hold the cylinder in...remove them....the cylinder should drop in your hand....on the back of the cylinder where the wires are attached is what needs to be redone...mine were all grungy and oxidized....i desoldered them....cut the "iffy" wire off about 1/2 inch and then resoldered the connections.....also one minor mod I did was to wire a push button between the good ignition source and the starter wire......i hid the button out of the way where only I can find it just in case the cylinder should completely die....put everything back together and works just fine....hopefully this helps.....

payyourtoll

thank you sir, this will give me a good idea of what I need to do, and I do NEED to do it.