1990yota-pickup

making a jumper wire to thet starter is easy... if you have a aligator clip that can get from radio shack (or and dope smoker) PUT your wire on the clip,

clip on to your solenoid run some wire... put a fuse in place for saftey.. then a push button start switch.. and then go to you postive on your battery..

ensure you ground are good. .and nice and tight.. bare metal on metal a lead on painted surface no so much ground action and then you run into bad starting issues..

i like to have a ground straight to the block of the engine and a second to the chassie of the vehicle ..

thestrongarm

Thank you for this suggestion...while I've cycled the key off/on, I don't know that I've done On-Acc-On in sequence. I'll give that a try! I have no documentation on this alarm system, and since I'm 3rd owner the details of the alarm (Dealer installed vs. Factory Installed) may not be accurate. I will give this a try tonight.

1990yota-pickup

did you take by a good toyota dealership...

1990mudslut

you still haven't said weather or not you have made a jumper for the starter....If it was me I would be doing this right now just to eliminate one more thing.If you make a jumper the starter is gonna turn unless it is bad.If It is bad this might be you problem the whole time.

thestrongarm

Tried it...nothing. Alarm continues to set with the FOB, I can deactivate it with the FOB as well as the key method.

thestrongarm

I've visited and talked to them, but haven't taken the Runner there yet. That will require a tow and they can't look at it until next week at earliest.

thestrongarm

Not yet; I won't be able to until this weekend at earliest. I'm not getting any power to the starter solenoid, however. I still hear the relay cycling on/off. I need to get materials for a jumper and time to trace wires, if it comes to that.

1990yota-pickup

if i was your i would pull that starter or run a jumper to it to make sure its not the starter causing you these issues.. secondly i would check your ignition switch.. and any relays in the path of flow... just break it down barnie style and it will be alot easier to focus on you problem...

its like you need a good set of neighboors to get you through this problem

thestrongarm

OK here's the update. I got everything together for the jumpers and tested the old starter on the bench first to make sure it operated as it should. It did.

After that I ran a jumper to the starter solenoid in the 4Runner. The starter power supply itself was fine, as I'd already tested to show it had 12V power. Because of this I simply ran the jumper from the installed battery to the solenoid. Result: the starer fired right up, turning the engine with no problem at all.

The relief that it's not the start is good. Hearing the engine crank was great. However, I'm still in the same boat. A friend could hear/feel the starter relay working, too, as I was cycling through the key positions, so that must not be the issue, either.

The Toyota security system still activates/deactivates. At this point, I'm thinking all signs point to the computer in some fashion. As an additional check, I removed and reinstalled the PNP switch connector. Same result, no crank.

UKrunner

Run your jumper wire from the starter directly to the starter relay. I bet it will crank when you turn the key.
If it cranks but doesnt start I bet there is an alarm controlled relay between your fuel pump and pump relay.

I dont think this is your ecu, I believe its your alarm system.

thestrongarm

Is there some way to reset the factory computer, or is this an issue for only the dealer or perhaps sending it out? I don't know why it would result in this, but I think I did run across some kind of posting somewhere in this forum or elsewhere that said an idle Tacoma needed a computer reset.

Thanks for the input to this thread thus far. Other ideas will be welcomed!

1990yota-pickup

well ensure your fuel pump is getting constant voltage.. if not run a line back to the pump and piggy back it to see if thats your problem...

thestrongarm

From the wiring diagrams, the EFI system is a separate loop from the starting and ignition system. My goal is to try to get a crank condition and then go from there. I'm going to check some voltages at the computer later today.

1990yota-pickup

well, it souns like the alarm schamtics need to be looked at.. so you can figure out how to bridge or jump the relays with some aligator clips..

KeysFlier

Okay Stongarm... how about an update? Any luck? I'm rebuilding a 3.4 to replace the one in my T-100. If you sort out your difficulties, I'd like to hear what the solution was, so I can file it away ... just in case.

brian2sun

I'd like to hear an update too as I've been following this thread.

The MAFs completely changed from '98 to '99, this could be the problem. I'll bet the new MAF doesn't jive with the old ECU.

If not that, then my next guess would be the alarm is disabling your ignition.

I can't think why a fuel delivery problem (injectors, pump, relays, etc..) would make it not crank. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think there's anything in the fuel system that would disable the ignition.

thestrongarm

I'm happy to be able to post news that the 4Runner is back on the road. I'm not exactly happy to report the cause, as it was a total anomaly or total embarrassment--perhaps a bit of both.

Background: after exhausting all the tests I felt I could do at the home shop, I weighed some options and stopped by and talked to my local Toyota dealer again, small white flag in hand. I decided paying a higher diagnostic rate would probably be better for techs more familiar with the 3.4 system versus a local shop who might be tossing darts like I was at the end. I reviewed the entire project and they were willing to take a look at it. I told them it was no problem to keep it in a corner when an experienced tech had some down time; likewise they wanted one particular tech to work on it. This was not an issue for me and ended up being a couple weeks. Frankly, they were excellent to deal with since I'd only been there one time prior for a freak repair.

The problem? A plastic bail. That's it.

The junction center above the glove box contains the ECU and some other system connections. One of those connections - not at the ECU - was the problem. Actually that's a bit misleading, as it wasn't one of the connections, but the bail referred to above. Here are some photos:

This is the panel, installed, as seen with the glove box removed:


This shows the panel, tilted down/suspended, with the three bolts removed. The set of connections on the right side of this image was the problem area. These are held to the panel via a tongue in the panel itself that this set of connectors slides on to when installed:


Note the black plastic bail I'm referring to - I'm unsure of the technical name and didn't check the FSM for proper terminology. The bail, as shown, it in it's proper closed position:


Closer up [sorry for slight out-of-focus] look at the area circled in green. This is an area that, when properly closed, results in a pretty audible click. I did not have this properly seated:


That's it.

In recalling everything, I at least twice (initially, then on the comprehensive re-check) remember this bail because I was worried about breaking it on closing both times I unhooked and reinstalled all the connectors in that junction area. It takes more force than feels initially comfortable with 12+ year old plastic to stretch this up and over the connector to then seat over the electrical connector. I didn't have it positively clicked into place, and without that several systems are not available to the vehicle. Hence, the no crank condition.

What I haven't traced back is actually what occurs, as there's no set of contacts on what you see in the photos. The bail is spring loaded, so perhaps it's somewhere up in the fulcrum area, or on-close maybe something hidden is completed. I forget the number of the connector per the FSM off hand but can check.

With that, the 4Runner started right up. They kept it overnight, to be sure, and no issues the following morning. After burning off the initial new (used) engine junk on the ride home the Runner is back to normal thus far. The donor motor, again so-far, is smoother and quieter than the original. This leads me to believe the thrown-rod may have been pending for some time because of something else.

The entire time I knew the fix would be small, but finding it could be huge. Thankfully it wasn't a gremlin in the form of a broken wire somewhere buried in harness loom. Fortunately, it was only an hour or so of dealer time, and the decision to go to someone familiar with the 3.4 was the right call.

I still haven't decided if I'm mad or not. Frankly, the feeling of getting the 4Runner back on the road has trumped any anger of something so silly, for now.

Kaiser's_Runner

When I did mine it was a busted alt fuse, pain in the ass to replace too.

JBurt

I wouldn't be too mad. Think of how many wires you had to connect and disconnect. I've done stupider stuff. Just be happy they only charged you an hour of labor for it.

thestrongarm

I wouldn't be mad at the dealer at all - just myself. The service manager was entirely understanding and this wasn't a case of, as he described, a "yahoo coming in here with some crazy project and expects us to fix a big mess." I'm assuming he's talking about some really rough-shod projects, not well thought out swaps, etc. that they've run across. I don't even think they hooked up ODBII; they just ran through my summary, and the hour of time was probably mostly thinking! I've already got notes ready to the owner and to Toyota, reinforcing the good service.