Yes, I have another vehicle. 300zx. Been driving that for the last few months while I've been working on the truck.

 

Cool! Just making sure, Soccer... I have to crash, but I hate to leave a fellow Yoter hangin when his Daily driver is NON-OP! lol. You'll get it, Soccer... I'ma ask around, tomorrow, as to the plug... but I really think you're possibly dealing with a connection that's loose or ground missing or fusible link possibly busted? Do you have a volt meter? Pop it on there when the key is turned and see if it's GETTING juice. Might hear the starter relay workin if you even have one. You do, don't you? Should be on the firewall, one side or the other. Lil gold lookin box, should say 'starter relay' right on it.

I'll check in tomorrow, man... Hang in there.

 

Far as what Blue was askin.... do you have a Clutch Start Cancel Button on your dash anywhere? Some don't... I do, but if you don't, just answer.... "do you have to push in the clutch to start the truck?" If you look over that diagram you'll see "Starter Relay", and "Neutral Start SW", etc.(can't be POSITIVE it's all applicable to your rig, but seems much of it is)

 

No clutch over ride button. I do have to press the clutch in, at least I believe so.

I do know where the golden box it. It's on the DS. I'll take a look to be sure that it is all hooked up properly. I thought it was a dc to dc converter, leveling out the dc voltage from the alternator, but maybe I'm wrong.

I took a look and the gold box is pretty straight forward. Just a plug that goes into it and that plug is definitely plugged.

 

There is no clutch safety switch on the older trucks. My 85 doesn't have one, so pretty sure you 84 is the same

 

So, that leaves us at the same question. Why doesn't the starter work. It is the signal wire, but where does it lead to after it goes back into the harness? Where is the starter relay?

 

I don't know if this will help much but I remember a guy who went through a similar situation and tried stuff for a month and finally took it into a stealership. They found that he didn't quite plug the wires into his ecu all the way. Just though I'd share. Hope you get it figured out soon. That's never fun.

 

Signal wire? You mean the "mystery Plug" is the Signal wire?

Far as the next thing, I would try to jump my starter. 2 Options,....if you're not comfortable with sparks flying(plus, as I mentioned, you only want to do this once or so), then remove the starter and have Auto Zone test it for ya. It seems like you installed a motor...so I would assume you'd be comfortable with the second option... Jumping the Starter. I believe you just run a jumper wire(you could use either side of a set of jumper cables)...run the wire from the Large Starter Wire to the smaller solenoid wire... JUST ENOUGH to see if it turns over.(WAIT for confirmation on this, as I don't wanna cause you to blow the solenoid or anything, ok?) If so, then you DO have something within the Ignition SW or possibly a ground that is either not a complete circuit or possibly a fusible link that's not working. The fusible link issue happened to me, once, and it was NOT fun to track it down...but when I did, it solved my problem immediately. Then, it happened again, ....would NOT stay running due to low voltage. It ended up being that, when I did some motor work, I somehow broke a piece of insulation on a power wire to the alternator.... It was grounding on the motor mount or something like that, and it blew 2 80amp fusible links in a row. Replaced the link, redid the wiring, installed a new lifetime warranty alternator... VOILA, it ran fine from that point on.

I've asked you a couple times, Soccer... do you have a manual????

I will hopefully get a call from my buddy who works on these, and get a 'troubleshooting list' from him.

See the diagram I posted? It lists a starter relay for even the older model trucks. I thought you said you found it,...but now you're asking where it is.. so I'm a lil confused.

 

not sure if this will help but, on my 87 I have a green plug that goes to the ignitor, a black plug that goes directly into the harness and a clear type plug that goes into the windshield washer fluid reservoir. And another black connector between that reservoir and the fenderwell. not sure where it goes to though. Maybe the colors are different on yours, but my only green connector goes into the ignitor.

 

Um...ok. You may not have a "override button" but you may have a switch the clutch pedal contacts with when pushed in. Take a look.

 

Not saying it's even likely,...but I had mentioned the Ignitor, but didn't know if it had the same set up with the 22r, X... seems like it does, and if you look at that diagram a page back.... X? anyone? lol.... Could you tell me if I'm right when saying that, at least for THAT TRUCK(it only says early models on the manual, so I cropped it out)... on that diagram, am I wrong, or is the wiring color coding saying it's "Brown, White, Red and Yellow">>??? Maybe by early model they mean 79-83?(my book is 79-95).... I'm just thinking out loud. It looks like behind those 3 components, Coil, Ignitor, Pick up, etc.,..... it says "Ignition Coil Check Terminal" ........????

PS> the only Green wire with Red stripe I can see on that diagram is "Glow Plug".... am I missing one?

PSS> Soccer, ask the administrators if they'll rename your thread, "84 4runner, Starter wont engage and mystery plug".... I'LL BET YOU that you'll get more hits, big time... Hopefully, ideally, from people with early first gen 4Runners or 81-83 Pick ups, etc., ya know what I'm saying? Someone with the same year truck as you could EASILY go find out what that wire is for on their own rig.

 

I'll give a look in a little while, my head hurts from trying to find electrical connectors I thought I had.

 

oh go take a walk...a 1.5 mile one...

 

Make sure your M4 is HIGH above your head while doing it, too, Mr. Head Banger! lol.

 

Yes, I have a manual. I was under the impression that you are talking about the gold box as being the relay. If so, then I know exactly where that is. Just curious, but you were talking about a ground from the alternator that was connected to the frame? Or was one of the power wires grounding to the frame when it shouldn't? I don't think how I have the alternator hooked up would matter with the initial turn of the starter, maybe after, but not right off the bat.

 

Just to get a quick rundown here:

B = Black
L = Blue
? = Brown

btw - thanks for all the help so far. That goes to everyone.

 

Hey Soccer,

No, I was using it as an example. Mine would start, but that 'grounding out' was causing my rig to blow the MAIN fusible link in my fusible link box by my battery(not sure if your year is the same. I think you have that box, but not the diagnostic port, lil one, next to that bigger box behind the battery). My point was, while you know where the Starter Relay is, you should 1. Find out if it should be 'clicking' when you turn over the starter. 2. If you have the fusible link tray behind the battery, open it and see if that 80amp fusible link is blown. 3. Turn the key, over, as if you're starting it, with a volt meter to the Starter.... if you have NO voltage, ...it's not getting juice for some reason.

There's even a test from the ECU to verify voltage, from the ECU-STA post, when turning the key to ALMOST starting it, but not quite. That is the point when most relays kick in. The starter relay MIGHT NOT click like the COR does in my EFI rig..... so I don't wanna say "if it doesn't click, that's the issue", ya know?

Sometimes, when we swap out a motor, we tug on wires that are already brittle. We can also get things crossed or forget the mount something that is pretty much hidden after it's all buttoned up.

You should have a wire that feeds the starter, from the positive terminal, along with another wire, attached to that same cable terminal, around 10G or so, factory, that will run from the starter wire at the post to the fusible link box. Even THAT can be the cause... because, that smaller wire actually has a fusible link right in the wire, itself. That causes the wire to bust when overloaded, instead of blowing a 30$+ fusible link like that 80amp one.

 

If you have a haynes, Soccer, it's on 12-11(Wiring Color Code)

Wiring Color Code;

The Primary color of a wire will have the first letter.. like R=RED If there are two, like R-G, that means red with green stripe.

B= Black
BR= Brown
G= Green
GR= Gray
L= Blue
LG= Light Green
O= Orange
P= Pink
R= Red
V= Violet
W= White
Y= Yellow

So, if you have Yellow wire with a Violet Stripe, it's Y-V, etc.

Ground outputs are

a=Located in right front fender
c=left front fender
d=rear side panel LH
e=rear sidd panel RH
f=left back panel
g=in left side of instrument panel

 

Chapter 5, page 10 of Haynes 79-95 Pick up and 4Runner;

Section 18-#5-#6;

5. If the Solenoid plunger cannot be heard when the switch is actuated, the solenoid itself is defective or the solenoid circuit is open.
6. To check the solenoid, connect a jumper lead between the battery positive terminal and the terminal on the solenoid. If the starter motor now operates, the solenoid is ok and the problem is in the ignition switch, neutral start switch or in the wiring, somewhere therein.

 

What book do you have, Soccer? If you have the Haynes... I can just post the area to look. If it's a Chiltons or FSM, I'd have to post everything by either scanning and posting the pages or typing it out. Need to know what book you're using.