Hi all,

I replaced my starter about 4 months ago after it started clicking and working intermittently. Fast forward to today - it had been working fine without issue. Today, I went to start it after after running errands, and it started "differently" but then there was a new noise coming from around the starter. I turned the key off and the starter continued to run. I then pulled the starter relay from the fuse box on the passenger wheel well to no avail, and finally had to disconnect the red wire from the battery to stop the starter.

After a few minutes I reconnected the wire to the battery but now nothing is happening. We were able to push start the 4Runner and drive it home without the noise from the starter. When I got home I removed the cables from the battery, cleaned the terminals, reconnected and still nothing. No click from the solenoid, the dash clock dims, but nothing else happens.

So, I was thinking the relay may be the issue but I think the starter would have stopped when I pulled it, right? I don't want to pull the starter without doing some electrical troubleshooting so I'm going to get a multimeter tomorrow. i might take the battery in to be tested, but I don't think a bum battery would cause the starter to run continuously but I could be wrong.

I'm going to check the voltage between the battery and the starter, and then try and test the power between the relay and the starter. What else should I try?

Thanks in advance!

 

Quite possible that your replacement starter suffered some damage by running for an extended period.

The symptoms you describe with the original starter indicate bad contacts. Approx 25 dollar fix.

 

I had tried the common rebuild solution with the original starter to no avail so I put a new one in. I'll await a couple other ideas before tearing my truck apart again.

 

Did you inspect/replace the plunger & spring? It can wear also and not allow proper contact.

 

Yes, I bought the contact kit and the plunger kit with no change. The old started failed miserably.