Supa

Over the past week when I turn the key I get a single click and then nothing, sometimes on the next try it will fire, sometimes it takes a couple. Well today in the cold it refused to turn over and I had to be push started to get it home. Stupid thing is when I got home it fired right up 10 times in a row when it was nice and hot. The battery is brand new and now I was gonna replace the starter but Im thinking it might be something else?

thanks for the help

scope103

Good choice -- with that attitude, you're not only going to save money, but a lot of aggravation.

Do you have a multimeter? No? No excuse for that. https://www.harborfreight.com/7-func...ter-90899.html

You should have a starting relay in the under-hood junction box (more than almost anything else, Toyota moved this around in different years. Here's a picture of my '94.) When someone turns the key for you (and the starter fails to turn), can you hear the relay (get w/i 30cm). If you hear the relay, reach in and pull the solenoid wire from the starter. With your multimeter, do you get 12v on connector that would go to the starter?

If you don't hear the relay, you could have a bad relay, bad igintion switch or bad Park-Neutral (automatic) switch or bad clutch-start switch (manual). Pull the starting relay and look for voltage on the coil pins with key to STArt.

Supa

Ill just replace the starter. Im terrible with electronics

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

There are plenty folks here that will happily take all that extra cash you have troubling you...

Buy a meter do the voltage checks, ten dollars vs a hundred or several, you might have a loose wire, a dirty connection, or need a different part. There isn't any reason to throw parts at a problem blindly.

Say for example its a loose wire but you didn't test the voltages, you put the new starter in and cinch up the connection and suddenly it works. You think you made the right choice and only needed to clean or tighten a nut..

RAD4Runner

A problem well-stated is almost solved.
Exactly what clicks and where?
Always indicate model-year-engine-TRANSMISSION.

I'm willing to bet the starter is not the problem.

Supa

you are 100% right. I borrowed a meter from my buddy and will do this after work. Thank you for the help

scope103

You'll be glad you did.

Just in case you come back here for some help (you probably won't need to, but who knows?), a few words.

Sometimes people have said "I put the meter on [x], and I got nothing." You CAN'T get nothing. You can get 12volts or 567ohms or 0.500 amps or infinite resistance. You can't get "nothing." If you're really unsure, take a picture of the meter; some smart gal here might be able to figure out what you're seeing. Your meter has two leads, so every measurement is BETWEEN two points. In the great majority of cases, to measure voltage it is between ground (the best one is the negative terminal of the battery, but most metal chunks in your truck are bonded to ground), and somewhere else. This will get a little more interesting when you're measuring resistance; it is always important to pay attention to both ends.

When you pull your meter out of the case, do a sanity check. Make sure it's set to voltage in some range that includes 12v, and put the leads on the battery. (With the truck off, it should be around 12.6v, temperature dependent). I use a meter all the time, but occasionally I'll have the leads set wrong (often current measurements have the leads in different sockets on the meter) or something else not set up right. Check the battery first; it will tell you the meter is working. (And if you get something like 11.1v on the battery, you have a dead battery, and you need to fix that first.)

RAD4Runner

Another quick approach is to divide and conquer. Check downstream "half" of the system. Check if solenoid and starter are working properly by doing this:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...l#post52367443

Good move! Next only to our senses, the multi-meter is the most important electrical diagnostic tool for our classics.

Scope,
Do you think schematic below (from 1990-1995 4Runner FSM) applies to O.P.'s truck?

Supa,
Also, please check this. I trust Toyota but schematic is only a piece of paper. I always want to verify if it was done correctly at the factory, in case the tech has had too much sake the night before.

scope103

Close enough.

On my starter relay, there is a "schematic" on top of the relay. While I also found that pin 5 was "always on 12v", you know that there has to be 12v on one side or the other of the "contacts" of the relay. So in my picture, the half-fork connector is to plug into the socket for pin 3, and the other end of the wire goes to +12v on the battery to spin the starter (bypassing the relay, and by extension, the ignition switch). https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...switch-287859/ All part of RAD4runner's "divide and conquer" diagnosis strategy.

Note that the PN switch (automatic) is wired in between the relay and the starter, but the clutch-start switch (manual) is wired between the coil of the relay and ground. This is getting a little more complicated than necessary, but it means OP needs to know which he has to interpret his results.

RAD4Runner

LOL!
Yes, that's a good tool! Thanks, Scope.

O.P. This is why I stress that people specify model-year-engine-TRANSMISSION- trim when posting.