This is a pretty sad question but here goes. 1988 4runner, 22R-E. I left the lights on and killed the battery last night. I thought it was one of the terminals cuz i have these peices of crap


so i tweaked the terminals a bit by loosening the wing nut off and moved the wires around. I then when back in my truck to try and restart it to find out my lights were on so there was the problem. I hooked it up my my freinds jeep with some jumpers cables and let is charge for a bit but it only turns over really slowly. So i figured it was a connection issue i took the wing nuts off and cleaned them right the hell up and tried again. Still only turned over really slowly and not enought to fire up. My qustion is do you guys think its the battery or a connection issue. Im in the city right now so i left all my tools at home cuz i didnt want them to stolen. Any help would be great

Justin

 

Are those terminal clamps painted?

Rob

 

Take the battery in and have it tested. If you left your lights on I don't think the connections are your problem. Your battery is dead.

 

Yeah they are painted, but not where the make contact witht he Battery posts or where the negative and postive wires hook up. They are sposed to for marine applications but i thought i would try them out. Any input on my problem much appreciated.

Thanks, Justin

 

I ended up taking my battery off and taking those stupid terminals off to find the posts looking dirty. The battery was lowe on fluid when i poped those little caps off so i put some filtered water in it? I replaced it after the cleaning to find it still would turn over slowly. Im going to get new terminals then hook it up to my buddies jeep when he gets home.

 

canadian tire test batterys starters and alts for free

 

YOur battery is dead, buy a new one or get a jump from a large v8 truck.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what happened here, but you killed the battery with the lights, then tried to jump it and it wouldn't start, so you are going to look into a bad battery? That is absurd. I have killed my battery with my lights many times, I just roll-start and am on my way. Before you go condemning the battery, remove terminals, clean the posts, remove from vehicle, and charge it fully. When its done clean the terminals and connections and give it another shot. Jumping a vehicle is not always the best way, especially with painted terminals, there is a ton that could go wrong, grounds, cables, connections, just because jumping doesn't work doesn't mean your terminals or that you're battery is shot.

And PS, you have to charge the battery after adding DISTILLED water. Some water you'll get in the gallon will be filtered, but mention on it good for distilled purposes. If you filtered it yourself, the battery may be dead.

 

Like I said, time for a new one.

Once the acid begins to leech out thats it imho.

 

OK, i took the battery out, topped it up, brought it to canadian tire and got them to test/charge it. Apparently it was good but i despise canadian tire and dont really trust them. Ive checked all the contacts but cannot really clean them cuz i only have one cresent wrench haha, i cant even tighten my new terminals on so i might have to get a few new tools tommorow. And i woulda Jumped it by rolling it but it is a POS automatic. Ive dealt with electrical demons before, i usually just figure it out by using the elimination process and checking everything but i dont have my fricken tools.

 

Well i got all my terminals tightened in thanks to a set of vicegrips i found. Still having the same problem, turning over a little faster now but wont fire. The only thing i can think of now is the positive connection or maybe the ground on the starter?this is turning into a nightmare

 

Well since you got you battery tested and they said it was fine, i would check over all the connections. And/Or wire brush the terminals and clamps

I have terminal clamps similar to those, starts fine. Batteries will die eventually. How old is yours? When they tested it did you get the results(you can get a battery tester, it draws the fluid and tests the polarity, or something like that) If one cell is shot it is probably time to replace it, i just went though the same thing, i could jump it but after about letting it sit for 5 hours i wouldn't be able to start it anymore.

 

Throw in a different battery, borrow someones, and see if it starts.

 

yeah I would still remove the battery and charge it. So far it seems as though the battery is dead, and needs charged

 

Ok, so i took the battery out of my buddies 4cyl jeep and threw it in my toyota, still the same sluggish turn over. I took the pigtail and bolt of my starter and cleaned them up then reconnected. I also cleaned my battery posts again and terminals. What now? i havnt driven my 4runner in a few day now i kinda feel , some sort of withdrawl happening.

 

my '80 did the same thing...got some new cables from Oreileys and it fired right up...better than ever!..try that maybe...cables are cheap.

 

Ya its definitely a bad connection somewhere. Temporarily run some jumper wires to see what does the trick. For example, run a big wire from your negative terminal to the body and/or block. If it is fine with the hooked up, than you know you have a bad ground wire.

 

I have two grounds coming off the negative post. One going to the front of the block and the other going to inside of the engine compartment. Ill try replacing the cables though. Thanks for the ideas

Justin

 

I hope i can fix it, its a pain in the ass cuz i have to work on it at the side of the road in the snow haha. Is there a way i can pinpoint the problem? tommorow im gona get some new cables still but any more input would be great

 

Was the battery kinda small and rectangularish, 56 series??? Cause that sure doesnt have the cranking power to turn over your truck. You need at least about 600 cold cranking amps..

Before you go pulling apart everything, check all the ground wiring, the positive lead, the wire from the starter and alternator. If that all looks good, go buy yourself a new battery and try it, sears will take it back and so will other places if you dont muck it up to bad.

But it really sounds like a weak battery, a bad connection would mean you could fiddle with the wires as someone tries to start it and it would crank more or even turn over. A bad battery gets you a nice clicking noise and slow starter..

By the way, if you want to drive your yota. Put the key in and turn it onto the on position and take a jumper cable and touch the + to the starter contact and the - to a grounding point. It will turn the starter right over so long as you keep it all connected. Trust me, it will work but be careful of sparks..

Your original battery is shot, you killed it by adding water to it. All batteries these days are NON maintenance=not serviceable. Way back when yea they were..not anymore.

So like I said, try a new battery. You need a 24 series or 34 series, depending on maker or a 35 series. But iirc almost all toyota trucks used the above.