Back on 8/22 I posted that my 4Runner wouldn't start. It had been cranking slower that usual (I thought) and the check engine light had come on one evening but not the next day. A couple of days later I turned the key to START and got nothing but a tiny click. I had all my lights and everything electrical functioning, but no go, so I called AAA and had her towed from my driveway -- yeah, that was a nice place to break down -- to my mechanic who said the starter was bad and replaced it.

This evening I feel lucky to have made it back to my driveway. We were over in Savannah, Georgia with our dogs and heading for home, about an hours drive. I pulled up to a stop light with headlights on and A/C going when the truck just died. Headlights out, no idiot lights, NOTHING. I turned everything off and we were sitting in the dark and I turned the key back on and to start, still nothing. My wife suggested I try to turn on the emergency flashers so at least we won't get hit, and to my surprise they came on. So I turned to key on and to start and she started right up! Hmmm, okay. Headlights on, traffic light turns green and away we go! I went about 2 miles and pulled into a well-lit gas station and checked under the hood, where all seemed to be in order. So we checked the cell phone and the flashlight and headed on toward South Carolina. We made it home with NO PROBLEMS! Unloaded the dogs and our gear and I'm thinking about it (I thought about it all the way home, of course) and I put the key in and she cranked right up. Turned the key off, waited 3 seconds or so and turned the key to ON and everything went dead! No lights, NOTHING again! Waited a minute or so and opened the door and the interior light lights were really dim and then they sputtered and went out. Everything was dead. So I pulled off my battery cables and cleaned them up (there was a fair amount of corrosion) and hooked them back up nice and snug. Opened the door, interior lights sputtered again then came on bright . . . until I put in the key and turned to ON -- not even to START -- and all went dead again.
What the heck is going on here? Has anyone had anything similar happen to them? I'm thinking I'm going to have to call the hook tomorrow and have it towed back to the shop. Should I disconnect my battery overnight -- I'm concerned that there could be some sort of short and I would hate to have my truck burn in my driveway overnight!

 

sounds like a loose wire just banging around and shorting. It also could be your alt and battery? That kind of problem is hard to find. Good luck.
B

 

Not sure about yours' with it being 5 years newer and a V6 (mine is a '90 22re), if it's set up the same. When I first got mine I had a host of electrical gremlins (fuses popping, truck dying randomly, etc.) and found a bundle of wires that run along and to the right of the parking brake rod that had rubbed and rubbed against it until the insulation was worn off some of the wires. They were then shorting out and killing a bunch of stuff. It was a pain to rewire and tape but it fixed it all. Maybe something to check.

 

That's what I'm worried it's going to be: some gremlins that are difficult to find! I hate electrical stuff!!!

 

If you've got that bundle of wires, check that. Especially if you use your PB a lot. If it's not that it has to be another wire(s) moving around losing connection every so often. I'd look for dangling/loose wires/harnesses, evidence of shorts like small black marks. Stuff like that.

 

Thanks, Doc. I'll have a look.

Anybody else care to chime in?

 

Problem solved. I didn't see any evidence of wires shorting out, but my mechanic tells me that my battery had an internal short. He says they don't see many, but when they happen they make all sorts of weird stuff happen, and he was right!

Happy Ending!

 

Great! Glad you got it figured out and it wasn't something more of a PITA.
*Note to self that shorted batteries do weird things.*