'96 Taco MT 3.4L 4x4

Turning the key in the ignition I get a clicking sound that doesn't sound like it's coming from the starter. One weird thing I noticed is that the tachometer bounces up to about 4k when the key is turned. This has only been an issue since I took it in to have the head gasket/water pump and valve cover gasket replace in August. I have a feeling they fudged something up in the process, as I've already found some other things that were done poorly/wrong and fixed them...

I've replaced the starter, battery and the ignition relay switch.

Any ideas on next steps would be appriciated.

 

I would make sure all grounds and battery connections are clean and tight, check continuity and clean all ground connections to intake, firewall, starter, battery & fuse block , and if its still not right take it back to the people that did the work.

 

Thanks for the reply! That was my next step, but unfortunately it's pretty crap weather outside at the moment and I don't have a good covered space to do the work... Might try next weekend.

 

There is also a large ground on the back of the passenger side head to firewall that could have been forgotten, since they removed the head I would check over all these areas that they may have worked on incase something got missed.

 

That ground on the back of the head, that goes to the firewall, is more important than one might think. With the head gasket between the head and block, the head needs a real good ground strap, to be able to get spark from the spark plugs. Ground is just as important to good circuits as hot is.
The alternator's ground also goes through the head to the body, and back to the battery. Also, very important for proper operation of the alternator.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

The Alternator is grounded to the block, and I’m pretty sure the block is grounded via the starter ground to main ground at the battery if I remember correctly, a long route for a ground but a large gauge wire, been awhile since I pulled one of these motors and reviewed the wiring diagrams. I think both heads and intake plenum are grounded through the passenger side head ground strap to chassis/firewall. The bundle of small grounds on the D-side of the plenum is the sensor grounds that many of the engine sensors use which is then grounded by the passenger side head ground.

 

Thanks for the tips y'all! I've got a functional truck once again!

Cleaned up the grounds from the - terminal and the head to the body and reconnected. I also found a mystery wire connected to the + terminal that I removed (I think it was for the non-functioning aftermarket reverse lights). Not sure which one was the cause of my starting issues since I didn't try turning it over after each step...

I was ready to roll this d@Mn truck into the river, so thanks for the help in diagnosing the issue!

 

Well, given that in electrical systems, removing a wire from a power supply, the battery + terminal, does NOT make things work, I'd say it was a ground wire.

Glad it's working, whatever it was.
Pat☺