kvanderploeg

2001 3.4 has been starting and running fine. I haven't driven it for 3 days, but that's pretty typical in the summer, as I take the motorcycle. Went out this morning to start it, and all the lights come on, and accessories seem fine, but when I turn to start, only one click. I've cleaned the battery terminals, the cables, and the pigtails coming off of them. Battery is charged, and I tried jumping the truck from both my Schumacher jumper and my other 4Runner. No luck. This one has me a little baffled. I did go through some standing water on Thursday morning, but it was low enough other sedans were going through it fine. It also started fine that afternoon for my commute home. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Kent

pfdaxe

Sounds like it maybe your starter contacts. Pretty common thing that appears to be happening as the 3rd gen gets older. You can get a complete contact kit for less than $20 at local parts store. Use the search button as there are many threads about this.

kvanderploeg

With ~114,000 the starter gave me a case of the "Mondays" today. I was able to pull the starter. Mine had no bracket that connected the starter to the exhaust, so one less thing to fight there. Top bolt was a pain, but I put together a bunch of extensions and was able to get it from underneath at an angle. Also pulled the one power steering connection, the bolt for the AT dipstick, and two of the brake line bracket bolts.

I didn't have the downtime available to buy the kit, and none of the local dealers or auto parts store were of any help, so I ended up buying a rebuilt lifetime starter from Autozone for $86. I also wanted to point out that my contacts actually looked pretty thick yet, but the curved one had a lot of green corrosion on it. I probably could have just taken a wire brush to it and put them back in. Thanks for the help as always!

Kent

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

See below for some troubleshooting and repair tips:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Starter.shtml