I have a 99 Limited 4Runner with the V6 engine. The battery is new as of less than 6 mos. ago. I noticed the truck started having trouble starting about 3 months ago. It would turn over about 5 times then stop turning before it started. I took it to the garage and they ran some electrical test on the starter and said it was fine, but I should probably put in a new starter. I never did and the truck has started fine ever since, every day, for the past three months.

This week it's been raining all week. The truck didn't crank over one day when it was really cold and wet outside. I tried it again and it started fine. This morning, it was pretty cold outside (no rain) and the truck wouldn't do anything when I turned it over. I tried 4 times and nothing. No clicking, no turn over, no nothing. The fifth time it started up.

My question: could this be a battery problem, a starter problem, or something else? I hate to put in a new starter and have it not solve the problem. I find it weird that it acts up in the cold and wet.

 

It could be the battery but I doubt it since it would turn over noticably slower as the battery was dying. It could also be a poor connection to the battery so you might consider redoing those just to be sure the are making good contact and then use some grease to prevent it from corroding if it has. Finally I would look at getting the starter contacts replaced. It is a $20 kit that allows you to rebuild the starter if it isn't in bad condition (and is also the most common part to wear out on them). One of those should fix the problem.

 

where would i get the kit to rebuild the starter??

 

That is a dealer only item.
Ask for a starter contact kit for your truck, they should have one in stock (common problem).