Me again with my never ending problems, heres what happens to my 99 4runner, v6, auto, 4wd:

I drive my 4runner for a trip of about 15-20 minutes. I shut it off, I come back 5 minutes later to go somewere else, I insert the key, turn it and power briefly comes on (dash lights) before everything goes dead.

No headlights, no horn, no dash lights, no power windows or door locks, no interior lights, no radio. No power at all to anything.

If I keep playing with the key turning it back and forth the power does come back, or even if I leave it in the on position power will just randomly come back.

Suggestions?!

I've cleaned the terminals, grounds, battery is good, alternator is good,

 

Replace your main power line to your starter and to the fuse-able link. Corrosion has worked its way into the wire past the terminals. These are two large gauge lines, look up the 'Big 3'.
Next time it happens, don't keep turning the key, pop the hood, reach in the engine bay and grab the large line coming off the pos(+) and wiggle it. This will disrupt the corrosion in the jacket, and give you connection for a bit(ask me how i know). I lost alot of hair trying to figure out what was wrong with my truck...replaced the starter and battery...but it was just the cables/wires.

Good luck.

 

Yes bad cables

By chance does this have an alarm??

I have seen them cause problems like this.

 

could be ignition

 

hey mb4runner,
Did you ever find a resolution to your problem? I'm having a similar problem with jess' 86'4runner. 4runner will run, check engine light flashes, then it will stall, then NOTHING--like power's been cut. Wait a couple of seconds, cycle key, and starts up. Checked for codes, no codes--one flash meaning system's normal.

 

Have you looked through all your regular fuses too?

 

original poster- update please-you have several of us interested.

RBX-I've seen a couple of your reply postings and am darn glad to have your knowledge on this fine web forum.

 

Ditto. My truck has done the same thing several times... All I had to do is jump out and wiggle the black negative cable coming off the battery. If you skin the (+) and (-) cables back you'll probably see some of the corrosion that is causing your problems. I had corrosion in my (+) cable about 7 inches back from the terminal!

The cables are cake to replace, it is definately worth doing asap!

 

The fact that you have no headlights is a dead give away. The headlight relay is fed directly off of the battery before the battery connects to the circuit breaker/ fuse block that is under the hood. The previous posts about the cables could be the problem, but before you start throwing parts at it, maybe you should remove the cable clamps off of the battery and give the battery posts and the cable clamps a good cleaning. The battery post cleaners that your local auto parts store sell do a pretty good job, but if you really want to get rid of corrosion you should first mix up some household baking soda and water and pour it over the battery posts (this neutralizes the acid build up on the posts but it also neutralizes any acid that makes its way down on to body metal below the battery box), then if you really want to do a good job of cleaning, get a roll of some fine emery paper, tear a strip that is as wide as the post is high about a foot long. Put it around the post, grasp the ends of the strip in both hands, hold strain and sand around the complete post. This will get rid of the acid corrosion on the post and will get rid of the dark grey compound that naturally forms on the posts from interaction with air. Use a rolled up piece of emery paper to clean the inside of the cable clamps. Once you have everything cleaned and the clamps are re-connected to the battery; there is a product commonly referred to "no-ox" grease that is used in the electrical industry to prevent corrosion on battery posts of large DC battery banks after they are cleaned, but in the absence of this vaseline petroleum jelly does a good job of keeping the air away from the posts and eliminating corrosion build up. You don't need a lot, just a thin coating to stop the interaction with air!
Try this before you start spending money!