My friends 2006 taco has the exact same symptoms as my 3rd gen runner.
Turn key......nothing
Turn key starts
Intermittant starting.
On. My runner.....it was the denso starter contact thats worn but his local stealer
Shows this part is not available by itself.

The truck has 180,000 miles... ... Do the 2006 taco's have this problem as well?
Yes.....i used the search function and nothing popped up. Thanks!
Kenny s

 

Well, I've never heard of a common issue with the newer starters, nothing like the notorious contacts on the old Denso ones (something I dealt with for years with my 91), but they are wearing parts and there is a good chance that it's just wearing excessively fast and they need to be replaced. But do to the fact that it is a newer style start, I'm not sure where you could get just the contacts, much less the process of rebuilding it; that's something I personally haven't messed with. No issues with my 06 yet, but it doesn't have but 70k on it as well.

I will tell you though that in my line of work, we sell starters for cars and truck all day long newer than 2010 and such, so even if it's a newer vehicle, parts to go bad, it's just the nature of wearing mechanical parts.

 

So , is anyone familiar with these symptoms?
It may take numerous turns of the key to start the 2006 taco.
Otherwise...no crank condition

Thanks, kenny s

 

does the old "tap it with a hammer" trick seem to do anything?

the only other thing that would cause it is a bad ignition switch or starter relay. in fact, I'd try the relay before anything else; it's the easiest, and most likely the cheapest

 

Seems the 2.7 engine contacts are available from the dealer, but not the 4.0s. If it is contacts, they could likely be matched up to something at the local auto electric store. Or, 4Crawler may have them.

 

Hmmmmm....to many failure options.
The runner no start condition was very common and many write ups were done.
Time to bust out a test light
Ks

 

I seen this problem a few times in the last couple of weeks at the shop. It seems the new starters aren't as good as the old ones. Put a starter on it and call it done.

 

The quick and easy thing to do is grab your volt meter and test the signal wire. Make sure you're consistantly getting 12v to the starter solenoid when you turn the key. If you are, then you know its the starter. OR, just pull the starter and take it to Oriellys and have them test it. Or pull it apart and check the contacts.

 

this

it's always best to fully diagnose before you start ripping off and replacing parts