*Solved* 99 Tacoma New battery, No crank. Zero dash activiy after click. Cant Jump Start

Hello, I could definitely use some help on this one. Just got home this morning from a weekend trip. The truck started and drove home just fine. A few hours after I got home the truck didn't start.

At first, the dash lit up as normal. But when I turned the key to the start position, I heard a click, then nothing. No dash activity or any more clicks when I go to crank again. Seemed to be a dead battery so I tried jump-starting it, but no luck... I then replaced the battery with a fresh one and the same exact thing happened.

Iv checked a few of the grounds, but not all. Could that be it? Terminals are also okay.

I'm really stuck on this one... any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

If you hear a click and nothing happens.
Then I’d go straight to the starter.

Check the BIG black cable from the battery.
Make site it is secure, tight, and has good power.

Next check the smaller Black/White wire for power when turning the key to crank.
All of this can be easily done with a test light.
But a voltage meter will work too.

 

Would that also explain y my dash goes completely dark after the click? Everything is fine until that first initial click, then absolutely nothing.

 

Sounds like a typical bad battery terminal connection either from the terminal to the battery or from the terminal to the cable.
Post a pic of your battery terminals.

 

No, I missed that part.
So the dash is fine until you try to start the truck?
Then everything goes black?

 

I like this .

Though I would double check the swapped in battery voltage as well.

Then the original battery also.

I had unseen corrosion on my AGM battery terminals they looked perfect to my eye.

Pulled the Terminals gave them a good cleaning good to go.

 

Exactly that! the truck lights up absolutely normal, right as I turn to start, *click* dead, nothing. No lights, beeps, or power of any kind (from what I can see). Taking the key out and trying again gave me nothing. No lights at all.

I have a few accessories; Aux Lighting, 600w amp. Both are fused and grounded properly (from what I see, again).
Fender ground I beefed up using the extra 4ga I had, didn't touch anything other than that. Starter wire, engine ground etc. all stock.
The terminals I put on look okay but I will go through a check. The vehicle was down the street a ways bc I had the brilliant idea to try and bump start it. Obviously didn't work...

Now its back tho, so ill check these items:
Corrosion on Battery terminals
Terminals - Wire
Both black Starter wires
Grounds

- Ill also charge up the battery, if need be.

Updates soon, thank you all so much for the help. Hopefully its something small, Im not the best at troubleshooting electronics

 

Thank you for everyones help!

It was the battery terminals, both loose & corroded. The terminated ends of the +/- cables that connect to the battery terminal were pretty oxidized.
I took them all apart, gave them a good sanding, and boom, starts like a toyota again!

I had gone through the effort taking a video of the problem i was having. Ill leave it here in case someone else in the future ends up having the same issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwhPMzhpB9k

 

Yea those style cable ends are notorious for having bad connections, wouldn't hurt to smear a bit of grease on the connections before you put them together to help keep corrosion out.

 

I’ve been following this thread. Been having an issue where when I go to start the truck. It just goes click and then nothing. All my lights on the dash are on. It doesn’t happen all the time though. Sometimes it starts right up. Other times it only takes 1 click. I try again and it’s good to go. But I’ve had it take up to 20 times of trying before it starts. Still a single click each time.
One important thing to point out is after the initial first start of the day. It’s starts like nothing is wrong for the rest of the day.
I went and got the battery tested. It was at 75%. The guy at O’reilly’s said, I bet it’s the battery. I held off for awhile but it kept doing it. Finally bought a battery. Started right up for a few days. Back to the same old thing again though.
Battery terminals look good. Could it just be the starter? There’s no grinding or spinning sound from the starter. Just a single click. I hate to replace it and it’s not the starter
I do have 295,000. 3.4 V6

 

I would swap those terminals for marine Type that have the studs to mount your lugs on.

Those terminals were always sold for emergencies to get you home and get things fix correct.

Much to important to go cheap.

 

@Sicyota4
Sounds a lot like the contact terminals and disk inside the starter-mounted solenoid are worn out. I had your symptoms several years ago. Sometimes all I got was a click and then nothing, other times not even a click, but most of the time the starter would work.

I fixed the problem by removing and then replacing the contacts inside the starter solenoid. It's a bit of a hassle, removing and reinstalling the starter, but with the help of Timmy the Toolman's video I got the job done. You can buy a solenoid contact replacement kit from your friendly (!?) Toyota dealer. Check out the video!

 

Just want to add that i recently had this same situation, same symptoms, but different problem/solution. I lost all power while driving (after a sharp turn). Discovered on the side of the road that by slightly moving/pushing on my engine fuse box, the power would return/gauges would light up, only to die again by turning the key. Click then nothing. I eventually got the truck started by pushing down on the fuse box and holding it, while my GF turned the key -fired up right away and made it home. Turns out my truck had been missing a ground wire, from the Negative battery terminal to the chassis beside the battery. This ground was missing since i got the truck 4 years ago. Not sure how this didn't happen sooner! I suppose it was finding ground through the fusebox until it couldn't.