Help with start problem

Hi all. Just joined. Should have joined a long time ago. I was hoping to find help re 98 Tacoma with 2.7 losing all electrical intermittently. It runs fine but sometimes after it's parked I return to find it completely dead when I turn the key to start. No lights, no dash, no starter motor click. Nothing.The clutch interrupt is out of the picture and I bench tested the starter, which was fine. When thishappens I fiddle with the key, the steering column lock, battery terminals, hammer to the starter, then for no known reason it comes back. Interestingly, When it does come back, my radio has lost all its programming. If anyone has any experience with this diabolical sorcery I would love to hear your thought. Thanks in advance for any ideas. Will.

 

Did you try a new battery? If it’s not that, sounds like you’ve got something pulling power full time that shouldn’t be and it’s draining the battery.

The radio thing sounds normal from a totally dead battery, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

Good luck, could be an easy find, could take some hunting with a multimeter

 

Also welcome to TW

Also you might want to post in the 1st gen section just to give this more visibility. Not everybody checks the technical chat threads

 

Welcome!

From your description I'd be almost 100% sure that it's a dead battery or loose battery cables. Check battery voltage with a multimeter and wiggle your battery cables to see if they move.

 

Worst case scenario is the ecm/ecu.
I have read a few threads lately describing virtually the same issues.
Good luck.

 

Since in the end it does start I would go with a loose connection most likely on the ground side .

I have seen a few times where causing a intermittent failure the post of the battery was starting to break off . This is pretty easy to detect .


If the battery terminals are clean and tight .

A multi meter is your friend

 

Thank you for that input. I considered it and am going to buy a Power Probe III if it continues so I can try to track it.

 

Thanks all for your help. The battery cranks strong when all is normal. I switched out the battery with one in my Nissan first thing to no avail. I'm gonna have it load tested.

 

Since it’s intermittent and after tinkering with things it starts and works fine I doubt it’s the battery. Carefully inspect the battery cables for breakage and corrosion. Check carefully where the ground connects to ground that it’s a tight connection and that the connection is not rusted or corroded. Do the same for the hot cable. In fact since those cables are 20 plus years old I’d just replace them, they aren’t expensive. My experience is that the vast majority of the time electrical problems are related to a ground problem.

 

Thank you for that. I'll check for corrosion.

 

If the radio is loosing program that sounds like a main power problem, perhaps the supply to the under hood or under dash fuse box. There should be constant key off power to some circuits there. When it's normal, make a list of which fuses are hot with the key off. When it fails, compare that list with the current conditions. That should show the trouble circuit and then trace back to the battery. You only need a test light for that. A handy tool for non computer work.

 

TROYKEN. Thank for the suggestion. I'm going to pursue this idea.