Mystery no crank no start left me stranded for a bit

After nearly half a decade, I can finally say that my 2.7L powered 3rd gen left me stranded finally.

Was out fishing hours away from home. Got back to shore and got in the truck, turned the key to ignite the motor. Heard 1 single click and the entire car went dead. Starter never tried turning over. Just 1 click and everything goes dead. No crank, no start, no power going to anything.

Door locks would not work, Tacoma icon screen in the cluster would not turn on when I opened the door. Nothing. No hum when key in the accessory position either. Starter never even tried to turn over the engine. Just 1 audible click.

Some weird lights stayed on in the dash briefly... 4Lo (truck was in 2wd), CEL, seat belt light...weird

Popped the hood and disconnected the batt and reconnected it and after some time. Still didn't work.

Locked the car doors using the key and then unlocked the door and finally the dash lit up. I turned the key to accessories position and left it there while I summoned the courage to try turnung the ignition on.

Finally worked, drove back to my town with everything working flawlessly... engine running normal, hi beams working just fine, AC working etc.

This morning I went to head to work and this whole saga repeated itself.

Eventually got it started and drove straight to Toyota for diagnostic.

Truck has +/- 100k miles. Bone stock minus the suspension and an aftermarket remote start thats been installed since 2016 and never had issue when used...Battery is less than a year old. No rust or weird repairs, no electrical add ons or accessories whatsoever.

I will be sure to post here what Toyota says is the problem

 

Am I reading the story correctly? It didn't really leave you stranded, the issue just delayed your trips?

 

You're stranded until you're not.

If the truck doesn't start when you need it to, you're effectively stranded.

Getting lucky twice out of 200 attempts and not being able to move the vehicle is being stranded.

 

My money is on the aftermarket alarm/install.

 

same here

 

Agreed. A poor wire tap, solder joint, etc probably corroded

 

Thanks for the reply...

 

That's what I'm leaning towards also. Just weird since i haven't used the remote start since winter and it hasn't given me any trouble since 2016/17 when it was installed.

I'm extremely curious to see what Toyota says..I told them to remove the remote start if they wanted/needed. Definitely not a crucial piece of equipment

 

Best of luck getting it figured out. Losing confidence in a vehicle sucks - crossing my fingers they can give you a concrete answer.

 

Nothing's broken until it is.

 

Same. Been a rock solid vehicle for years.
It's taken me to and from some sketchy remote areas solo many times.

I must say that turning the ignition on while crossing my fingers was a thing I did often with my old VWs..but never with a Tacoma
.til now

 

100%

 

Could be the battery still, less than a year old guarantees you nothing, other than maybe a pro rated warranty.

GL

 

Bad battery would still try to crank no? And door locks would still function etc from my experience with weak car batts.

When the truck magically decides to start, it starts without hesitation and I get no dimming of any lights or anything.

All I get is 1 single click seemingly coming from the starter.

Would be great if it turns out to be a bad battery

 

Curious what remote starter you have?

 

Older unit from 2016 made by a brand named Orbit. I don't think this brand exists anymore

I forget the model number. Been on the truck since day 1almost

 

I run the one from N2 designs. If you end up finding that your remote starter is the issue i'd check them out.
They have a kit that provides keyless entry as well as remote start for a good price.

 

Unless corroded terminals, or bad/loose ground a battery wont magically gain enough juice to crank if it was bad. Likely the remote start or ground issue, personally unless factory i would never install an aftermarket starter. Its not worth the risk of it or some crappy crimps leaving me stranded down the road

 

Batt is fresh and no corrosion anywhere. Grounds seem fine.

Could a starter or starter solenoid going bad cause an intermittent no crank no start, no juice to anything?