No start

Hello Ladies and Germs,

This would be my first post about a problem. Hopefully in the right section....

I live deep in the boons off a long series of dirt roads. The other day, I backed up my taco to load something up, turned the engine off but left the air on. When I returned to turn the engine back on, I heard a click like something went out. Battery has power, terminals are clean... I checked the fuses-all good. I also replaced the starter solenoid-wasn't it. Both of the power settings during key rotation grant power, but not the startup. Power is heard flickering within the starting solenoid but is not reaching the starter. I can't see any loose connections. Any guesses on the next appropriate step for me to take?

Thanks,

-Kyle

 

Dear CrabShack,

Sorry to hear about your Tacoma's failure to start. Did you check for electrical connectivity to the starter? I am assuming you are getting electrical activity to the Tacoma itself when you turn the ignition on. You need to start eliminating possibilities by checking for electrical connectivity to all possible culprits. Check the battery's power while you are doing your checks.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

Could be a bad power cable (the fat one) going to the starter.
Or a bad/loose ground strap.

 

Battery. Probably bad cell.

 

Yup, if you can check the voltage of the battery you can eliminate that possibility. A bad cell will still power the accessories but won't be able to crank the starter over.

 

Battery for sure. A lot of overthinking a simple problem.

Battery discharged due to light on overnight, won't start because battery discharged. The only possible cause is the obvious one.

Connections don't corrode and fail overnight, nor do solenoids/starter contacts, they give warning.

 

if the battery checks out voltage wise tap on the starter with a hammer... tap, not smack. Sometimes the brushes get carbon on them and do not make good contact, the vibration settles them back and make good contact. If that isnt it then I would suspect the starter selinoid. There is a post on here somewhere where all of part #'s are given with a series of stills showing you what to do.

 

I had a starter go on me w/o any clear signs. It was on a used and abused civic tho.

 

And the winner is: bad battery cell.

I had ruled it out because of having just drove it for awhile, minutes prior. The key's ignition position didn't engage the starter whatsoever, not even a lurch. Since it had just been running, I ruled out the possibility of battery death...A suprising, simple (And relieving) diagnosis. A very dead battery.

Thanks for the assistance gents.

 

Glad you got it figured out! I like having 2 trucks so I can always use another battery to do tests with. It might be worth it to get a used spare just for that purpose.

 

ya, batteries (and starters too) are like that, they work great then nothing.

you think they would give you a sign first but its pretty common to never get any hint of weakness until failure happens.

glad you got it sorted