Tacoma made loud clunking noise when First started in the morning, then would not start.

When I tried to start my truck this morning after 2 cranks I got a loud clunking noise that shook the truck slighlty after the sound it died, then when I tried again it was just a "dry" starter sound. Wouldn't crank. Had it towed to local mechanic and when he got it off the truck it started like normal according to him, and hecant detect a problem with computer and no other noises. What could it have been? I dont want to be on a trail somewhere and it not start. Thanks for any help!

 

dead / going dead battery probably.

 

Was it at all a grinding type of sound?

 

Have you been in mud/water & mud lately? I've had starters get plugged up with mud to where the bendix wouldn't engage (The gear that turns the flywheel....I guess they still call 'em "bendix")

Also a possibility you knocked a tooth or two off the flywheel. There won't be a problem again until the truck shuts off with the missing teeth aligned with the starter.....

Or, a zillion other things....

 

The Bendix in the starter is what first came to mind for me too, that's why I asked if he heard any grinding noise, but the cause could be so many different things.

 

Our starters aren't a bendix type. The solenoid pushes the gear into the flywheel, and once at full extension, the other end of the shaft has a copper ring that bridges two contacts to power up the starter motor. That way nothing is turning until after the teeth are fully engaged.

If those contacts are worn or corroded, it'll just make a click/thunk as it's extending the gear to and from the flywheel but not start the truck. It's also possible that it broke contact while cranking over, but that's not how they typically fail.

Rebuilding the starter with new copper contacts isn't expensive. Last I read the parts were something like $15 from a parts shop. Very rarely do our starters need full replacement, like mine will be shortly because it's cranking slower than a Ford 8N on factory 6 volts thanks to a dead winding.