SOLVED! New starter...same result...help what am I missing

Put a new oem starter in over past 3 days. Was pretty happy with myself for tearing it down and putting it back together without any real issues. Was careful and methodical putting it back together. Go to crank it...the exact same sound and issue. 1 click!!! I about lost it! It’s like the the starter pops out but never spins the flywheel. Any off chance having the ignition and key on the steering column would do this? I had a professional locksmith fix and put the original switch back in it ( wanted to have just 1 key not 2) worked a handful of times and then this no start crap. I was convinced it was the starter. Please help I’m all ears!

 

I vote battery or battery terminals

 

An ignition issue is my best guess since it was recently worked on........

 

Battery is good (autozone ran test and I just checked with multi meter) terminals are clean and a good connection. What’s keeping the dang thing from spinning up? Just one click or clunk sound is all I get. Going nuts here...had to grab a beer and walk away.

 

Dumb question, but does the engine turn over freely? Put a breaker bar on the crank pulley and see if it moves. Just trying to eliminate the obvious...

 

It does turn over not seized up. Actually right after I got home I had a place do an inside detail. When I picked it up it wouldn’t start...the same one click thing. I thought they ran the battery down. Kept trying to jump it off then suddenly it started up. Worked for a day or so then same thing. One click. I figured it was the starter. So I did the whole tear it down replace It and Put it back together. Same result when I tried to start it. One click.

 

Sounds like water got into something it shouldn'ta got in.

 

The two most likely causes that stand out to me:
1. Recent ignition switch work
2. Possible dead or bad battery after detail job.

The starter is the least likely culprit in this scenario. The Toyota tech I talked to about my starter one time said he had never heard of one needing to be replaced in over 20 years working on this family of engines. They are very reliable. Will it jump start?

 

Bad cable , they've been known to corrode inside. I would still try another battery , or jump it and see. A battery can check good setting there, and not be worth a darn under load. When you replaced the starter did you have it checked ,to see if it worked or look at the teeth ,to see if rounded , or look up at flywheel to see if tooth missing. All this sounds like Battery, or connection , or cables. Just reread a post , sounds like you jumped it and it started , it can only be battery, or cables .

 

I’m going to go thru cables, battery and ignition switch tomorrow. As for the old starter bucks04 it didn’t look worn on the teeth. In fact when they tested it at autozone I watched it. Plunger popped out and it spun up. Of course the machine said it failed due to “constant chatter”. I figured, yeah ok it’s on the way out so replace it. Lol besides I had already removed it!

 

If its giving a click you can rule out ignition. Its telling it to start.

 

IIRC, @Motopilot you said you replaced the starter over 3 days time in between thunderstorms. Maybe the grounding or wiring harness became wet at some point and is causing the issue at starter. Your situation happened to me when I did a dumb hand model move when washing my engine down. I must have gone too high with the hose and saturated the starter area. Thought I was being careful.

Truck started up fine after the washing that day and even drove it. Came out the next morning and the click sound like you are experiencing happened. I kept trying a few times and the same. I finally got it started by holding the key in full ignition until the starter turned over. I could barely hear it trying for a few moments until it jumped into start. No problems since then. Never a problem before then.

 

Put your multitester on the battery, set it some place you can see from the cab, then try to start it. If the voltage drops down to about 12 when you hear the click then the battery is most likely done for, if it stays the same then the starter relay likely isn't passing power on to the starter like @Squatting Pigeon mentioned.

 

If you have a wire, you can try to jump the starter relay. If you pulll the starter relay as shown on the video up here. It will show you the bridge it uses, or the line that goes straight across. This is how you will jump it. Put the key in the "ON" position and place the wire ends at both terminal ends as shown on the relay, and hopefully it will start. I start my Celica this way, every now and then the relay gets too hot I guess and refuses to start.. making a single click noise and nothing else. It will scare you the first time, but if you hold it in it should turn on, then you can pull the wire and replace the relay. Hope this helps.

Edit: you can use a paper clip too, but I like the safety on a covered wire and exposed ends... part of my toolbox for ever now..

 

Gonna try the battery, leads and relays here in a bit. If that doesn’t work then I’ll go to Toyota stealer-ship and ask questions. If this is some crazy electrical gremlin then I just have to pay someone. Electrical is outta my wheel house.
If I can’t get this resolved today or possibly tomorrow I’ll just have 5500lb Paperweight in the driveway or get it towed and worked on. I leave town for 12 days for work. Oh btw it didn’t ever get wet. I closed the hood and had a pop up tent/canopy over the hood all this week while I worked on it.

 

its probably the relay going bad, try my method before taking it to the stealership... My brother who is a certified tech for Mazda now Dodge showed me this as a short cut to a no start issue.

 

Since you said it all started after an interior detail job, it sounds like a wire harness under the steering wheel got tweaked while the shop was cleaning around down there. Have you tried pressing all the connection under there back together to make sure they've got a good connection? If you had any of the ignition circuit messed with by the locksmith that could be your issue too.

Bottom line is that it sounds like a problem with the electronic circuitry controlling the starter that is at fault, not the starter itself - especially since you just replaced the starter and that didn't solve anything.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt1nC1fU70g

 

This is a two person test. Get under the truck with a volt meter and check the voltage at the starter solenoid. Check on the post and not on the cable end. If you have 12 volts, have someone try to start the truck. If you still have 12 volts, the new starter is bad. It happens. If the voltage goes to zero, or near zero, you have a bad cable. Sometimes, everything is fine at the battery end, but the starter end of the cable has too much corrosion in the connector to pass the amperage the truck needs to start.

 

This is a first gen truck, I don't think you're going to be able to do that.

Check your battery cables on both ends. Ground one is very important for the starter to engage. If it's got resistance all your lights ect might work fine but the high all draw from the starter will not.

 

Take my word for it , there is nothing going on inside cab. No detailer hoses down the cab , ha ha , or goes up under dash to clean. it's outside. Also starters are one thing that is meant to get wet, snow covered, and iced over, never have I heard of no start from being wet. And it isn't the relay if you are getting a click, because power is being sent to starter, just not enough to engage it. Like so many have said ,it's battery or cables . Also check ground to body.

 

Which one is “ground one”?
Firewall to back of engine seems good
Ground at the starter seemed ok
Battery to side firewall Seemed ok

 

I tried the multi meter on the battery... a little over 12 volts.
Then had my wife turn the key like she was cranking it. It dropped to 11.5 ish.

 

@Bucks04 Going to pull the battery out of my wife’s car 2010 V6 highlander And see what result I get... that should have enough cranking amps I would think?.?...

 

There's more than one place the cowl and firewall is notorious for leaking to the interior. Electrical shorts and corrosion can and do happen at the engine bulkhead easily. Maybe the detailer didn't do the engine bay here, dunno, but a simple wash if the cowl seals or steering shaft seal are busted would allow water entry into the cab.

If someone was detailing the engine bay prior, there's a solid change what PHM is saying above is the case, or what I suggested above is the case. I don't let anyone spray water in my engine bay. It's one thing to go mudding or to drive through big puddles. Concentrated jets water in an engine bay is another beast entirely and can easily cause issues until the engine is running and evap's that water out.

 

@shifty`I didn’t have the engine cleaned at all...pic was one of a few as I took it apart.

 

Battery swap sounds good . 11.5 won't get it done, probably bad cell.

 

Is that intake manifold plastic?

 

05-06 are black and plastic.