Help! Truck killed itself!

2007 Tundra, 4.7L V8


Got home, turned truck off, went back out to truck hours later, started truck but didn’t move it (sat stationary while wiring), about 30 minutes in, makes noise (like continuing to turn the key after car has started) and dies (fights to stay on, odo lights flicker and truck shuts off), start truck immediately, same thing…

Get out, check oil, coolant, battery (remove fuse tap that increases alternator voltage) all good, give it a second and look over everything, start it again but immediately shift into reverse and drive backwards, then forwards, neutral then rev to 3000, sounds fine

Did it die because it didn’t move after being started? Oil not circulating?

 

Just turned it on to check alternator, made the noise again, I killed the truck

 

Aftermarket remote start by chance?

 

Nope, base model

 

What were you wiring while it sat? Sounds like an electrical gremlin is the issue.

you could leave the truck idle for a week and do no damage.

 

Dash camera and radar detector, had the a pillar off and was running wires next to the airbag wires in the pillar (dash cam and radar didn’t have power run to it) probably shoulda have been doing that with the truck off and battery disconnected

 

Did you use add a fuses by chance and remove any fuses with the truck running? Honestly I’d disconnect the battery for a bit and then reconnect it to let the truck “reset”. You will want to clean the throttle body though because it will lose its idle learn and idle a bit rough for a bit if not

 

Nope, had not gotten to that stage yet, I think I may have a potential issue though, I might have grounded the battery to a bracket I made, moved the bracket, testing now

 

Just got a sound clip, right after it idles down, it kills the truck

 

For the hell of it pull intake tube off the throttle and clean it out if you have brake clean or throttle cleaner handy. Doubt it’s the issue. But it might be by the way it sounds

 

Will do in the morning, disconnected both positive and negative terminals for the night, sound clip is uploading

while I was sitting in the truck, I could feel it idle up and down a lot (if that makes any difference)

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14nRGB9kLhwo5l_KK0JpoRq25814g9KjM/view?usp=drivesdk

^^ link to video clip

 

Hmm. Almost sounds like the starter engaged at the end.

 

Yeah that’s what makes me confused, I’m gonna pull the starter relay and see if it engages, only problem is it dies so quickly

 

You didn’t play with anything around the ignition switch right?

 

Definitely sounds like the starter re-engaged and killed it.

 

Go over everything you touched while wiring. My bet, you grounded something out. You could’ve fried something. And it may not be located right where you were working but down in the loom somewhere. Maybe a wire up against something metal is now cooked and shorting out.

 

Idling fine this morning, I also pulled the wires away from the a-pillar that I ran incase there was interference, granted it’s still idling high because it’s cold, pulled the starter relay while running and didn’t die, did hesitate though, reversed then put it in park, died when shifted to park but just acted as if the battery died, not the starter engaging

 

Nope, did not

 

check the main relay could be having issues with that. also for shits grins a giggle's check voltage of battery while off an on to confirm its charging also give the battery posts an cable connectors a clean. also what fuse slots did you use for piggy back fusing for item?

unrelated but some contexts to things while putting rain guards in a vehicle I had a OEM battery take shit on me (4 of 6 cells died) an it was like the car was possessed.

 

I did check the starter relay, not that, posts and terminals are good, battery is charging...

I got rid of the resistor in the alternator sense circuit so that could've helped the problem, I also noticed that my air filter (CAI) had slipped off the tube, so my thinking is that, when it idles down, sucking too much air and could be confusing the truck then it kills because the map is getting confused (just like if the map isn't plugged in) I taped into the ignition fuse to activate and deactivate the aftermarket fuseblock, that was after the problem started and I don't believe its causing any issues

all in all, the problem happened that Friday night, once Saturday morning, then once again the Thursday of that week. After that not once, its been driven 3 hours straight and no problems, I think it was the air filter being off to be honest

 

Oh yea. Air filter popped off? That’s it. Throws the mad readings off and basically the engines “lost” on how much it needs to fuel etc

 

Saw a YouTube video where a guy got towed from the middle of nowhere to have the dealer put his intake tube back on. ‘‘Twas even a tundra.

 

sweet, that makes me feel a lot better, I figured that could've been the main issue, I was gonna test it and let it idle and pop the filter off and see what happens, still might but thank y'all for the input