I broke my truck (No Crank/No Start) 2002 4.7 Tundra

Synopsis: I Got a 2002 4.7 Toyota Tundra this week and decided it would be cool to be able to see my Speedo and Ac Controls at night so i bought and installed some Led replacements. I was in a rush bc i had somewhere to be so i turned my truck on to test that the LEDs were working (they were) I'm pretty sure the truck was still running when I plugged in the rest of the connectors that run into the back of the cluster. When I did I heard a brief static come though the radio. I ignored it put everything back together and turned the truck off. When I tried to turn the truck back on the starter would only Click once and then whine (like an electrical whine coming from the starter area). I assumed it was an issue with the starter and decided I would try to shotgun a part put a new starter in it this morning. So this morning I went to AutoZone got a starter and installed it (nice starter placement Toyota) this morning to get the same result. So far I've checked the 5a Ignition fuse its fine. The Starter Relay clicks and seems to be doing its job. I'm okay at working on cars but when it comes to electrical stuff I'm a novice (if you couldn't already tell). Any pointers or ideas of what I should check next would be greatly appreciated.

TDLR: I plugged in my cluster with the truck on. Now the starter wont engage.

 

You'd have better luck if you posted this over in the 1st gen forum, where 1st gen'ers actually pay attention

Mods, if you're reading this can we get this moved so OP will quit dredging up threads in the 1st gen section to bump them asking people to come look at this thread?

With the 4.7/2UZ-FE it's virtually NEVER the starter. Put your OEM starter back in. You DO NOT want aftermarket garbage with that specific part. Starters, fuel pumps, O2 sensors, timing belt/water pump, lower ball joints are the biggies. Always Denso on the electronics, Aisin on the timing/water, Toyota OEM on lower ball joints. And don't buy it from scAmazon or fleaBay, you want to get an authentic part.

Reverse the work you've done. Put halogens back in. Basically get things back to square one, before you potentially shorted something out.

 

new to the forum, ill move it. thanks for the pointers!

 

Welcome!

Along with what Shifty mentioned, add the original rack and pinion power steering unit, too. Ask me how I know, lol.

Kudos on swapping the starter so quickly. It’s one of the hardest things to ever replace on the Tundra. Most everything else is a walk in the park. (Except for rust rotted bits).

 

Thanks, im not proud of the shotgun now lol. going to swap the Denso back in tomorrow and try to get a refund for the new starter. Currently learning how to diag electrical issues so I can begin to hunt down my problem. Really bummed i managed to incapacitate my truck in my first week of ownership.