2005 Tundra ran fine yesterday but dead today

So it's been extremely cold here in Southeastern NC. I ran my truck yesterday and parked it around 5:00. Ran perfect! Got up this morning to 15 degree weather and the truck was dead. I'm getting power to the accessories but nothing from the starter. It won't even make a noise. I had the battery checked and the cranking amps were low so I put a new battery in it and still nothing. This is the first issue I've had with this truck in 12 years and 265k miles so I'm a little rusty on doing repairs myself. Any thoughts on what it could be? Bad starter, bad cable, bad solenoid? I'm stumped! It's a 2005 model with the 4.7 V-8. Thanks!

 

Sounds like a starter issue. Cables are easy enough to check. Yes the solenoid could be the culprit. Quite possible the starter is froze up. Happened on my friends Power Wagon in Anchorage. Tapped it with a ball peen while using a heat gun. It worked. Temps were much colder. Around -15/-20.

 

Eward have you tried tapping the solenoid. It could be stuck from cold weather. I would try this first. Hope this helps. Welcome from Obx by the way

 

I have not but will give it a try. Appreciate the reply and hope things are well in the OBX! it's been way too cold lately for NC!!

 

Yes it has. As Mat stated above about possibly being starter, 265k miles with no issues. I'll take that anytime. That's why we own a Tundra. Keep us updated

 

Starter is under the intake manifold. I still can't figure out why they put it there. It does sound like your starter is dead. If this is your first problem, you're doing good!!

 

I've never had a starter go out. Would it start to show signs of going out or does it just all of a sudden quit? It was working fine yesterday. I parked the truck last night and all was good and then nothing this morning.

 

I've had starters take a dump with no notice at all. Usually there is some warning. Bendix spring sticking, faulty solenoid, over heated trying to turn over POS engine, etc.

 

Well, I'm not having much luck figuring this out. I talked to Toyota service and apparently the solenoid is built into the starter which is located under the intake manifold on top of the motor. I honestly don't think it's the starter. When I turn the key I hear absolutely nothing under the hood. Usually there are relays clicking and the fuel pump running but it's completely dead. I checked all of my relays and they're all fine but under the one fuse box closest to the side of the truck there's a line of relays and they all have voltage going to them except for the two labeled dimmer and ST. I'm assuming the ST is the starter relay? I attached pics. When I pulled them out I checked where they're plugged in and there's no voltage to them with the key on or off. All the others have 12.5 volts to them even with the key off. I'm stumped!

 

As the others have said, it sounds like your starter. I would try tapping on the starter with a hammer first, if that does not work, I would check the starter relay. If that is not the culprit, I would double check the new battery, I have purchased "New batteries" before that were defective.

You can check to make sure it is making enough amps and voltage yourself or you can just take it to any auto parts store for a quick double-check.

It can go either way for starters, sometimes they just go out, other times they will slowly start deteriorating, like the starter for my 4runner did. It sounded like a blender for 2-3 years before it went out all the way.

Unfortunately the starter is in a very inaccessible location on theses trucks...

 

The reason I don't think it's the starter is because when I turn the key on there is absolutely nothing going on under the hood. No relays clicking, no fuel pump noise, nothing. It's silent. The starter isn't getting any juice. I know it's not the battery. It doing the same thing with the new battery as it did with the old battery. I'm thinking I didn't need a battery in the first place since it was starting the truck easily in 25 degrees on Saturday. Like I said, it was fine Saturday night and dead in the morning after a 15 degree night. I'm starting to suspect the shift position switch(or whatever it's called) it's acting like the truck still thinks it's in drive and won't start. I've moved the shifter from park down to 2nd gear but that didn't do anything. Tried to start it in neutral too. No luck.

 

Here's something else I just noticed. This is my dashboard with the key on. The odometer, gauges, and all the other warning lights that come on at startup aren't coming on. Only the Park indicator is lit up. The stereo, headlights, power seats, and everything else is working. I have 12.6 volts at the battery.

 

Check your ALT fusible link. Check all the fusible links. NOT SAYING YOU DID, but I've seen customers either hook the wrong battery up the wrong way OR try to jump it backwards. NOT SAYING YOU DID. Just something I've seen. AAA is BAD for jumping vehicles backwards.

 

I didn't even try to jump it. It was 17 degrees outside when I tried to start it. Too damn cold for me! I just pulled the battery and had it tested. Advance Auto said it was at half of it's cold cranking amps. I went ahead and got a new battery but it didn't change anything with the issue. I'll check the link but have a bad feeling it's something else. The fact that my gauges and lights on my dash aren't coming on when I turn the key on have me worried it's something more serious.

 

That's why I said, NOT SAYING YOU DID. Our starters will die, no warning, no clicks, nothing. Just, dead. See it a lot in the shop on Corollas and the older Camrys. This may sound stupid, but. . . Check your dome fuse. A LOT runs through that. You'd be surprised at how much havoc a 10amp fuse can have on a truck. I've seen fusible links cause weird stuff too.

 

I'll check it. I hope it's something that simple but I have a bad feeling it isn't!

 

Keep us updated. I'm quite curious as to what it could be.

 

Dealer?

 

Really stupid but does your battery have a good ground?

 

It seems dumb but pull the battery cables and wire brush and clean them really well, a bad connection there can cause all kinds of problems. Next check fuses all the fuses having to do with ignition circuits, this has a pretty decent list of what's controlled.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.auto...eneration-mk1-2005-2006-fuse-box-diagram/amp/

I don't have a wiring diagram but the next place I'd check would be the ignition switch verifying that power is getting there and if that's ok verify power going out.

 

I did clean up the terminals and replaced the positive since the old one was pretty bad(Original). All the connections are good. I pulled every fuse and relay and checked all of them. All were good. Going to check the ignition switch tomorrow since my dash lights and gauges aren't coming on when I turn the key to on. It's the original switch with 265k miles on the truck. Hoping that's the cause and nothing more serious.

 

Well, It's not looking good. I thought it may be the ignition switch since none of the lights and gauges came on with the key turned on. I decided to check to see if the fan and windshield wipers worked in the On position and they did. They don't work in the ACC position so that told me the ignition switch was still good. I finally gave up and sent it to the dealership. The ECU is fried! It looks like something shorted out in the battery possibly due to the extreme cold we just went through. It blew a 25 amp fuse which I must have missed and somehow managed to fry the ECU. They cant explain how it happened and I have no idea either. I guess I cant really complain since I've had the truck for 12 years and 270k miles and the only other problem I've had with it was I had to replace an air injector pump around 160k miles. I appreciate all of your replies trying to help!

 

that sucks man.. but you Did run trouble free for many miles ..
just curious..
what does a new ECU cost?

 

The total for a new ECU is going to be around $1100 installed. That's for an aftermarket one and dealership installation. Unfortunately the Toyota dealership is the only place that can program them according to a few independent mechanics I've talked to. It could be worse; a new Toyota ECU is over $2k from what I've seen. Can't complain at all about the truck. Been a damn good one!

 

You can send it away and have it rebuilt for under $200, most I sent away were around $100. Unless you find one in a junkyard. I would never pay that much for a stupid electrical box that can't play a movie or let alone music. Also, Toyota starters last forever, if it fails, just replace the copper contact tabs inside the back cover, 3 screws. Clean up the copper plunger. All those contacts can be found online, there's a few different styles. Under the manifold sucks, WHY, man, why. A lot of Toyotas I could fix the starter problem by just removing the cover and leaving the starter in place.

 

I got lucky. They were actually able to clear the computer out and reprogram it. It's been fine since I got it back.

 

Thanks for this thread and all that contributed. I am in the middle of the same problem. I have a 2008 Tundra SR5 5.7L, 140k. It was running fine. I got home, shut it off, got out, while walking by the front of the truck I hit the lock button. I heard an odd "pop". I wondered what that was but thought nothing more about it. Next morning it won't start. No solenoid clicking noise, no starter trying to run. I live in Utah. Temps are in the teens or 20s at night. Never had a starting problem in these temps, only when its been well below zero. The headlights are bright and all accessories are working. I pulled the battery anyway and took it to Walmart for a test. It had almost 13 volts and 650 amps left. Its in the could be replaced range but should still be able to crank the motor. I checked the starter fuse and it's good. I pulled the starter relay and tested it. It's good. I tried starting it in neutral and moved the shifter all around to see if it was a messed up neutral safety switch. So after reading this thread I am going to go check all of the fuses especially the ones that may be somehow tied to the ignition system. Is there any other relays I should pull and test?

 

Sounds like a issue with your security sistem.

 

Sounds to me like an alarm issue. and when Eward pulled the computer out it probably reset just after being disconnected for a while. probably no sense in re clearing and they just told him that. Disconnect power to the battery, pull all ECM fuses and let set for a couple hours. Put it all back, shut the hood, shut the doors, windows up, now lock and unlock your driver side door about 5 time. Or just do that last part first and see if it will start.