Potentially snapped Timing Belt

It's going to be a hassle, but they will check those parts off the truck if you take them in.

Sounds like your new battery is suspect, or you have a parasitic current draw that drained it over the 10 days that it was sitting. If either another new battery or a recharge will crank the truck up, Autozone, Advance or O'Reillys will check the whole system for you. What is the battery voltage right now?

 

You can take the battery out and have them test it.

When you say it won't start, does it click but the starter doesn't turn over or nothing at all? Do the interior lights work, radio, etc? Low charge on a battery can cause all sorts of weird things.

 

When my truck wouldn't start around 115k miles (just clicked when you turned the key) I was sure I needed to replace the starter. I called Toyota dealership to order a replacement and the tech said he'd been working on uz-fe Toyota V-8's for 20 years and had never had to replace a starter. He said the contacts in the starter can wear over time. Sold me $13 worth of starter contacts and a set of intake gaskets for $120. I pulled the starter, unscrewed the cap and replaced the contacts and it worked like a charm. Have 260k miles or so on the truck now with no problems since. I also did not remove the intake completely. I unbolted it, raised it up as high as the fuel and coolant line slack would let me and put some 2x4 blocks between it and the manifold. Then reached underneath and unbolted the starter. But I'm hard headed.

 

Like others said, take the tow guys advice with a grain of salt. I'd absolutely go OEM in this situation but start with the easiest scenario first, test the battery and then test the load on the battery while the vehicle is off. Spend a few minutes on this before you spend hundreds and hours of work on a starter, just to cover your bases

 

Man a cheap multimeter is only like $5 from harbor freight. Absolute essential tool if you're going to work on anything automotive.

 

Touche

 

Hmm, not a bad idea. Do you have a link for the Starter Contacts? I'm sure I could stumble across them, but I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

I was looking at this for the new starter:
https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-starter-motor-281005010184

 

The test (straight from AAA) on the battery read:

Voltage - 11.68V
Measured - 1 CCA
Rated - 710 CCA
Cranking Voltage - 11.63V
No Load - 11.69V
Ripple Voltage (whatever that is?) - 0mV

 

Yup it's done for. Anything under 12 is 'dead'

 

Agree with FesterW on this one.

1 CCA? for a 700+ CCA battery, how's it going to crank? Granted, I can see 11.68v if you've got something drawing on it and it hasn't been started in a couple two or three days, but given the complete decimation of cranking amperage, there's no way in hell it's gonna turn over.

 

Yeah, nothing was ever an issue with the battery before the engine swap. No drainage anywhere. AAA is pretty positive it's the starter but again, that's just one guy

 

Given those test results though, its looking like an internal short in the battery drained all the energy from it. If you have a chance, could you take the battery out of the truck and get it checked at the parts store of your choice? 99% chance that's your problem.

 

One easy way to find out. Swap a fresh fully-charged battery in, even if it's one you borrow from another vehicle. If it cranks, kinda rules out the starter situation.

But I think the test results speak for themselves, and either I'm missing something fundamentally, or the AAA person just glossed over the output thinking. "eh, that's pretty close to 12v and above 11v so clearly all 6 cells are good!"

 

The AAA guy said that the battery was definitely shot but that the starter may have been bad too. He said that starters can be finicky. If I replaced the battery already once and it started up just fine, after having not started up on the old battery, would that mean there is something else wrong here? Or could it just be a bad battery

 

Unless he knows the 4.7 engines inside and out, I'd take that claim with a boulder of salt. On some of my other vehicles with starters that had external solenoids, I'd agree 100%.

Over my lifetime I've averaged about 1 in 10 bad batteries. One or two of those I managed to kill due to other issues. If you've never had a bad battery, maybe it was finally your time.

That said, if batt was recently replaced within 6-12 months, even if a full drain or something was your fault, I'd pull it and carry back with receipt to get it swapped because clearly it ain't any good now. Swap it in. Does truck start? If so, I seriously doubt it's the starter.

That said, if I were you, I'd keep monitoring my battery after. There's a chance another component could be killing your batt. I'd get a digital multimeter and follow ChrisFix's (man I can't stand that guy!) direction to test the alternator while running and test the battery, and more importantly, test the draw while the car is off to see if there's anything sapping power while the car is off that maybe is responsible for killing the batt. 90% of the time for me it's been parasitic draw, alternator in need of rebuild and clean, or similar.

I don't have a decade-plus of Gen1 experience so I can't definitely say how often the 4.7 starters die. But I can say, after several no-start threads recently, more often than not it's been the battery.

PS: If you go with an AGM battery, you'll need to take an extra step to get it charging properly. Little tidbit I recently learned about. Part to get you there will set you back another $50-60.

 

Battery is an easy test. Try that first.

 

Okay, thanks so much for the thorough write-up and help. I'll replace the current battery and go from there. And then monitor it afterwards. Sounds pretty straightforward - test battery and alternator while running, and then test them both while the truck is off. If it's lower while it's off, it means something is sapping the battery

 

Hey guys! Chris fix here!



But yeah, if your getting 1 CCA, your battery is dead. Like, really really dead.

 

Yes.

No, not really.

Batt posts while off should generally be at least 12.5 - 12.6 optimal for a classic battery.
Batt posts while running should generally be at least 13.6 - 14.6 optimal good alternator and wiring.
Voltage at Alternator terminals while running should generally be in the 13.6 - 14.6 range too.
Voltage at alternator should be higher due to voltage drop while crossing cabling from alt to batt.

How you tell if something is sapping the battery.

Low-tech: Test voltage at battery to ensure at least 12.5 - 12.6v. Don't drive the truck for a week. Go back and test again after a week and ensure it's ideally near or above 12.5v.

High-tech: Make sure everything is OFF, including your under-hood light. Get a multimeter or voltmeter that measures amperage and set it up to measure amps. Pull the negative battery cable. Use the two leads on your tool as a bridge between the batt cable and batt terminal so your meter is the link between the two. The reading you get is how much amperage is being drawn. You want to be below 40-50 milliamp (0.04 - 0.05) on the reading. I think when I last tested my truck with nothing running off battery it was 0.023 amps, should you need a baseline. I have no custom always-on stuff in my truck like some of the other members.

 

I know someone who talks just like him. He lives two doors away from me.

Weird part is, my neighbor isn't from Jersey. At least I don't think he is. But that accent and voice ... ugh.

 

You don't have a spray bottle of soapy wooder?

 

I really enjoy having eyeballs. Please don't make me stab them out.

 

That's pretty low. First step is new battery. You really need a cheap meter that'll check DC amps, check the load while the car is off. Then move down the system toward the starter. Don't it backward. KISS. Don't be afraid of the meter, we can walk you through it

 

After you put a new battery in, check the voltage through your RPM range. It should move around a little but not “jump” too much.

A bad battery can take out an alternator and a bad alternator can take out a battery. Not always, but I have seen it happen with high stress applications like a diesel.

 

Took the battery to Oreilly's. They tested the battery and said that it looks fine and that it just needed a charge. And that it's possible that the truck sitting still for 13 days sapped the energy out. So they charged the battery up and I'm going to go get it today to see if the truck starts with it.

Then they will test the battery, alternator, and then for any parasitic draw.

 

It's possible. Mine sits for weeks at a time and I have to replace my battery about every 3 years.

 

Going to buy this OEM starter.
https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-starter-motor-281005010184

Does anyone know if I need the optional $60 core charger?

 

The core charge isn't optional. You pay that at time of purchase and if you send back your old OEM one to be recycled and re-manufactured, you get your $60 back. You'll have to pay to ship it back on your dime.

 

Got it. Guess I'll have to reach out to their customer service to figure the logistics out there

 

Yep. You don't have to send it back unless you want that money. Certain parts like a CV axle will cost almost as much to ship as the core charge, so sometimes it's a wash and not worth the effort of sending it back. Shipping a starter should be cheap though.