Toyota Repair: 1998 Tacoma Starter, brake warning light, starter battery

Question
Ted, your responses are great - I hope you can help with my problem:

I have a 1998 Tacoma AT V6 4WD EXT that I have owned for just over a year, I bought it from the original owner and it has only about 75k miles. This summer it developed starting problems seemingly overnight but the problem has become worse since then. The truck will very rarely start now on the first, second, or even third try. I can always hear the system energizing and click, every once in a while it begins to turn then stops. It'll eventually start but now it sometimes takes a few minutes of trying before it starts.

I've replaced the starter, battery, and starter relay with aftermarket parts all to no avail. I try to start it with all accessories (A/C, radio) off to lessen the load but it doesn't help. I've checked the ignition harness at the steering column and its fine so I presume that the ignition switch is also good. I have tried to start it in gear to help determine if it could be a faulty neutral start switch, but what happens then doesn't sound the same as my problem because when I try to start in gear there is no sound (energizing/click) at all. Occasionally it starts operating normally and then will resume the same problem in a day or two. The truck runs great after it starts (except brake light issue below). It almost seems like more of a mechanical than an electrical issue, like something is seized.

The only other problem I've noticed is that the brake warning light comes on occasionally while driving. At first it would come on only when I was making a right turn from a stop and then it would turn off very quickly. It then also started coming on when moving forward from a full stop, taking a right turn at speed, or traveling uphill and will now stay on for several seconds (sometimes almost a minute) before turning off. It doesn't seem to be coordinated with my brake pedal usage at all. The fluid level is fine.

Thank you very much for your time, I look forward to your response…

Answer
You need to eliminate the starter as the possible cause, I know it's been replaced but there is a possibility that you got a bad one, with the key in the off position, remove the small connector on the starter and connect it directly to the positive terminal on the battery with a jumper wire, if the starter still has the same symptoms it is the problem.
If the brake fluid level is OK the sensor in the reservoir may be bad, try replacing the entire reservoir to fix this problem, a malfunctioning switch on the emergency brake can also cause the brake warning light to stay on.