Question1994 4WD truck. When the truck is cold I have to turn the key several times to start the truck. When I turn the key and it does not start, I can hear a click from the motor. Also, when the key is turned and it does not start, the radio display goes out. I made sure the battery connectors are good and tight. Do you know what would cause such a problem?
AnswerSmells like the starter motor to me Scott. Give this a try. Get a bud to help out by trying to start the car. You pop the hood and try to see if you can pinpoint the sound source of the click. If I'm right.. you'll be ending up at the starter motor.
Symptoms of failure include difficulty starting the engine. Maybe it'll do it once in a while... then.. a little more often.. All of a sudden.. 5 to 8 key turns and MAYBE it'll turn on. In the end, it'll give up and you won't fire up at all. You'll here clicking every time you turn the key but no engine cranking. The power will go along with it but as you turn back to "ON", the power will return to normal.
How to fix: Well, first I gotta scare you. The starter will easily cost you about 130 new. That's minimum with a core charge. But, Toyota did something really good. This starter is by NipponDenso, who supplies pretty much ALL import cars. These things are SOOO easy to pull apart and fix, it's amazing. If you've got some decent tools, time, and the courage to pull the thing out (not hard, just time consuming and a little needed elbow grease) then go to my friend Hyatt at http://www.nasyard.com/ Ask him what kit you'll need to rebuild your starter. He shows a really basic set of instructions that if you look at it, will defintely give you a new-found courage to tackle this problem.
After you get the kit, pull that bad boy out, and rebuild. I want you to laugh aloud as you just saved yourself 100 plus bucks because the kit, with US shipping, cost about 26.14 or something like that.
If I can help in any other way, let me know.
-David D.
