Clicking when trying to start

P

Postman Pat 1066

Member
Hey guys, I have a '99 Tacoma, V6 automatic, just over 64k miles. Garage kept, mouse-proofed, and I just replaced the battery with a higher CCA rating.

The last few months it's started making a clicking noise under the hood when I turn the key. It's not as loud as when the solenoid does that rapid clicking when there isn't enough juice in the battery to fully engage. It's intermittent, so I haven't yet been able to have someone else try to start it with the hood up so I can pinpoint where the noise is coming from. It doesn't click when I turn the key to the ON position; it's when I turn it to the START position.

The lights don't dim on the dash when it clicks, and I can release the key and try to start again and it always starts. The number of times I have to do that varies and it SEEMS like it's worse when I first try to start it (engine cold). I'm not at all sure about that, but it's happened much less when I'm out and shutting off/restarting it.

Even though it doesn't sound like the typical solenoid sound, I suppose it could still be the solenoid only clicking once, but what about the starter relay? When it engages does it engage when the key is in the ON position or when it's in the START position? And does the relay engage with enough force that I could hear it clearly with the doors closed and the hood down?

Having so few miles on it makes me wonder if it's something simple I just haven't thought of. I wouldn't think the solenoid or starter would be having issues with the low mileage and especially since it's nearly 25 years old and I feel like these things were built more reliably years ago than they are now. I'm just over 265,000 miles on my '98 RAV4, and had a little over 250k on my 2000 Tundra with no engine issues whatsoever besides 02 sensors and a dirty throttle body.

Any ideas, suggestions, questions would be most appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Patrick
 
Perform a load test on the battery....at the least to eliminate it as the cause. I won't buy any other battery unless it's a deka. I've had nothing but issues with other brand recycled junk batteries that crap out after a year.
 
tacojoel said:
Perform a load test on the battery....at the least to eliminate it as the cause. I won't buy any other battery unless it's a deka. I've had nothing but issues with other brand recycled junk batteries that crap out after a year.
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I'll get it tested! Wouldn't be the first time a new battery was a culprit in other issues I've had. This clicking problem was around before I swapped batteries, though.
 
You may have a relay in the starter circuit that is funky.

Load test the battery. If all is good, then track down the relay. Have a helper work the ignition as you check the relay.

Always begin with simple stuff first. Work to the more complex.
 
24-7 said:
My best buddy who just finished up 21 years in Coast Guard aviation says "military grade" or "military spec" is comical and a joke.
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Been told just the opposite. Usually if companies can claim that, its a higher quality product than the average out there.
 
Rock62 said:
You may have a relay in the starter circuit that is funky.

Load test the battery. If all is good, then track down the relay. Have a helper work the ignition as you check the relay.

Always begin with simple stuff first. Work to the more complex.
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Yeah I HAVE wondered about the relay. I'll get the battery tested in case it IS having issues, wouldn't be the first time I've bought a battery and had problems within a couple of weeks. Thankfully the relay is easy to get to on this truck. Thanks for the suggestions!
 
24-7 said:
My best buddy who just finished up 21 years in Coast Guard aviation says "military grade" or "military spec" is comical and a joke.
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Remember, the US govenrment, regardless of the branch generally goes with the lowest bidder. I watched three US Prisons being built. That little tidbit was proven daily.
 
When it comes to military vehicles they don't buy junk batteries.
As far as these new batteries in general...let's just say they are not what they were 10 years ago. I've been burnt on a number of popular battery brands in the last 5 years. I went back to deka, paying a little more, but they hold up way longer.
 
With work and travel I've just now had time to get back to this problem. The relay and solenoid seem to be working fine. When I had my brother turn the key to the start position over and over with my hand on the starter, I could feel it trying to engage over and over.

Truck has always been garage kept and only has 63k miles on it....I'm having a hard time believing the starter is the issue, but it really does seem like it.

Thoughts? I'm happy to replace the starter unless one of y'all think it could be something else. I'd consider pulling it to see if it just needs rebuilding but I leave again next Wednesday for several weeks and need to get this done before then (if possible).
 
tacojoel said:
Have you performed a simple load test on the battery? After all it is the most common thing that fails.
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I'll test it, but the problem was there before I replaced the battery. When the truck would start (with the new battery) it cranked fast after the truck had sat for days without being started.
 
Thats a weak battery, You either have a bad battery, or there is parasitic draw somewhere in the vehicle.
 
It could STILL have a parasitic draw somewhere, when I get the new battery in and fully charged I'll do a proper load test to see what the mA draw is with everything shut off. Just in case.
 
It's odd that a new battery would crap out in that short time, but it can happen. You need to run a test while the old battery is out to see if anything could be drawing it down before installing another new battery...like a small light staying on, or something thats hot leaking to gnd. This can be a real pita sometimes to find the source of a parasitic draw, but its better than slowly killing a new battery.
 
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