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You can Hotwire the starter to take the solenoid and ignition switch out of the equation and to confirm the starter is bad, you’ll just need to remove the intake manifold and then with the key in the on position, get a jumper wire and go from your battery positive to the smaller wire on your starter. If it’s starts to turn over then it would seem the starter is good, and your problem is in the ignition or maybe the starter relay?
No new car dealership is excited to work on a vehicle that is more than a decade old. They stay busy just doing warranty work. They like to fix problems by replacing everything that could be the culprit. Their strategy would be to replace the starter, the starter solenoid, the starter relay, the battery, and the ignition switch. They don’t really want to narrow down the culprit and then be wrong. So they automatically replace anything that could be bad or getting old. So they can make the maximum amount possible and they don’t have customers coming back upset that their car is still having problems. And they expect customers to buy service work in addition to all those repairs. And these cars are well designed and easily repaired. An independent shop will have no problem determining what is wrong and how to repair it. Independent shops are more about relationships with their customers, they want you to trust them and keep returning for years with all your vehicle problems. It’s just a different business than a new car dealer.
You can Hotwire the starter to take the solenoid and ignition switch out of the equation and to confirm the starter is bad, you’ll just need to remove the intake manifold and then with the key in the on position, get a jumper wire and go from your battery positive to the smaller wire on your starter.
Couldn't the same thing be accomplished by jump-wiring the starter relay? If I needed to remove the manifold to test the starter, once the manifold was removed, I would replace the starter if I suspected it was bad, or if I had 150K miles or more on the clock. Again however, check all wiring first for damage and degradation.
You still haven't reply that many people suggested for you to verify if you could hear a click from the engine compartment when you turn the key to the start position. Just do that test and if you can hear the click, then that means your ignition switch and start relay are working good, so the starter is most likely the problem. If you don't hear a click, it means no power is going to the starter.
Finally broke down and took my 430 to the dealership to see what was causing the problem I had. After a long morning of trouble shooting turns out that the ignition switch was bad. Using information from this forum I had already narrowed it down to that or the ignition relay but being blind to my own conclusions I didn’t replace the ignition switch so I ended up paying them to confirm what I already knew. Top down, AC on, music up life’s good
Similar problem today. SC430, 2005 with 155k. Turn the key, I can hear the clicks, no turnover. New Battery a few months ago- Checked it and it's fully charged.
I've had a problem the past few months, if I did not drive it for a three or more days the battery was dead. New battery did not fix the problem. I thought it might be a parasitic drain, if I simply charged the battery, it would start.
Today battery is fully charged, turned the key, dashboard lights and loud clicking. No crank.
If you have fully charged battery, as in 12.7 Volts, solenoid clicks but no crank, then it is very likely your starter needs to be replaced. Before you go there, have you load tested the battery with a toaster style tester, and or, what is the battery voltage after you try to start it a couple of times and it only clicks? It is unfortunately VERY common for even brand new batteries to be defective. Since 2020, quality of all things being manufactured has dropped a great amount.
Similar problem today. SC430, 2005 with 155k. Turn the key, I can hear the clicks, no turnover. New Battery a few months ago- Checked it and it's fully charged.
I've had a problem the past few months, if I did not drive it for a three or more days the battery was dead. New battery did not fix the problem. I thought it might be a parasitic drain, if I simply charged the battery, it would start.
Today battery is fully charged, turned the key, dashboard lights and loud clicking. No crank.
Any suggestions?
Thank you
You probably figured out by reading the posts that changing a starter on a SC is a big deal. You have to remove the entire manifold to get to the starter. On the plus side, they don't go bad very often.
For these two reasons, I usually encourage people to look at ALL other options. It could be a security issue that gives you the same symptoms.
Your best bet would be to scan your car for codes and see if anything comes up. It would be even better if you could scan it with techstream, toyota's diagnostic software.
If it does turn out to be your starter, then you may want to consider changing the two knock sensors and the wiring harness, while you have it all apart.
When I first got my SC it would make a horrible noise when it started. I thought it was the starter. It turned out it wasn't. Luckily I did not have to learn the hard way and the good folks on this board gave me other things to check before I took off the manifold..
Multiple attempts to start. Solid click sounds, no ignition. Battery voltage after attempts: 11.76
What was the voltage before you tried to start it? The reason I ask is, 11.76 is basically flat, no where near enough to spin the starter. If you start at 12.7, try to crank once and voltage drops into the 11s, battery is pooched. That is basically what a $30 toaster style load tester tells you too. the picture in my post above is a "Toaster Style" battery load tester. You can get them from Harbour freight or Amazon very cheaply.
Multiple attempts to start. Solid click sounds, no ignition. Battery voltage after attempts: 11.76
can you describe the “clicks” when you turn the key? There are couple different types of clicks, each with a different culprit. If it’s a single distinct click when you turn the key, and it gets weaker with each attempt, then that’s almost certainly a bad starter. I noticed you described it as click’s”. Like click’s plural, and that could be something else. Often when the battery is weak and doesn’t have the power to turn the starter/engine over, the starter will make a rapid, and much louder clicking sound. If you jump start it, does it fire up just like normal? If so, you need to get the battery tested, but it’s almost certainly a bad battery or something is draining it.
06-28-24, 11:46 AM
