91 TLC. No cold start. Relay problem? Advice please... (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 19, 2014
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Location
Seattle
I am a new member of the TLC club as of today.

Alas, as much research as I did here before buying I fell victim to a predatory seller. My "new" TLC will not start w/o a jump when its cold. Once it is warmed up it starts fine. I'm 99.9% sure the seller knew this as he came driving up with the vehicle even though I was buying it at his house. He got it good and warmed up.

The battery is clearly not the problem. It is new and strong. Connections look good. And I don't think it is the starter either.

From my research here I suspect I have a bad relay. I will be bring this to my mechanic asap but if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Will I need a special OEM part?

Will a good mechanic who works on all kinds of cars be able to knock this out or do I need to find a Toyota specialist? I am in Seattle.

Any suggestions you can provide will help make my first 24 hours of TLC ownership less miserable.

Thanks!
 
OK. I can't figure out how to edit my post above but having read through multiple threads on this topic I should clarify.

After completing my '91 TLC purchase and driving it home I let it sit for many hours. When I finally had a chance to go out and fire up my new pride and joy everything came on: headlights, radio, dashboard lights, power windows... all at full blast. There certainly seemed to be no lack of power from the battery. However, the engine did not even attempt to turn over. I couldn't even hear the classic clicking noise. Just nothing from the engine whatsoever.

So, just to be thorough I jumped it and it started right up.

As soon as I jumped it I turned it right off. Of course, normally you should let it run so the alternator builds the charge back up but because I suspect that battery is not the problem and I wanted to see what happened. I was actually hoping it wouldn't start because then I just need a new battery.

But the TLC started again just fine without the jumper cables and having only run for 10-15 seconds. I assume that the battery, if it was lacking, could not have come back to life that quickly. Perhaps I am wrong about this?

At any rate, while I first suspected an EFI relay problem when reading threads here... the more I read the less I suspect this is the problem.

Unfortunately I feel rather clueless. I have my doubts about the battery, the cables, the starter, the solenoid, the relays & the fuses.

I am also worried I will replace all that stuff and still have mysterious intermittent problems stating the vehicle which is a huge problem since I bought it to take into the woods on camping excursions with my 7 year old this summer.

I will start with load testing the battery tomorrow and go from there.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.
 
If it doesn't crank over when cold, 1. your battery could be bad, 2. you could have a short in a circuit that is draining the battery, 3. wire connections to starter or ground may be bad.

I'm betting on #1 or #2.

"I will start with load testing the battery tomorrow and go from there." You're on the right track and a BIG WELCOME to IH8MUD!
 
The starter circuit and EFI system are completely separate. One does not affect the other. You can remove the entire EFI system and the starter will still crank.
If the starter only cranks with a jump, then the battery/connections are suspect. While automotive batteries don't charge quickly, they do develop what's known as a "surface charge" after a short amount of run time. If the surface charge is enough to start the truck, then the battery is faulty and should be replaced. On the bright side, it appears as if your alternator is working well.
 
Thanks so much for the replies. I love this forum. So much info!! I have been reading it almost non-stop for 3 days.

Load tested the battery. Fine.
Double and triple checked connections. They all seem fine.
Lights seems fine on start up.
Also, can't seem to replicate the problem... It is starting fine now. Puzzled.

How likely is it that the battery was drained just enough that it couldn't kick out enough amps to power the starter even though it could provide robust power to everything else I tried (stereo, headlights, windows, dash lights). This seems somewhat unusual to me but at this point it is theory I'm currently banking on.
 
There is nothing else in a vehicle that draws anything close to the amount of current that a starter does. Lights, stereo, etc are all irrelevant tests. As opposed to guessing, I would suggest putting a volt meter across the battery terminals and measure the voltage over time of your battery. A fully charged battery will read 12.7 without the motor running. With the motor running the voltage should read 14.4 +/- a point or so when the alternator is charging the battery.
The fact that the truck will only crank when you had jumper cables on it SCREAMS battery or battery connections. The fact that you no longer have the problem after removing and re-installing the battery SCREAMS battery connections.
 

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