Reboot your cruiser lately?

[RedmondCruiser]

I had a strange incident today with my rig. I drove to work with no problem, but when I attempted to start it to drive home. It started up and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. The parking break light, the oil temp light and a few others…(Not the check engine) and the idle was very rough. My first instinct was to turn the truck off and re-start it. I left it in park and turned the key and the thing kept running . (I could hear what sounded like the starter going errr….errr….errr… ) I turned the key to start and it stayed running, no errr…errr but rough idle. I tried it again with the same result. I may be a DAN but I could guess that it was the ECU freaking out, so I did what any knowledgeable computer user might try, I rebooted the rig. Got out my Toyota tool kit, popped the hood and disconnected the battery for about a minute. Hooked it back up and everything seems normal again.

Any idea what happened? Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Rich]

Search this forum for starter contacts. Yours have failed. Common occurance. Almost like clockwork. Don't delay repair. Worst case outcome is engine fire.

 

[nyk438]

He only has 54k on the clock isn't that early for the contacts to be going? Just wondering.

 

[Rich]

It's not the number of miles, it's the number of starts.

 

[RedmondCruiser]

This forum rocks!

Now that I think about it. I bet it is the starter contacts. I have had a few occasions where I would turn the key and get no response. The second try would always work. I have a FSM from CDAN, time to get to work...

Would bad starter contacts also cause the dash warning lights?

 

[Rich]

Yep, low voltage from run on starter consuming more amps than alternator putting back.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

This forum rocks!



Would bad starter contacts also cause the dash warning lights?

Stuck contacts will cause all the warnings light to come on.

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Someone chime in if they think this suggestion is overkill but .......

Park your truck and dont drive it until you get the starter contacts replaced. As stated in an earlier post, worst case is an engine fire

This is a very well known problem that is cheap and easy to fix, pushing it now that you've had the warning signals doesnt make sense IMHO. If you wanted to get it done this weekend, try visiting your local Toyota dealer that is open on Saturday mornings. C-Dan would be ideal if you can park it for a few days.

Best of luck.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

11 years and 245k miles, so many starts its not even funny. Havent hah a single problem with my starter, Weird....

Oh question though? how much is it and how much problem is it to replace the contacts as opposed to just getting a new starter?
Am i dumb for thinking at this age for the cruiser a new starter would be better then just doing contacts?

Brandon

 

[TX_TLC]

11 years and 245k miles, so many starts its not even funny. Havent hah a single problem with my starter, Weird....

Oh question though? how much is it and how much problem is it to replace the contacts as opposed to just getting a new starter?
Am i dumb for thinking at this age for the cruiser a new starter would be better then just doing contacts?

Brandon

Not dumb...but if you fix it for less than $30 why spend $300? Unless of course it isn't YOUR money that your throwing around! As far as how "hard" is it to replace the contacts vs. the whole starter...well replacing the starter obvisouly has less steps but opening the starter and replacing the contacts is not difficult thanks to the great write ups on Mud and other places.

I know there are some other parts to the starter but replacing the contacts "rebuilds" the majority of the critical components of your starter. That said I tried to get away with just the contacts but to no avail and ended up replacing the starter.

 

[Beowulf]

11 years and 245k miles, so many starts its not even funny. Havent hah a single problem with my starter, Weird....

Brandon,

Have you personally been driving the vehicle for 11 years and 245k miles? If it was a family vehicle they probably replaced the starter some time in the past and you may not have known about it. I would be very surprised if it was original since ~100% of the guys on this forum have reported failed starters in the neighborhood of 100k miles or 8 years. As Rich pointed out, the wearing of the contacts is related to start cycles and not miles but few of us count our start cycles.

Dan and Doug have vehicle logs with this detail but the rest of us just have to guess.

-B-

 

[NorCalDoug]

Definitely starter contacts.

The contacts being stuck on doesn't cause the dash lights to go nuts. It's the alternator getting overloaded that does that.

When I had it happen to me a few years ago, it ran fine...sort of...for a while before the dash lights started to light up.

 

[Jerome3]

Just had my contacts replaced thursday drove for about a year with sticking contacts, but allways worried about setting mine a blaze with a turn of the key. get them replaced it feels great to have a healthy starter

 

[Augie]

Vehicles that are driven regulary usually maintain the battery at higher voltage. Its the vehicle that sit a lot tend to drain the battery more. When the battery voltage got low it will still start but it would pull a lot more amp and that is the main reason it would fry the contact.

This also happen a lot on battery powered industrial equpment. When you keep using them when the battery become low it would fry the relay contact. I know that it the problem with our Genie Aerial lift a few times it smoked the motor relay.

 

[RedmondCruiser]

Thanks for the advice. I replaced both contacts today. I had a hrd time with the top bolt...bloody knuckle to prove it. But everything else was pretty easy.

Just in case anyone want to know what a warn contact looked like.

 

[Gauge]

The symptoms described is EXACTLY what my cruiser experienced. I replaced my starter contacts and have had no problems since.

As stated earlier, mileage has nothing to do with starter contact wear, it has to do with the number of starts. My contacts went at 115,000 miles.

 

[snowwolfwarrior]

The top bolt is really easy to get to with just a ring spanner and a hammer or socket and bar with a bit of pipe on it for leverage, do it through the wheel arch with wheel removed, really easy that way. I have done a detailed report on motor contacts change, do a search on my posts or contacts change.

 

[Brentbba]

Redmond,

Glad you caught it and fixed ASAP - I waited to long and fried my alternator as well when the starter seized up! Double whammy, both starter and alternator. You are correct that these guys are the best!

 

[RedmondCruiser]

The top bolt is really easy to get to with just a ring spanner and a hammer or socket and bar with a bit of pipe on it for leverage, do it through the wheel arch with wheel removed, really easy that way. I have done a detailed report on motor contacts change, do a search on my posts or contacts change.

I printed out your write-up and used it and the FSM. Thanks! I tried the socket and bar method and even a hammer, but the ring spanner idea worked out better. The angle of the 2nd round spanner (looked like a wide open V) gave me enough space to work around the opening of the wheel well.

 

[RavenTai]

ring spanner = box end of a combonation wrench ?