I'm hunting same said starter menace. I too have a 93. 'Smitty' had 1 non-start that was fixed with a battery dis/re connect and some whackings. 3 uses later (trail truck) he did it again. A few whacks and a few dis/re connects he came back to life, that once. He's been dead since (2 weeks ago). The coming of fall heralds the coming of winter, which heralds my call to the wild, as it were. Thus time is of the essence, my friends.
Symptoms are as follows:
1) Turning the key to crank position (in the act of starting), clicks abound throughout. From the engine bay, from the dash, from the rear of the truck, but I can single out the solenoid click from the rest.
2) Following this, the starter 'clicks' as though the 'shaft' has engaged the flywheel.
3) At nearly the same time, all the lights on the dash go 80% - 90% dim (with 100% dim being off). The buzzer goes nearly inaudible.
4) Releasing the key from the crank position everything goes dead. Repeated turns of the key only return the dash to the very dimmed status.
5) THE ONLY way to snap Smitty of out it is to remove the negative ground from the battery.
6) Removing the positive cable and replacing it, while leaving the ground cable connected does nothing.
7) Once healed of the affliction, repeating step 1 only leads to steps 2-5.
The battlefield:
1) Battery is new, Group 24 770CCA Bosche
2) Battery cables look OEM, but terminals are not the same. Negative is old-school solid lead, screw-n-squish type. Positive is the band-type with screw tightening. There is a winch relay board tightly affixed to the post of this terminal.
3) Starter #1 is PO and is a Toyota/Denso Reman. The seller mentioned the starter when I bought it, and it looks quite new, so I'm guessing it's about 3 years old.
4) Starter #2 I ordered when I was sure THAT was the problem. It is a pik'n'pull from yard in NC. It is an OEM '93 2.2kw starter and it looks it. No one would have pik'd this thing, but nothing rattles and the bearings feel good.
Steps taken to resolve:
1) On first non-start, whack starter - which only worked once, after I'd removed the battery to have it tested (the first time), thus removing the neg terminal. Just didn't put the two together at the time.
2) On 3rd non-start, replaced starter. #1 came out, #2 went in. Result was the same.
3) Had battery (2nd time) and #1 starter tested at parts place. Result - both passed and are good.
4) Read a few hours of threads here to figure out what to try next. No one has mentioned, that I've found, the (near total) power loss (or huge voltage drop?) when trying to start. This seems to point to something greater than just an ignition switch.
5) I've no multimeter at hand, so...
Abnormalities during and after working on the issue:
1) I've noticed between repeated cranking attempts that different courtesy lights would work, or not, randomly. The green light ring around the ignition switch is there sometimes, others not. The door open dash light is on sometimes, others not. This has not happened before the cranking issue.
2) I once worked on this issue getting no where and decided to 'reset' Smitty and lock him up for the night. It was 2 days later when I could get back on it. I first noticed the alarm wasn't unlocking the doors. So I used the key, and upon opening the door I noticed the faint cry of the buzzer and saw the dash lights in the dimmed status, with no key in the ignition. I put the key in and turned to crank, but no good. Had to disconnect the battery to get Smitty right again (still won't crank, but at least not in seizure mode) I've since been leaving the battery disconnected. Not happy about that.
3) I've noticed that the steering column plastic covers are missing all the screws and is held in place by electrical tape carefully wrapped around the entire housing with what appears to be 1 small lag bolt and a washer. I have not attempted to break that seal, but I will for the sake of science, and if I have to.
Nothing else has changed on the vehicle from stock (apart from the offroady-overlandy bits, most of which are not in or on the vehicle during this ordeal).
I feel having two starters, at least one of which is a known good (not the pik'n'pull), and both of which can reproduce the non-start, can rule out internal starter parts as the issue.
Since this came on so quickly (less than 2 months and 5 cranks from first to last) perhaps wiring can be ruled out on the basis that it hasn't been a long-term intermittent and ignored thing?
Does the 93 have the S12 plug and is the 2/4 short test a good indicator of anything? (perhaps if it cranks with the short, this means what?)
Thanks for any input. I want to lean toward the ignition switch, since it sounds simpler to do than say replace cable runs. But it's just the power loss that makes me think it's something else.
