Slow cranking starter

Hey guys. New member here. This is pretty general and not specific to 4Runners but what better place to go to? My ‘96 4Runner is cranking slowly and now, won’t start. I started with charging the battery and cleaning terminals then with engine running, read 14.2 volts across the terminals with a multimeter. Still same problem. Then, new battery - good for a couple days - then same problem again. Thought I had some kind of parasitic drain so I charged my new battery again and it took a charge at 2amps(on the 2amp setting) for hours before tapering off. Starter drive gear engages and barely turns but still won’t start. Unusual symptoms for me. What do you think? Faulty ground? In my my experience, the starter, the solenoid and the switch either worked or they didn’t but in the this case the starter tries to turn like the battery is too weak(again - new/fully-charged battery).

 

Don’t know if it’s related or not but now, sometimes, when I open the door, the doors will “unlock” even though they were not locked to begin with and I press the lock button, the doors lock but immediately unlock.

 

Does the OBD throw any codes? How old is the starter? You may need to replace it

 

New battery and it starts good for couple days I'd be looking at the starter.

 

Might be an alternator problem, too. If it starts when the battery is full, then tapers off over a few days, might the alternator be struggling to top off the battery? Brushes, perhaps? You can check those pretty quickly, or if the alternator has ~200k miles and has never been replaced/re-brushed, just get some new ones and replace them. If your new battery took a 2-amp charge for hours, it wasn't near fully charged, I wouldn't think. And the door unlock thing is odd, almost like the car thinks the key is still in the ignition (do '96 Runners have that?). Alternator or parasitic drain is my guess. Maybe related to the ignition switch. My son had similar battery drain symptoms on a 2009 Corolla that I traced to the aftermarket remote start creating a drain. Pulled the fuses and all better.

 

Could be the brushes in the starter solenoid, or the cable connections to the starter. The high power direct from the battery. Dirty connection, corrosion, and so on. Same with the block ground cable direct to the battery.

Having said that, it does sound , from the "took a few hours at 2amp scale before it tapered off", it sounds like the the battery isn't getting charged by the alternator, or there's a pretty good sized parasitic drain someplace.
Did you try reading the drain amps with everything off, including the key? Just beware, most meters can't go much more than 2 amps readings. Some can go 10 amps. Best is to get a clamp on ammeter. A lot of theft prevention add ons will do that.
Check the heavy wire between the alternator and the battery too. Dirty connections? Corrosion? 14 volts is a good voltage from the alternator, but what kind of CURRENT does it put out? Is it enough to recharge the battery after a start? Is the engine running off the battery, with minimal current out of the alternator?
Is the heavy wire between the battery and the fuse block in good shape? Connections clean and tight?

Battery cables on the old style lead/acid batteries can get corrosion inside the insulation, where it's hard to detect. Make sure the cables are nice and clean, free of corrosion inside the insulation, and that the battery terminals are corrosion free. Given the new battery, they probably are, but hey, ya never know.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

Then the 4R thinks the keys are in the ignition it won’t let u lock yourself/keys in. I wore the key out in my 96 had a new one cut good to go. It was not releasing the key.

 

If it was the starter, it would either crank or it won't.

Pat gave some good advice on what to check/look for so start with that.

But if you wanted to get at giving your starter new life, it's really cheap and easy to do for about $20 -



Better than buying a new starter as these things rarely give out; 280k miles on mine before replacing the plunger and contacts -

 

LOVE the last picture. Just kinda sums up the entire procedure in one picture.

Just a note, if I may. Notice the rust on the high power cable connection. I would pull the nut off of it, and hit it with a wire brush. Get it clean and shiny again. It'll help. Make sure to do the ring terminal on the cable, as well. Clean, shiny connection pass current MUCH better than even slightly corroded ones do. After all, look at the difference the plunger made. Not all THAT corroded, but you put the clean and shiny one, and I wager it made a big difference.

I do love Toyota reliability, though. All 3 of my trucks still have factory starters on them. Including the solenoids. They just keep on cranking. I did replace the high power cable on the two 87's, though. The ground cables, too. One of the side benefits of being an electronics tech by trade 327,000 miles on the pickup, 349,000 on the 99 4Runner. A mere 175,000 on the 87 4Runner.
Put on marine terminals, and meltwall heatshrink, when I made up the new cables. Nice big ring terminals clamped on the wires. Optima batteries, too. No corrosion to deal with, other than the normal lead corrosion, it develops just by existing. I take a copper brush to them once in a while. Never need to use baking soda to get rid of the corrosion.

Have fun.
Pat☺

 

@Kwikvette:
As it still struggles with full charge and I got all the battery/starter connections squeaking clean, I'm thinking it might be the starter. Where do you get starter parts. Last time I tried at a parts store, the guy just looked confused.

 

Thanks. I'm suspecting the starter. All connections have been cleaned and it still struggles to turn over, even after battery is fully charged. Seems weird to me. Usually the starter works fine and then just completely fails. You are right. It wouldn't hurt to change the cables. This was a southern truck and everything is pretty clean but it IS 25 years old.

 

Maybe the brushes and plunger in the starter solenoid. They tend to wear down, and make worse and worse contact, until they don't make at all any more.
They're readily available from "the usual sources". They're also changeable with the starter "in place", I've read, but it's much easier to remove the starter from the truck, and then replace them.
You can take the starter in to most auto parts stores, and they'll test it for you, usually for free. The testing includes the solenoid, and they'll usually try to sell you a remanned starter, if yours is the slightest bit bad. Again, though, it might be the solenoid brushes and plunger, nothing more. Easily replaceable.

You might want to have the alternator checked by the store, too. It really does sound like it's NOT charging the battery. If the alternator checks good, it may well be the cable between the alternator's heavy duty connection and the engine compartment's fuse block. Only buy a remanned Denso alternator, if you need to, not a generic one. It matters. Same for the starter.
Heck, all my starters are still factory, but my trucks spent most of their lives in Yuma, Az. Talk about DRY! Never any snow, and rarely ever any rain. Always HOT, too, so any water they got, dried off very quickly. VERY quickly!

I always replace the battery terminals with the "marine" terminals. They're the older style, heavy lead terminals, so they won't crack and break like the ones Toyota uses, with a screw post to put the cables on, easily. Wing nut to hold the cables down tight, screws on and off easily and quickly, without having to remove the terminal. I just leave the terminals on the battery, even when I need to pull it out of the truck for whatever reason.
I much prefer the Optima type, gell-cell batteries. If for NO other reason than they never need the water checked. No water! They also don't out-gas acid mist like a regular old lead-acid battery will, which will get down inside the insulation of the wires bolted onto a regular terminal, and corrode the wires. Invisible, but very hard on the cables. MUCH less corrosion problems. As in none.
Then I manufacture new cables. Slide a piece of meltwall heat shrink on, crimp on a good, strong ring terminal. Slide the heat shrink down to cover the end of the actual wire of the cable, to protect it from the nastyness in an engine compartment. With the cable made up with ring terminals on both ends, they can go on and off the marine terminals easily. I used 2-0 cable to make mine. A little big, maybe, but it WILL carry the current required
I made new cables to go down to the starter positive connection, and two negative leads. One down to the AC mount for the block's ground, one to the body ground point just in front of the battery, just behind the headlight. Good solid grounds are the life of the engine's electrical systems.

Ok, ok, shutting up, now. Sorry if I ramble too much...

 

Having starter issues myself, pulled it off and inspected the plunger and brushes, they look about like the ones pictured, mine was still making contact but makes a god awful noise when attempting to crank, I have looked at the flywheel, seems to be ok, turned the engine over by hand, seems fine, guess I will replace plunger and brushes and see what happens

 

My '98 ltd had very similar symptoms and it turned out to be the alternator draining the battery. Bought a new one...problem gone.

 

If it sounds like a banshee and the throwout gear on the starter and the flywheel teeth are perfectly fine, then it's probably the plunger/brushes not getting the throwout gear out to engage. Had an old car that the starter would make an awful racket. Was the flywheel missing a few teeth in just the right spot. Sometimes the starter would engage, sometimes not. All it takes is like ONE tooth to be missing on the engine flywheel. Engines can tend to stop at the same spot every time for some reason.

 

Replaced brushes and cleaned up the plunger, works like a champ now, Thanks