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2G (no start) Turn key to start, lights go out and no crank

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UofACATS

20+ Year Contributor
707
18
May 11, 2004
Tucson, Arizona
Car was running normal. Swapped a fuel pump, then had to pull it back out. Went to start car:



Key to ACC, all dash lights come on like usual.

Key to Start, CLICK and dash lights go out and nothing happens (car doesn't crank).

Leave the key at ACC and the lights flicker and slowly light up again like the car is ready to start. Try to start again = same result.


Any ideas?
 
Last edited:
How is the battery is it charged, is the fuel pump hooked up right?


Shows 12.0v, car had been starting fine. Fuel pump is just the clip in connections, verified secure. That was the first area I looked over because I was just in there.


Sounds like a possible bad ground.

Makes the most sense.



happened to me just like you described. . GROUND . it was my ground from battery to firewall. and starter.

Noted. The car came to me with a ripped-off ground to the firewall (no battery hold down), I replaced it with the factory ground. I'll double check that connection and the starter grounds to the block correct?
 
YouTube

That is link to my season 3 teaser video.

If you have the same problem, then my fix was a bad ground. Jumping the battery helped it to use the ground of the other car, but, you get the idea.
 
Pulled the cover under the steering wheel, found a remote start / security system.

Then I found: The. Worst. Wiring. Ever.

I'll upload some pics so you too can feel nauseous. In short, I'm surprised the car even ran. The owner said the remote start stopped working awhile ago, no surprise there.

Fixed a few grounds, tightened up a few connections. Key to start and the mystery security box started clicking like crazy. Well, at least the problem is moving. Got the go-ahead to pull the monstrosity out of the car and fixed the hacked install.

Back to click to start ROFL

Checked the connection at the battery, everything is freshly tightened there. It does have some cheap terminals so I haven't ruled that out quite yet. I'm out of time for today. I'll look at that link and get back at it tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for chiming in.



edit: pics

Kinda hard to see..

Yep, a wire wrapped around another wire.
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Same, except this one is wrapped around maybe 4 strands of wire. Loosely
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That was a ground.. It's also not necessary to bolt stuff back where you found it.
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Found another damaged wire.. at the starter ground.

Repaired the section and the car turns over now. Battery too drained to start but at least it's doing what it should.

Note: the tired battery might have been an compounding factor on this no start.




EDIT:

OK back to no start.

Last night the battery was too weak to start the car, but it turned over once or twice before dying. I charged the battery overnight and to my surprise, not only does the car not start but it's back to just clicking at key on.


Resolved EDIT
: Corroded positive battery terminal. Terminals were "new" according to the owner and certainly looked new..

Logging voltage on ECMlink, I played around with the terminals while watching the value on the laptop. They jumped around a bit, hmm. I pulled the battery to swap in my spare and thought might as well put a proper terminal on there (it was a autozone crimp style - do not use these). When I pulled it apart I knew right away that was it, loaded with corrosion. Chopped it off, soldiered an attachment, popped an oem Toyota terminal, and the car fired right up.
 
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