'87 Toy truck, clicking noise when trying to start

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Just this Saturday, I tried turning on my 1987 Toyota 2wd CARB'ED truck. when I turned the key and depressed the clutch pedal, I heard just a click near the starter. I thought that maybe the battery was dead, so I jumped it with another car. Nothing, same click. I then hooked up my battery charger and set it to the 40 amp start. Tried it again, nothing. I ended up taking the starter off and having my step dad test it. (35+years doing starters and alternators) . He changed out contacts and brushes. Installed it, nothing. what else can I check? If I crank it without depressing the pedal, nothing happens, as it shouldn't. What else can it be?
 
Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Just this Saturday, I tried turning on my 1987 Toyota 2wd CARB'ED truck. when I turned the key and depressed the clutch pedal, I heard just a click near the starter. I thought that maybe the battery was dead, so I jumped it with aer car. Nothing, same click. I then hooked up my battery charger and set it to the 40 amp start. Tried it again, nothing. I ended up taking the starter off and having my step dad test it. (35+years doing starters and alternators) . He changed out contacts and brushes. Installed it, nothing. what else can I check? If I crank it without depressing the pedal, nothing happens, as it shouldn't. What else can it be?


Did the starter bench test ok following the new contacts and brushes?
 
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Starter solenoid.

As a previous poster mentioned, turn the ignition on but don't crank and use a piece of wire to apply current directly to the starter.
 
This will happen if the big wire from the battery to the starter is bad. The small wire from the key switch makes the solenoid click in. The big wire supplies the power to make the motor turn.

Also check the ground wires. Use a voltmeter to measure from the big wire terminal on the starter to the frame of the starter. There should be battery voltage there all the time, including when trying to start.
 
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Probably a bad ground connection on a truck that old. A voltmeter on the starter contact will tell the tale. Brushes and the starter contacts themselves usually fix this problem on Toyotas so you'll have to look further since they didn't. Banging the starter with a broomstick often encourages the starter to crank.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Starter solenoid.

As a previous poster mentioned, turn the ignition on but don't crank and use a piece of wire to apply current directly to the starter.


The OP said the solenoid was rebuilt with new contacts.

In this truck the solenoid is on the starter.

OP if you have power at the small wire with the key in the crank position then everything up to the starter is ok. Check grounds.If the sstarter bench tested ok following new brushes and contacts and you have power at the small wire on the starter when attempting to crank a bad ground or loose battery connection is likely at fault.

Also possible and I've seen this before. The contacts can become twisted by over tightening the cable connections on the starter. If you check all the above and the problem persists. Remove starter again, open up solenoid end and verify the contacts are sitting perfectly flat on the resin plate underneath them as they have a tendency to sit crooked when a cable is over torqued.
 
Before you do anything else, you need to do a voltage drop test on the starter positive wire to the positive battery terminal and then another voltage drop test on the starter ground to battery ground. You will then know what direction you need to head in order to fix the problem.

Voltage Drop Testing the Power Circuit
http://easyautodiagnostics.com/misc-index/starter-motor-on-car-tests-3

Voltage Drop Testing the Ground Circuit
http://easyautodiagnostics.com/misc-index/starter-motor-on-car-tests-4
 
I have owned these trucks for over 35 years and over 1 million miles. My money is on worn solenoid contacts.
A simple and inexpensive job to replace.
 
The three most common starter issues with this truck are, contacts in the starter, ignition switch and clutch(safety switch). You've done the starter so the next thing I'd do is unplug the clutch switch and jumper (bypass the switch) the harness to check it.
 
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I found out what it was! I cleaned the battery ground cable to the block and tightened the battery terminals and all connections to the battery. The terminals are very clean. The ground to block connection was soaked in oil. after all this, it fired up with no problems! Thanks to all for the suggestions!
 
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