2007 Tundra Won't Start

4,368 Views | 28 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by coolerguy12
aggieforester05
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AG
My 2007 Tundra 5.7L 4x4 Crewmax Supercharged with 123K miles won't crank.

First thing I noticed was when I went to pick my daughter up from day care the other day I turned the ignition and the dash lit up but it didn't turn over. I turned the key off and tried again and it started right up.

The next morning it wouldn't start at all. The dash lights up and I can hear a single click that sounds louder than a relay to me. I've left it on the battery charger for a full day and tested the voltage at the battery and the cables, which is above 12V. The battery is less than two years old and is an Optima red top, which has never shown any signs of weakness.

Does it sound like a bad starter, cable, or relay to you guys? I've replaced starters on inboard boat motors many times, but usually you get more than just a click when they go out. I can do the basic trouble shooting including the relay and cables at the starter, but I've been sick and it's been raining here so haven't had a chance yet. Just thought I'd get your opinion to see if I should go ahead and order a new starter from Rock Auto and get it on it's way here. It's my daily driver, but I have my mustang I can drive while the truck is down. I would like to get it going pretty quick though. From what I've read though, it's a pretty difficult job on this truck due to the starter being located under the exhaust manifold and wrapped in heat shielding.
Whitetail
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Inb4 the LS Swap...
coolerguy12
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Try to jump start it first. I have replaced starters twice on Toyotas with the same symptoms and it wound up being the battery both times. RAV4 and 4Runner

Fool me once...
moore42
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I had issues with that red top on that truck prior to selling it. I am pretty sure it was replaced under warranty, but I dont trust them at all, especially when the truck would sit for a day or two.

I would try jump start and see what you get.
aggieforester05
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moore42 said:

I had issues with that red top on that truck prior to selling it. I am pretty sure it was replaced under warranty, but I dont trust them at all, especially when the truck would sit for a day or two.

I would try jump start and see what you get.
Yeah, I got them to replace it under warranty shortly after I bought it from you. That battery would still allow the truck to turn over though or at least a continuous click. This seems to be a different symptom. I'll try to jump start it tonight though to rule that out.
JP76
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Try an alternative key

I have also seen a loose starter cable cause this issue on a 4Runner.

KY AG
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Sounds like ground cable.

If it happens again, disconnect the battery and then reconnect again. I bet it starts right up. Could be a relay or starter, but my money is on the cable having a poor connection.
Silvy
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Starter hitting flexplate, but not enough power to spin it. Check to make sure connections are solid & clean at battery & starter.
1agswitchin4lanes
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Does it start in neutral?
FC12
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It's your starter. Trust me on this. Mine did the same thing. They just flat out **** the bed randomly. Pony up $900 for the replacement/labor.
FC12
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Read up on Tundra Forums, etc. it will start sometime and sometimes not. That is your warning. All the dash lights will come on but it will just give you the single click.
Furlock Bones
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how is a starter 900 bucks?
FC12
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Part plus labor. Read up on where it is located on the 5.7 Tundra.
aggieforester05
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Sorry I haven't responded in awhile. I had a late meeting and didn't get a chance to troubleshoot. No it won't start in neutral. I'm going to test the voltage at the starter when I can get under it to eliminate the cable possibility. I'm thinking it's the starter though. From what I've read, if you take it to the dealer it's $450 for the starter and $700-$800 in labor since it's in a terrible place. I guess my weekend will be spent on a creeper. On RockAuto, there are several remans in the $100 - $150 range and then AC delco is $350 bucks. Is it really worth the extra for the AC Delco?
Silvy
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Easily accessible on a LS...
aggieforester05
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Also easily accessible on my Mustang, I had to take it off while installing the headers. It seems like just about everything but spark plugs is more difficult on the Toyota. They don't break often, but when they do it's going to be a pita and expensive.
1agswitchin4lanes
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I've done this on a Lexus LS460L. This is the worst starter replacement ever.

Probably better on a truck, but on the LS460, I had to remove control arms, exhaust manifold, motor mount, oil dipstick tube. Took me almost 6 hours to replace the starter on it.
aggie_wes
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All I can offer is to start with the easy and cheap stuff first.

1. Check your connections at the battery. Clean and lube if corroded. Tighten if loose.

2. If that doesn't work, get your battery tested.

3. If that is good, get your alternator tested.

4. If 1-3 don't fix it, then I would start to dig into the starter issue.
coolerguy12
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aggie_wes said:

All I can offer is to start with the easy and cheap stuff first.

1. Check your connections at the battery. Clean and lube if corroded. Tighten if loose.

2. If that doesn't work, get your battery tested.

3. If that is good, get your alternator tested.

4. If 1-3 don't fix it, then I would start to dig into the starter issue.


Please get your battery tested before doing all that work. My 4Runner would start randomly with the exact same symptoms and I replaced the starter twice before checking the battery. Huge pain in my ass. First replacement was thanksgiving morning.
KY AG
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aggieforester05 said:

Sorry I haven't responded in awhile. I had a late meeting and didn't get a chance to troubleshoot. No it won't start in neutral. I'm going to test the voltage at the starter when I can get under it to eliminate the cable possibility. I'm thinking it's the starter though. From what I've read, if you take it to the dealer it's $450 for the starter and $700-$800 in labor since it's in a terrible place. I guess my weekend will be spent on a creeper. On RockAuto, there are several remans in the $100 - $150 range and then AC delco is $350 bucks. Is it really worth the extra for the AC Delco?


If you buy a starter, go Denso only. I bought an Oreilly reman for my '05 Tundra and it crapped the bed after 3 weeks. So I had to go through the whole rigamorale again. I bought a Denso off Amazon, worked perfectly.
moore42
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silverado_lover said:

Easily accessible on a LS...
Not with LT headers (at least on the vette)
moore42
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aggieforester05 said:

I guess my weekend will be spent on a creeper.
Sounds like a good weekend

Mine started last night under the vette reinstalling the drivetrain. Im getting too good at this.
dubi
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Quote:

Please get your battery tested before doing all that work. My 4Runner would start randomly with the exact same symptoms and I replaced the starter twice before checking the battery. Huge pain in my ass. First replacement was thanksgiving morning.
Heck after a couple of years in the Texas heat, i just buy a new battery.
coolerguy12
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aggieforester05
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Well I went through all of the trouble shooting I could do last night without access to the physical starter. The relay, fuses, battery and cables are all working at least before the starter terminations. It won't jump start, start in neutral and there is a good ground connection. I pulled the wheel off and the heat shielding to reveal the location of the starter. I'm going to have to pull the passenger exhaust manifold just to be able to see more than about 1 square inch of the starter from the side. The shock tower is right in front of the exhaust manifold. I have no idea how I'm going to get all of the bolts loose, much less tighten them back down with a torque wrench. To complicate things, my second cats were replaced with exhaust cutouts and i can no longer unbolt the exhaust manifold and first cat per the procedure. From my research in the past, many performance shops won't install LT headers on these 4x4 trucks because the passenger side is such a pita to access. I actually think the starter itself won't be that bad to access from the bottom once I get the exhaust manifold out of the way. I'm about to go out and see if I can get it out of there.

This is all I can see of the starter from the side:



Front:



Bottom/Rear:

FC12
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That is exactly why I just said screw it and paid a shop $900 for parts and labor.
aggieforester05
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It did not go well. Since my exhaust no longer has the flange behind the cats, I ended up having to cut the exhaust off right behind the cats. Of course one of my cuts got terribly off course right after a hot shard managed to navigate around my safety glasses and on the lip of my eyelid.

Prior to making the cut, I had already removed the muffler and all the hangers going forward trying to get the exhaust out without cutting. I need to replace my cats anyway because they were completely hollow and I'm pretty sure the guts are all in my resonator and muffler, which is why my truck sounds like a wet fart right now. I already have some magnaflow high flow cats that I was planning to put on and this has given me a good excuse to do so. So I'm going to just trailer the exhaust system to a shop and see if they can weld on the new cats and some flanges, so I can put the exhaust system back on in place. Otherwise I'm going to have to get it towed to a shop and I don't own a welder.

After that I decided to attack the exhaust manifold. I got about three nuts off and then stripped one out behind the shock tower. So that is going to be a lot of fun to get off.

Really tempted to just order some headers and a new cat back, but not sure if I really want to tackle the driver's side with the front drive shaft in the way. It's also a lot of money, but I hate putting crap components back in. Probably not going to happen because of time and financial constraints right now.
aggieforester05
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I didn't get to work on the truck this week, because I had to concentrate on my business, but I did get these in the mail this morning. JBA ceramic coated long tube headers from Underground Racing. This should greatly simplify my mid pipe reinstall even though it's going to be a pita to install the driver's side header. I should be able to band clamp the cats to the collector pipes, then cut the mid pipes to length and band clamp them to the cats to get it to an exhaust shop and welded up. That will eliminate having to reinstall 02 bungs on the midpipe as well since they'll plug right into the rear cats after going through 02 sims (on their way here).

The brake rotors and pads are R1 Concepts E-Line Series with cross drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads. Hopefully these won't warp like my current rotors. I've had these for awhile and just haven't had time to install it, but I'm going to do it now while it's all torn apart. I'm running the same setup on my wife's ecoboost Flex and the brake feel is a huge improvement over the stockers.

Lastly, I wanted to get the best starter I could buy, since it's such a pita to access. The only local starters I could find were all reman and the only brand I recognized was duralast, but i'm sure it's just rebranded crap from a no name company in Asia. I called the stealership and they wanted $511 for a starter and were going to have to order one (seriously how does a toyota dealership not have 5.7L starters in stock?). The only other starters I could find that weren't remans were off brands on rock auto and the duralast gold. I ended up buying a bosch reman on ebay for $194. I'll feel a little more comfortable putting a bosch product in there, even if it's reman. It's not here yet, but I'll post some pictures of the install when I get it. For now I'm going to go start installing some other goodies.



This is the midpipe they'll connect to:

OnlyForNow
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Was it worth it?
coolerguy12
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What a nightmare. I'll be taking mine to the shop if I ever need a new starter.
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