justcruisin
Lifted
Just wanted to add that when my starter went, it was also intermittent. Extremely frustrating to troubleshoot.
Tacoma Failure
- Thread starter Romer
- Start date
Thats my guess is the starter
or the starter relay
What kind of battery did you replace with, Toyota or aftermarket? Reason I ask is because my wifes 2019 Highlander has been eating Toyota batteries like crazy. We have had to replace it at least four times and each time its replaced under warranty because we purchased through Toyota. My 2024 bZ4x, toyota electric car just crapped out its batter too. I decided to skip Toyota batteries for my electric car and go with a aftermarket.
Some folks say the auto start-stop on the highlanders kill the battery over a short period and there is a know issue with the bZ4x's killing batteries over a few months.
Hopefully Ken this doesn't persist and gets figured out. Hate to see this on new cars.
It is a Toyota Battery
These look like the likely causes from reseraching;
- Battery- Ruled out due to jumping didn’t work and battery voltage was acceptable
- Brake Sensor Switch- Not likely since I could see the brake lights come on
- Neutral Safety Switch- If failed would cause exactly what happened
- Starter Relay- If failed would cause exactly what happened
- Starter- Solenoids have been known to fail intermittently before hard failure and would cause exactly what happened
If they say no I will likely have them do it and then try and work with Toyota to get paid back. I can’t have a vehicle I don’t trust. It is better than selling the truck or letting it sit in the garage. None of these parts are expensive. Then even if it fails again, we will have ruled out quite a bit
Thoughts on that approach?
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Hopefully it's simple like a neutral switch, relay or starter but I wouldn't be surprised to hear it's a software glitch.
Like those links Ray posted, trucks with smart keys and push to start don't work like our old junk where you turn a key to energize the relay that pulls in the solenoid.
The trucks now see you push the start button but this is just another request to the ECU, which checks with various modules before the ECU allows the relay to energize.
I was helping a friend diagnose his 2016 and this is the circuit that powers the starter with a smart key. I'm sure the 2024 is even more convoluted because they added the DCM for telematics and all the over-the-air data communications.
Having access to Techstream is almost mandatory now so you know what the DCM and ECU are doing.
You'll have to lean on your work experience to fix cars now, Ken. Ugh.
Like those links Ray posted, trucks with smart keys and push to start don't work like our old junk where you turn a key to energize the relay that pulls in the solenoid.
The trucks now see you push the start button but this is just another request to the ECU, which checks with various modules before the ECU allows the relay to energize.
I was helping a friend diagnose his 2016 and this is the circuit that powers the starter with a smart key. I'm sure the 2024 is even more convoluted because they added the DCM for telematics and all the over-the-air data communications.
Having access to Techstream is almost mandatory now so you know what the DCM and ECU are doing.
You'll have to lean on your work experience to fix cars now, Ken. Ugh.
Good thought Dave
I did reset the vehicle by disconnecting the battery. Thinking the cooler evening made something stuck loosen up after the heat of driving stuck it in the wrong position. As temps go down mechanical tolerances can get looser as things shrink slightly. At least that is how my mind is wrapping around it.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
That's the maddening part. It could be as simple as the temp swing causing a battery clamp to tighten and loosen. Not enough to totally open the circuit but enough to interrupt high current to the starter. Getting Toyota to dig down to this level of diagnosis is probably going to be as much headache as the problem itself.
@Romer just a suggestion - I have talked to some friends and family recently across different brands who have key fobs that were kept/stored too close to the vehicle, and therefore had been communicating back and forth between fob and vehicle until the fob battery got weak and/or weird and caused multiple no starts. Did you try changing out the fob (for a spare) and changing out the battery? Moving the fob FAR away for a bit and coming back to attempt to start?
The dealer always reported "works for me" type of response and it took ages to finally sort out because it was intermittent. I don't know how the Toyota fobs work, but just in case that rings any bells along the way while you sort it out.
The dealer always reported "works for me" type of response and it took ages to finally sort out because it was intermittent. I don't know how the Toyota fobs work, but just in case that rings any bells along the way while you sort it out.
DanielChase
Rising Sun Member
Have you checked ground wires and performed ECU reset like Ray’s article suggested?
The FOB is ok. It recognized the fob when I was out of the car trying to doa remote start. It recognized it when I triued to start or it would have said no fob detected, that is what happens when you try and start it with an LC FOB
I also held it up to the start button and did the same thing
Where I was, I only had one FOB while I was at the dealer so I was unable to try the 2nd FOB. When this failure first occurred in Dec 2025 and it started working before I got it to thye dealer, I replaced the vehicle battery and the FOB batteries and they are far enough away they don't talk to the vehicle when at home
Yes
They can't recreate it so they can't replace anything under warranty. The tech said the battery was low and I kept explaining that I had to winch myself out of a 2 story parking garage so the tow truck could get me and that would drain the battery with no engine running.
So the 3 most likely causes to me are the Nuetral Safety Switch, Start Relay and the Starter
I am not the kind of person to wait to be stranded again and hope it still fails when the tech gets to it. Twice it healed itself before they got to it.
The video for the Neutral Safety switch replacment on a 2024 Tacoma I posted above made this seem like a hard repair to do on your back in your own garage so I asked them to do that.
Starter relay - easy for me to do. I will order the part
Now the Starter is Interesting. They wanted $750 installed including $360 for part. If I order the part online from them its is $249 which Toyota called MSRP. I called them and they confirmed their over the counter price is higher, but he could discount it to $299
If I order it from Stevinson Toyota East it is $183
If I order it from Sparks Toyota it is $178 including free shipping
All for the same Toyota part from Toyota dealers
I will evaluate the starter
I found this just now, something to save for later
Or I could just wait to see if it fails again after replacing the Nuetral Safety switch and Starter Relay
That is where I am at with this and hopefully it will never fail again
So the 3 most likely causes to me are the Nuetral Safety Switch, Start Relay and the Starter
I am not the kind of person to wait to be stranded again and hope it still fails when the tech gets to it. Twice it healed itself before they got to it.
The video for the Neutral Safety switch replacment on a 2024 Tacoma I posted above made this seem like a hard repair to do on your back in your own garage so I asked them to do that.
Starter relay - easy for me to do. I will order the part
Now the Starter is Interesting. They wanted $750 installed including $360 for part. If I order the part online from them its is $249 which Toyota called MSRP. I called them and they confirmed their over the counter price is higher, but he could discount it to $299
If I order it from Stevinson Toyota East it is $183
If I order it from Sparks Toyota it is $178 including free shipping
All for the same Toyota part from Toyota dealers
I will evaluate the starter
I found this just now, something to save for later
Use the Emergency Start Override
Toyota includes a hidden override mode to bypass brake switch or sensor errors.
- Make sure the truck is fully in Park.
- Keep your foot off the brake pedal.
- Press the start button once for accessory mode, then press it a second time to turn on the dash lights.
- Press down hard on the brake pedal.
- Press and hold the engine start button continuously for 15 to 30 seconds.
Or I could just wait to see if it fails again after replacing the Nuetral Safety switch and Starter Relay
That is where I am at with this and hopefully it will never fail again
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That makes sense
First I understand why they cant find it. I have troubleshot many complex system failures. I am documenting it for the future if I need to take action.
Their test data for the last go round will show my battery heavily discharged , they won't care it was from winching even though I told them it was. I would wager they would try and blame my aftermarket mods for my two radios and the air compressor. Not saying its right, just how I expect it to occur.
IF it fails again, I will take better measurements of the battery, take a video of me trying to start it, show dash lights, show everything I try
I will also try the Emergency start override described above which bypasses all the safety and sensor locks. If it starts here that would show a lot that it is a sensor or some handshaking.
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Just ordered a starter and starter relay from Sparks Toyota. It was $200 less than Autonation wanted
This doesn't look too bad, but bet it has very tight clearances
This doesn't look too bad, but bet it has very tight clearances
was it a similar no start issue?
I'd have to ask again but I think so from memory. I'll shoot him a text today.