2012 Toyota Sienna Starting

I really hope someone will be able to provide some insight. 2012 base sienna. 2 months ago I was left stranded bc she wouldn’t start. Starting the car I would get a single click noise and then nothing. I ended up replacing both starter and battery. Now it is doing it again. I removed both the starter and the battery, I had them tested and they both had no problems on the bench (both are 2 months old). Put them back in and the car still won’t start, not even with boosters or jumps. Wiring looks clean. I get 12.6V at the terminal of the starter. I took the starter out while leaving it wired to see what it is doing, and when I try to start the car the pinion comes out but the starter does not spin. I saw it spin moments before at the autozone. If it were a fuse or relay i would assume i wouldnt be getting 12V at the terminal.

the pinion comes out but the starter does not spin.

This is a problem with the starter, most likely the starter’s solenoid: the disc on the end of the plunger is not making solid contact with the copper contacts. If you try multiple times you will probably get sporadic results. It wouldn’t be the first time a new or rebuilt starter is not reliable.

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I must have tried over 20 times, between trying to get the car jumped and trying to knock the starter a bit and alwasy the same result. Thats when i took the starter i replaced 2 months ago and got a different one. Installed it, and it did the same thing. so i took it out, took it to get tested and it worked on the bench the first time. I installed it back into the car and still nothing.

Is it possible that even though i get 12V at the starter that there is something wrong with the wire that would cause it to not start?

If the battery cable is not connected to the starter and only the solenoid wire is connected the starter drive will engage but the starter motor won’t turn. Make sure there is 12 volts at the cable stud on the starter when cranking.

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Good looking wires doesn’t mean they’re good. 12.6 volts at starter doesn’t mean wires are good. Do a voltage drop test. Start with fully charged battery. Using a digital volt meter put red lead on battery plus and black lead on the positive terminal on the starter. Crank and If you get more than .5 volts you have a bad positive cable. Check the negative cable the same way. Put the red lead on battery negative and the black lead an the starter casing, crank, if you have over .5 volts your negative cable is bad.