Yaris 1.3 VVti 2006 No crank No start

[markanders46]

Hi Folks,

I'd been having what I presume to be Battery trouble with my Yaris. I went to drive it one day last week and the car wouldn't start. All the lights, radio, fan blower etc. worked, but the car wouldn't turn over. There was no clicking noises or even any lazy attempt by the car to turn over.

I imagined it might be the Battery as I'd flattened it the week before by leaving an interior light on overnight, and maybe since that occurred I hadn't done enough miles to recharge it properly.

A friend was good enough to come down and give me a jump again after I'd previously flattened it, and so this time I gave it a good run for an hour to recharge the Battery. The next day the car started no problem. I had a journey of about twenty minutes to do, so off I went, upon returning to the car ten minutes later the car wouldn't start again, silence upon turning the key. I was on a hill, so managed to bump it. As you can imagine by now I'm starting to think the battery is goosed. 

I was fortunate enough to get a jump again, but this time the friend brought a voltmeter. Before jumping it he tested the battery at the terminals. It was showing 12.4. After he jumped the car he tested the alternator with the voltmeter as he said maybe the alternator was no longer working. The alternator test showed 14.24 under no load, and about 13.78 if i remember correctly under load. He thought the the battery may have a dead cell so suggested a new battery. One thing that perplexed him, was that after he jumped my battery he restarted my car under it's own power while connecting the voltmeter and the battery only dropped to about 11.40 or near as. 

I took my friends advice and ordered a new battery and my own voltmeter. The battery has turned up along with the voltmeter. I tested it myself at the terminals using the voltmeter and it's was showing 12.38. I thought it should show 12.6 or higher? (it's the correct battery for my car) Anyway i fitted it to the car in hope, but yet again, silence upon turning the key. Lights, radio and blower are all working as normal. So I now assume it's not a battery problem.

What I've managed to test so far:

Alternator appears fine as above

I've now tested the fuses in the car engine bay using the voltmeter, they all appeared ok,

I've used a jump lead from the negative battery terminal to the engine block to rule out a bad ground connection, but that didn't change anything.

I did mange to do a starter motor ground test someone showed on youtube by connecting the black probe of my multimeter to the negative battery terminal, and the red probe to the starter motor body. I got the continuity beeping noise from the multimeter, but not at all points I put it on, but there was loads of heavy dust on the starter. I haven't tested see the power feed to the starter as it's obscured and at the back of the engine. I hope to do that later today when i get a hand from a friend. Is there an easy way to access the starter on a 2006 1.3vvti engine? I'm needing to get my arm all the way in just to touch it. Seems a right git to get to.

One thing I did notice tough, was that when i crank the engine, when i move to the front of the car, i can hear a whirring like sound, it appears to be coming from the from the firewall area near the ignition. I'll try upload a video.

Does anybody have any other suggestions i can try whilst waiting on my friend to help me get to this starter motor/ Or does anybody have a suggestion that stands out to them immediately as being a problem they recognize being a yaris owner?

I have limited knowledge of car mechanics, but i'm willing to give anything a go to get the car back running.

If you're wondering why I haven't took it to a garage, a recent illness has had me give up my job, and the funds just aren't available like they were previously. So I'll need to start learning myself if I'm to fix this.

 

 

[Stevie J]

It may be a faulty clutch pedal switch. On the Mk2 manual models, you have to have the clutch pedal fully down before the starter will engage. If the pedal switch becomes faulty or out of adjustment, full depression of the clutch pedal may not engage the switch, and the starter will not engage when the key is turned. Checking the switch for correct function is the first thing I would do. Its located at the top of the clutch pedal under the dashboard, and operates only when the pedal is fully depressed.

[markanders46]

Thanks for that StevieJ I had tried pushing the switch in manually whilst turning the key, but nothing happened. I'l try locate the wiring for this switch and see how i can test this.  I imagine my problem is electrical in nature. It drives fine one day, next time, no start or cranking.

[Stevie J]

Let us know what you find - when you think how often that clutch switch is operated, every time you change gear pressing the clutch pedal, it would be of little surprise that it could one day fail, just like the brake light switch can, resulting in the brake lights not working, or being on all the time if the switch sticks open. The clutch pedal switch is effectively part of the starter motor circuit, and if it becomes intermittently faulty, the starter would, as you make out, sometimes not operate, but sometimes still work. Of course, if the switch and its wiring test out OK, then the starter solenoid could well be failing, and in that case, the starter motor would need attention, or replacement.