Apparently, My truck is trying to kill itself

Factual Questions
1

(cross-posted from another forum)

I was woken up about 15 minutes ago by the sound of a loud crash from my garage. I rushed out and found my truck (a 1993 Toyota T-100) has crashed into the garage door from outside (I now can’t shut the garage door, as it knocked the door jamb out of alignment on one side). The truck sounded like it was trying to turn over, but there was no one in it, the key wasn’t in the ignition, and the doors were all locked. I HAD left in in first gear when I last drove it (6 hours earlier), and hadn’t put on the parking brake. I put it in neutral, and it rolled away from the garage. It appears that the battery’s now drained, and there is still an electrical ‘noise’ coming from under the hood, near the firewall on the passenger side. Any ideas on what could have caused this bizarre incident?

2

Maybe check to see if Earth is currently stuck in the tail of a comet.

Are you sure the truck was trying to kill itself and not you?!?

On a more serious note, it sounds like an electrical issue. But on a '93 I can’t imagine what would cause the starter to engage. Pull the cable off the battery, set the parking brake and get in there and see if maybe a critter chewed through some wires.

3

Is it very cold there?

One of my friends once told me a similar story and all the men-folk gathered around and claimed that intense cold can cause stuff like this.

I had my doubts at the time (heck, still do) but that is what was decided on.

It might make a fun call into Car Talk on Saturday morning.

4

It was cold a week or so ago, but it was in the 50’s yesterday, with LOTS of rain.

5

I have a hunch your “strange noise” is the starter still trying to start. It’s probably too late, but now would be a good time to disconnect the battery if you haven’t already done so.

Check the starter wiring for damage. If some critter gnawed through the wires it could create a short which would cause the starter to engage.

I had a broken and loose terminal on a starter cause the thing to randomly try and start on occasion once before. The starter and its associated wiring are definitely your prime suspects here.

6

Speaking of Car Talk, I’m pretty sure I heard a similar call within the last year regarding a Porsche parked outside and trying to hurl itself off a small cliff by a similar means. If I’m not mistaken, a squirrel or something had gnawed the starter wiring and caused a short.

7

I remember that and I think you are right. I enjoy the show, although I only hear it when I’m driving on a Saturday morning.

8

I was going to post the same thing. I believe it was rats.

And I agree with everyone else, it sounds like a short in the starter wiring. Maybe from a critter, maybe from something else.

9

I recently discovered that CarTalk and many other NPR shows are PodCast. Now, iTunes delivers them to me automagically so that I can listen to them at my leisure.

As to the starter issue, I would guess that the problem is actually the solenoid. Although the solenoid and starter are probably in the same unit on this vehicle, it is that solenoid that has failed and allowed the contacts to close at inappropriate times.

10

Is your car called Christine?

11

It may be mad at me because I never gave it a name (or, obviously, a gender).

Garage is fixed, truck is in the shop for the starter. Next comes the body shop for the bumper. Time to research shops!

12

So I talked to my mechanic this afternoon, and they think they’ve figured out what happened (and no, it wasn’t demon possession).

It was the windshield.

Or, more specifically, the SEAL around the windshield. It had gone bad after fifteen years, and in the heavy rain we’ve had in the last few days in started to leak - right onto the starter relay, which shorted out, and caused the started to jump to life.