I have a 99 Tacoma 4x4 v6 automatic that has an intermittent starting problem. It will start the first crank most of the time, but at some point during the week I will get in and get NOTHING from the starter.
I hear a relay click from near the fuse box, but it is otherwise silent under the hood. The battery has checked out (even tried a different battery, no change), all dash lights come on, no error code on OBD code reader found. Checked with meter and voltage to the starter.
Here is where it gets strange!
If I disconnect the battery terminal for a minimum of 15-20 minutes, and reconnect, the starter turns on the first crank! Anybody have any ideas what could cause this?

Id suspect its the starter solenoid.

i AGREE WITH BAKEMONO

Thanks for the replies.

I agree it could be the solenoid since I get no sound from anything near the starter. But why does unhooking the battery affect this? This happened first about September last year (once). It didn't appear again until Memorial Day weekend this year (two days in a row!). Total of eight times and counting so far.
Starter WILL NOT work until the battery is disconnected and allowed to set more than 15 minutes (tried it at 5 and 10 min, no start). Is there a capacitor that must discharge to reset?
This part of it has me stumped!

I think I've ruled out the starter solenoid, but it gets stranger still!

I noticed it only seemed to do this on hot days, 85 degrees + in the afternoon. We had a stretch of 90+ days last week,so I decided to see if it was temperature under the hood or in the cab. It seems to be inside cabin heat.
The first 4 days when I parked it at work I left the windows rolled down and it started every time. On
Friday I kept the windows up and parked it where the sun would hit it. When I got in it at lunch, it was hot inside and it wouldn't start again! I did nothing but roll the windows down and let it set until 5:00 and it started just fine! The previous "fix" of disconnecting the battery may have been a coincidence since I was rolling the windows down to let the heat out while I let it set.

I'm thinking now it has to be either the ignition switch or a marginal component on the ECU.

I still haven't taken it in for the frame rust recall, so if it doesn't pass, fixing this problem may be a moot point!

this sounds kind of dum but check your all your grounds!

I am getting a similar thing. I wonder if its related.
Starting up on super hot days here (utah so its about 98-100) it will suck so much juice to crank over that my theft deterent will honk the horn. In the cool of the morning its starts like a champ.

I am going to pay more attention if its worse when the cab is hotter or if its just ambient temperature. I also checked the battery and it was fine. I was going to replace it for good measure but maybe i will hold off now.