1986 Toyota Pickup Loud clunk noise when starting truck

Hi raychris1,

Where noise problems are concerned, it is never easy to diagnose without physically understanding.

A bad flywheel ring gear would always produce a whining noise as if the starter is freewheeling when the engine does not crank. The clunk noise that you mentioned can be anything from a bad starter to a lloosely mounted starter due to loosened bolts.

If it is the starter alone, the engnine should not stall after starting. You would need to check the engine for faults.