[LTek1]

My '97 4Runner has been having increasing difficulty starting. For 6 months, every other time I turned the key, it would just click like the battery was dead. Very rarely, this would actually be accompanied by a dead batter; usually if I just clicked the key a few more times it would eventually turn over powerfully.

Lately, I've been having to start it with a jump box occasionally, with 80% of the attempts resulting in dead-sounding clicks.

As of last week (after sitting for a month while I drive my new Tundra) it no longer starts at all; it WILL start on jumper cables or a jump box, but even after driving a while, it won't start on its own. I replaced the battery a few months ago as I thought it wasn't holding a charge; now I see that there's an inconsistency in the starting / charging system.

Does this truck have a combo starter/alternator? If so, that going bad would certainly seem to explain this inconsistency in being dead vs. simply not turning over?

I'm very mechanically oriented, but have never replaced an alternator before. Is that a simple project in this vehicle?

Should I start with replacing it, or should I take it somewhere to be more thoroughly diagnosed? How much should I spend for a starter / alternator on a '97?