So my 4runner has 364k miles and I just put a 100k engine in it last week. Runs great, idles perfect and seems to have a little less power than my older engine (not the reason for this thread but I found it strange...)

The first crank in the morning always took a few seconds to start the truck... Nothing too serious but my plan is to drive this thing into some pretty remote locations and I want to make sure it won't leave me stranded. Even after I replaced the engine and fuel pump it still takes a few seconds to start most mornings.

I even have a remote start alarm on it and when I try to start it remotely the first crank won't start and then the alarm system will pause for about 5 seconds and then try again and then it starts every time.

Any ideas?

All grounds clean and tight? Battery terminals? Any codes?

Truthfully I haven't checked ALL the grounds... Battery terminals are good. No codes

I'm at 304k and I've had the same issue for a couple years now. Ive done the fuel pump with OEM, and filter also, my only thoughts on the matter are 1: the fuel pump harness in the tank has a high resistance and the pump is slow to start, or 2: The fuel pressure regulator is allowing the pressure to "bleed down" below spec and causing the extended crank. It must be a 5vz thing because I've known many to have the issue for years.

I too have been having this issue for a few years. Try little Caesar’s advice. I had done the big 3 upgrade so I assumed my grounds were fine, they may have been, but after checking them I found I could get a little turn to the fasteners. I tightened them up and also pulled the ecu fuses and recleaned the terminals.Now my long start is not nearly as Bad. I haven’t been driving much lately, but I start it each day and it is better. My .02

The fuel pump should run for a couple seconds in the key on position just before start. If you suspect the pressure is bleeding down after it sits a while, turn the key on, let the pump cycle, then off and on again before you start.

Usually I have found that the culprit to a slow start is a loose or bad electrical connection, stemming from either someone who has been under the hood and forgotten to reconnect something or corrosion has built up on a ground or even between connectors over time, though you don’t see many instances of the latter with the 3rd gen.

As far as fuel goes, I cannot recall ever reading about an FPR failing so to speak; I know that on the 4cyl they can leak. Nothing beats a reading from a fuel pressure gauge to ensure that one is within spec, though unfortunately I can’t say off the top of my head what those specs are.

Well I can't let this go! I'm going to have a tech at work (I'm a service advisor at a GM dealership) look at it. It's driving me crazy. The most annoying part is that it's intermittent. It especially bothers me because I just put a engine in this thing and it's still doing it.

Are the injectors clean?

Try cycling the key to on a few times before you start it to pressurize the fuel system


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I have this issue too-
To be clear, it's not a slow to turn over type situation. The truck turns over strong.

It just turns over for a good 10seconds before catching.

A tech at work thinks it is the way Toyota programmed the ECUs (he mentioned fuel enrichment)

My FPR failed at 132k on my 5VZFE. I had never heard of another failing either, so I felt confident in buying a used one off eBay for $30. 60k miles later and still going strong.

Symptoms included:
-Long crank time
-Sometimes wouldn't start without foot on the gas pedal
-Sometimes stalled instantly right after starting, unless I punched the gas
-Couldn't floor it without stalling (made freeway merging scary)

The biggest indicator that it was the FPR was that the intake silencer baffle (what people remove to do their ISR mode) was full of fuel. There's a vacuum line that leads from the baffle to the FPR, and when the FPR started failing, it started dumping fuel through that vacuum line into the baffle.

I think that the FPR is pretty much just a spring loaded check valve, nothing fancy. I'm surprised more don't fail more often, especially at higher mileage. I guess the spring gave out on mine, so it started letting the fuel through the wrong port.


Bit of a ***** to get to, though.
Learn from me, if it IS the FPR, invest in a right angle impact driver, like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauke...7-20/206099123
or this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-R...-203867866-_-N
It's held on with those little brass screws that strip if you look at them wrong, and then you have to tear the whole top of the engine down and remove the fuel rail to get to it.
The impact driver will make short work of those screws without stripping them.

That is the first one I have heard of. It is real easy to check for FPR failure as long as one can reach the vacuum line. If one sees gas or even smells it, then the FPR isn't long for the world in some cases but may last for years (this applies only to the vacuum line holding fumes concerning the latter).

If not sure a fuel pressure gauge with the banjo bolt connected to the rail will eliminate guesswork.

Mine has started within a second every time for twenty years FWIW.

OP, were you able to find the culprit of your issue? Mine is starting to do the same thing.

Following ....

I agree with Little Caesar that is probably a poor electrical connection, most likely a ground. This is a closed loop system so the grounds are equally as important as the power side for everything to work correctly. The starter motor is by far and away the biggest draw on the ground side, so if the ground is maxed out all the other sensor and computer functions will be compromised. Make sure the ground from the back of the engine to the firewall is good. Its possible it was not replaced after the engine swap. On my old tacoma that i sold I ran an extra ground from the battery to the frame and then to the engine block. This cut down on my starting time a good bit