[baby#yota]

Hi everybody, I’ve found a lot of posts talking about the 4.7 “long crank” but none on the v6, I’m looking for some advice. Twice now in the past two weeks I’ve gone to start my truck (I use the bump key feature a lot) and as I was putting on my seatbelt I noticed the engine was still cranking away. I pulled the key out and tried again, it started but cranked a few seconds and spluttered for a second then ran fine. I checked on my scan tool and saw 2-3 misfires and a few cylinders which explains the splutter for half a second….WEIRD. The truck cranks longer than others sometimes usually when hot but never enough to make me second guess it. This weird long crank has happened 2x now and once it’s running will fire up fine. What’s perplexing is I have no codes for anything and I can’t recreate it. Once it did it when it was 23 degrees out and today it’s 60 and it did it. The only time I have ever logged a misfire is at startup and it’s very rare, I have only had this truck 6 months so the plugs may be ancient, IDK. My only thought were maybe an issue with the chip key, fuel filter, or just old plugs. Thoughts???

[AuSeeker]

You haven't mentioned how many miles you have on the 4Runner?

It's very possible that the plugs need to be replaced, there are many here that when after purchasing a 4Runner and decide to change the plugs discover that even with some having 100,000+ miles and in some cases even many more miles that it still has the original plugs installed from the factory, it's easy to tell this with the V6 because it came from the factory with 2 different brands of plugs, Denso in one bank and NGK in the other, what is amazing about this is the V6 plugs should be changed at around every 30,000 miles but these trucks just keep running perfectly for the most part even with worn out plugs so most that aren't mechanically incline don't even think about the plugs being bad unless it starts running bad so many 4Runners are out there still with the original spark plugs, so just for piece of mind if you don't have any evidence of the plugs being changed in the last 30,000 miles I would changed them.

That being said it could also be that the MAF sensor needs to be cleaned or replaced, could be a few other things but those 2 are where I would start, first the plugs since they should be changed when needed and then if needed or even if not needed clean the MAF sensor since it's a maintenance item, but wait and see if the new plugs solve the issue before doing the MAF sensor so you know what truly caused the issue, if the problem stills persists then I would research other possibilities that could cause the issue.

[baby#yota]

I should also add that tonight after starting it up my traction, ABS VSC light popped on, this too happens from time to time for no apparent reason and goes away with a restart. I might be smoking crack but could there be a correlation between the shift position sensor triggering the dash lights and an extended crank? Could be two completely separate issues but both come and go seemingly as they please.

[baby#yota]

Originally Posted by AuSeeker

You haven't mentioned how many miles you have on the 4Runner?

It's very possible that the plugs need to be replaced, there are many here that when after purchasing a 4Runner and decide to change the plugs discover that even with some having 100,000+ miles and in some cases even many more miles that it still has the original plugs installed from the factory, it's easy to tell this with the V6 because it came from the factory with 2 different brands of plugs, Denso in one bank and NGK in the other, what is amazing about this is the V6 plugs should be changed at around every 30,000 miles but these trucks just keep running perfectly for the most part even with worn out plugs so most that aren't mechanically incline don't even think about the plugs being bad unless it starts running bad so many 4Runners are out there still with the original spark plugs, so just for piece of mind if you don't have any evidence of the plugs being changed in the last 30,000 miles I would changed them.

That being said it could also be that the MAF sensor needs to be cleaned or replaced, could be a few other things but those 2 are where I would start, first the plugs since they should be changed when needed and then if needed or even if not needed clean the MAF sensor since it's a maintenance item, but wait and see if the new plugs solve the issue before doing the MAF sensor so you know what truly caused the issue, if the problem stills persists then I would research other possibilities that could cause the issue.

Thanks Seeker, I’ll get plugs tomorrow. Also the truck has 220k on it

[Jakeepoo3]

Originally Posted by baby#yota

Thanks Seeker, I’ll get plugs tomorrow. Also the truck has 220k on it

Just check the inputs(sensors) related to the ignition/timing, and air fuel ratio systems after looking at the plugs and injectors. Any of these inputs can trigger a misfire code. Crank position, cam position, maf, iac. Usually it's as simple a cleaning the sensors. Crud and metal particles can throw the sensors off causing intermittent issues. Make sure it's not bad first obviously with multimeter. At 100000 miles I cleaned all these sensors and throttle body all at the same time and relearned the truck afterwards to tell the computer the sensors are clean and not to run like shit anymore. Huge difference in performance and gas mileage. You need to do this maintenance anyways and you'll find the issue.

[baby#yota]

Just a quick correction, when I said misfire I didn’t get a misfire code I was just watching misfire counts on my scan tool. Most I got was 1 or 2 on a few cylinders. The stumble after that long crank made me check the monitors, it never misfires normally. It’s just odd that it does it when it long cranks.

[baby#yota]

Yesterday I picked up NGK plugs and some MAF cleaner from the parts store. I replaced the plugs and noted that the old plugs were Bosch double plat and looked pretty good. After the plugs, and MAF cleaning AND a ecm reset the struck fired up better and seemed to have more balls when accelerating. However this morning on cold start it still missfired 2 times right as it started, CYL2. No CEL still just watching monitors on my scan tool. I’ve read that usually cyl 4 and 6 are the culprits of a head gasket issue so I haven’t completely ruled that out but I think it’s unlikely as I have no other symptoms. I also looked into fuel pumps and found that Toyota does not have an inline pressure test port…wonderful. Not sure if I want to drop $100 on a denso pump just for a theory. Does anyone have a service procedure for checking the fuel pump voltages and resistance?