Starting issues
 

I've noticed that my ignition (after the first of the day) is often sputtery and doesn't crank over fully. This was happening last year but I attributed it to the head gasket, fuel injectors, etc. Brand new battery in there and my scangauge shows 13.6-13.7 while driving which to me says the alternator's OK. We can rule out fuel injectors, TBI, MAF, battery, fuel filter, bc those are all new or cleaned.

A patient of mine today told me check the IAC, something on the inside of the throttle body that can gunk up. Other than that, I don't really have a good mental flow or where to go to test things.

So the first start up of the day is perfect, then let's say I go to the store and shop for 20 minutes then get back in to leave. That's when it'll sputter for a good 5 seconds before firing up, if it even does. Today leaving work it fired up fine then I stopped somewhere and got in and it sputtered for like 10 seconds, then I shut it off, then immediately cranked it again and it fired up perfectly. The battery icon on the dash does come in and out during this episode if that means anything.

May not be related...the remote start I put in 4 years ago no longer starts the car for me. It used to run perfectly for a year or two then it just won't crank over. I haven't had the care to dive into that.

I've had very similar symptoms, perfect cold starts but hot starts were a struggle. Ended up being a failing fuel pump, previous owner also replaced the stock pump at some point with a cheap aftermarket one.

Right, as Panchro describes, the anti-flowback valve on the fuel pump may be failing at times. When it does, fuel flows back into tank, making the engine crank over longer and the pump work harder to re-pressurize the system and making starts longer at times. Maybe...only way to test for sure is to hook up a pressure guage and let it sit a while to see what it does. Luck.

I agree with the others pressure at the rail. Clean fuel filter and verify the pump. Aftermarket pumps mostly dont last long. :(

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So this is a new OEM filter. What kind of testing would I do for it? You mention a pressure gauge, just get some tubing and splice it in there along the line?

Wait you said at the rail, do you mean the fuel pressure regulator instead of the actual filter?

for lunch today I got in the car to start it up and it struggled a little bit got to a place about 5 minutes on the road got out got my lunch got back in and then it fired up fine. So it's not very consistent with the pattern either

Yeah you can get away with some short trips for a while but say after 20-30 min plus drives the problem gets worse as the engine bay gets hotter.

After a 4 hour trip I stopped at a gas station to fill up, tried starting it up again but she would not turn over. Normally I could wait a few seconds between cranks and pressure would build up enough to get it running again but not this time. Used AAA to bring it to my local toyota shop where I asked them to check the fuel pressure, as suspected weak pressure. Fresh OEM pump went in and I have never seen those symptoms again.

Hope this helps, Good Luck

I red through these replies quickly at lunch. I realized you're talking about the fuel pump and in my mind I was reading fuel filter. So my FILTER is new. OK I'll look into the pump situation. thanks.

And you wouldn't consider the Denso pumps? Doesn't Denso make almost all Toyota parts?

I'm seeing 360 from the dealer, 235-250ish ebay OEM, or Denso 75 new. Even side by side photos are the same.

I'm going to test it first with an ohmmeter per the FSM first.

Yep, Denso is the way to go. "Denso 951-0001 Fuel Pump"

Ok resistance between terminals was 1.2. specs say .2-.3 but that's at 68 degrees F. It about 50 outside. Can I trust that reading?

the next thing in the FSM was to connect to the battery. Nothing happened. But also, I am uncertain of the connection made from my alligator clips to the extension cord wire i made. I could barely get a good resistance reading on the far end of the extension cord. A pump itself isn't too pricey, but it looks like removing the tank is a PITA so I really want to make sure

I had not checked the resistance on mine as part of the troubleshooting. Actually bought a pump with the intention of dropping the tank in my driveway but never got around to it. Pump failed on a road trip back to my hometown so I ended up having a local toyota shop take care of it. They were also able to pressure test the fuel line before the job to make sure that it was a failed pump.

It's too bad the hatch under the rear seat isn't large enough to change the pump without dropping the tank. Good Luck

Im also having this same issue. cold starts are not an issue but sometimes it will start for a second then die immediately almost as if something is wrong with high idle. the sputtering usually comes when the cars hot as described