You know the feature where you pretty much just tap the key over to the right, let go, and the 4runner will just start itself? Well on my wife's 2005 V6 4runner limited it has worked fine until a couple thousand miles ago when it started getting very very hesitant. Like it seems like it's just BARELY starting each time. Now if *I* hold the key and crank it up, then it starts fine, but it seems like the auto start 'lets go' about a half a second too soon and the engine ends up stuttering for half a second before it finally 'catches'. I have to imagine if this gets any worse then it just won't auto-start at all, which would be a shame since I really like this feature, and would also concern me that it is indicative of a more serious problem with the starting system?
2005 4Runner 'hesitates' when using the auto-start feature
- Thread starter Threxx~
- Start date
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I will have it checked out next time we're there but the Toyota dealer here is one of those that will try their damndest to just blow you off and give you some excuse as to how they couldn't duplicate the problem or whatever so I'd rather come armed with more info - tell them exactly what the issue likely is caused by, and make sure they fix it.
ALSO.
This is also a minor issue but every license plate bracket and vanity plate type thing she has seen has a very set specific width spacing between the holes... NONE of them match up with the hole spacing on her 4Runner's front bumper. Defective design or what? Anyone else have this issue or heard of it? Some special adaptor we're supposed to buy?
Thanks.
ALSO.
This is also a minor issue but every license plate bracket and vanity plate type thing she has seen has a very set specific width spacing between the holes... NONE of them match up with the hole spacing on her 4Runner's front bumper. Defective design or what? Anyone else have this issue or heard of it? Some special adaptor we're supposed to buy?
Thanks.
Do a search on front license plate to see the previous threads on the topic and solutions.Threxx~ said:This is also a minor issue but every license plate bracket and vanity plate type thing she has seen has a very set specific width spacing between the holes... NONE of them match up with the hole spacing on her 4Runner's front bumper. Defective design or what? Anyone else have this issue or heard of it? Some special adaptor we're supposed to buy?
Thanks.
The plate is not supposed to line up with what looks like the holes in the bumper. You don't need to buy anything, though. See the TSB I posted in this thread:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20559
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20559
sharp4runr
New member
30K+ miles and the auto crank feature still works great in my truck. It's embarrasing when I drive someone else's car and I don't crank the ignition switch when I try to start it. I sit there a second and wonder why it isn't starting, then I realize I'm not in my truck... 
I do that with rental cars all the time..... :bonk:sharp4runr said:30K+ miles and the auto crank feature still works great in my truck. It's embarrasing when I drive someone else's car and I don't crank the ignition switch when I try to start it. I sit there a second and wonder why it isn't starting, then I realize I'm not in my truck...
The TSB sounds like it is saying to drill holes in the plates AND in the car (where the dimples are, inside of the existing holes).... but why both? Why not just in the plate and drill them where the holes are now in the 4Runner?
This probably isn't going to work too well because this plate just happens to be about 1/4" thick on anodized steel - it's very heavy and very sturdy - it's a MS State plate (where she graduated from) and it was like 30 bucks so there's no way we're just gonna toss it.
This probably isn't going to work too well because this plate just happens to be about 1/4" thick on anodized steel - it's very heavy and very sturdy - it's a MS State plate (where she graduated from) and it was like 30 bucks so there's no way we're just gonna toss it.
I wanted to update the situation for you guys. Shortly after creating this thread I paid a little more attention to the symptoms and made some more observations.
It wasn't just the auto-start that was having a hard time. Even if I held the key like you HAVE to on most other cars, it still seemed like it wasn't going to start.
Since I created this thread, the problem continued to get worse and more frequent although it never once didn't start - it just took longer and longer for the starter to get the motor running or for the motor to 'catch' and get to proper idle.
After taking it to the Toyota dealer (who, by the way, kinda pissed me off by telling me that a problem with the starter wasn't a drivability or safety issue until it wouldn't start at all - basically telling me I had to wait for my wife to be stranded in a dark parking lot by herself with a 2005 4runner that wouldn't start, before they would provide a free loaner car to me)
they told me they couldn't duplicate the issue. I anticipated that response too. Despite the fact it was happening to my wife on about every 5th cold start and about every other warm start they said they couldn't duplicate. She went to pick up the 4runner and as she went to start it to leave the dealer it did it again. But it was about to close and she was frustrated so she just left.
They *did* however make a suggestion to us that does not make any sense to me. They said don't use 87 octane - try 89 or 93.
It has only been about a week since we filled it up with 93 octane but it seems to have done the trick!
What I am confused about is that unless I've been misinformed by a number of very car-smart people and even engineers, the LOWER the octane rating of a fuel, the more easily it burns.
Higher octane ratings mean the fuel is more stable, which for higher performance motors with advanced spark timing, high compression ratio combustion chambers, and/or forced induction, among other factors... allows them to make more power. But doing something like putting 100 octane race gas in a stock Honda civic motor if anything will make it slower and less powerful as it will have a hard time fully combusting the fuel at the proper time.
So with that said the only thing I can think of is that our 4runner is having a problem with predetonating fuel (knock/ping) on startup and since the car is in the process of trying to start this delays the start time until the knock sensor is able to compensate by retarding the spark timing - and then it catches.
The higher octane fuel is keeping the problem from occuring on startup.
Now I know or at least I think I remember seeing in our owner's manual that premium fuel was optional and 87 was fine. So if this car was designed to run on 87 and it's not, wouldn't that be a defect? Should the dealer be telling me it's normal?
It wasn't just the auto-start that was having a hard time. Even if I held the key like you HAVE to on most other cars, it still seemed like it wasn't going to start.
Since I created this thread, the problem continued to get worse and more frequent although it never once didn't start - it just took longer and longer for the starter to get the motor running or for the motor to 'catch' and get to proper idle.
After taking it to the Toyota dealer (who, by the way, kinda pissed me off by telling me that a problem with the starter wasn't a drivability or safety issue until it wouldn't start at all - basically telling me I had to wait for my wife to be stranded in a dark parking lot by herself with a 2005 4runner that wouldn't start, before they would provide a free loaner car to me)
they told me they couldn't duplicate the issue. I anticipated that response too. Despite the fact it was happening to my wife on about every 5th cold start and about every other warm start they said they couldn't duplicate. She went to pick up the 4runner and as she went to start it to leave the dealer it did it again. But it was about to close and she was frustrated so she just left.
They *did* however make a suggestion to us that does not make any sense to me. They said don't use 87 octane - try 89 or 93.
It has only been about a week since we filled it up with 93 octane but it seems to have done the trick!
What I am confused about is that unless I've been misinformed by a number of very car-smart people and even engineers, the LOWER the octane rating of a fuel, the more easily it burns.
Higher octane ratings mean the fuel is more stable, which for higher performance motors with advanced spark timing, high compression ratio combustion chambers, and/or forced induction, among other factors... allows them to make more power. But doing something like putting 100 octane race gas in a stock Honda civic motor if anything will make it slower and less powerful as it will have a hard time fully combusting the fuel at the proper time.
So with that said the only thing I can think of is that our 4runner is having a problem with predetonating fuel (knock/ping) on startup and since the car is in the process of trying to start this delays the start time until the knock sensor is able to compensate by retarding the spark timing - and then it catches.
The higher octane fuel is keeping the problem from occuring on startup.
Now I know or at least I think I remember seeing in our owner's manual that premium fuel was optional and 87 was fine. So if this car was designed to run on 87 and it's not, wouldn't that be a defect? Should the dealer be telling me it's normal?
I am now doing a process of elimination just to check other variables. My wife had been using shell 87 octane. This time she used a locally owned no-name station with 93 octane. The no-name 93 octane seemed to fix the problem.
However we changed two variables. The brand of gas and the octane. I told her on her next fill up to go back to shell but get 93 octane this time. If it doesn't start acting up then we've eliminated the brand as the cause and more than likely pointed out the octane.
But with that said I HAVE been using a gasoline additive every other tank or so to keep her fuel system cleaned out. There is the off-chance that the additive was causing the problem and since she tends to fill up kinda early there was still enough additive on the 'every other' tank' to continue to cause the problem. Maybe, just maybe, this tank that she filled up with with 93 octane was close enough to empty that there is no longer enough additive to cause the problem. So to investigate this, if and when we determine the gas BRAND is not the problem, I will add some additive in there again and see if the problem STARTS happening again. If it does not then we have almost 100% confirmed it is a problem caused by 'regular' grade gasoline.
Heh... NP but I despise when I go to search for an issue on a forum only to read a long thread about some guy having a problem.. says he's going to the dealer to figure it out in a couple of days, and that was like 5 months ago with no updates.
However we changed two variables. The brand of gas and the octane. I told her on her next fill up to go back to shell but get 93 octane this time. If it doesn't start acting up then we've eliminated the brand as the cause and more than likely pointed out the octane.
But with that said I HAVE been using a gasoline additive every other tank or so to keep her fuel system cleaned out. There is the off-chance that the additive was causing the problem and since she tends to fill up kinda early there was still enough additive on the 'every other' tank' to continue to cause the problem. Maybe, just maybe, this tank that she filled up with with 93 octane was close enough to empty that there is no longer enough additive to cause the problem. So to investigate this, if and when we determine the gas BRAND is not the problem, I will add some additive in there again and see if the problem STARTS happening again. If it does not then we have almost 100% confirmed it is a problem caused by 'regular' grade gasoline.
jharris2 said:
Heh... NP but I despise when I go to search for an issue on a forum only to read a long thread about some guy having a problem.. says he's going to the dealer to figure it out in a couple of days, and that was like 5 months ago with no updates.
Mark86
Super Moderator
I had that problem on my 2003 V8 sport where it would just barely turn over. I brought it to the dealer and they "checked everything out." Of course, everything was working properly. I then thought I could have been using bad gas. I threw in a little dry gas and then switched brands. The problem seemed to go away after that. What brand of gas are you using?
greasefingers
New member
Do not use any gas additive. They do nothing. Gasoline has several additives in them already. The only time I would use anything in my gas would be if the weather is going to be extremely cold (like single digits F)
I only use 87 octane unless I am traveling with a full load (kids and baggage)
I only use 87 octane unless I am traveling with a full load (kids and baggage)
