Trouble Starting, Turns Over, Have to hit the gas start

[elibbitha]

I've got a 2000 4Runner:

• 130K miles
• New battery
• 30k+ since I changed the cap, rotor, plugs, and wires.
• Have not had the timing belt changed, although I know its due.

It has always run great, never had any problems starting until a few weeks ago. It will intermittently have starting problems about 1-2 days a week. Haven't seen any pattern yet: different times of the day, warm days, cold days, cold starts, and hot starts.

Symptoms:
Turn the key it kicks over (strongly, new battery), but won't fire up.
You can do this repeatedly and it won't fire up.
If you hit the gas while its kicking over, it will fire up.

Any thoughts? I want to say its the in the fuel system (MAF, Fuel Pump, Fuel filter...).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[shootmymime]

easy way to test the fuel pump is to listen for it. have your door open and turn the key to on but dont start it. you should hear the fuel pump add pressure to the system for a few seconds. a tip. if you do it multiple times you might not hear anything because its already pressurized.


pull a spark plug and see if your getting spark. im sure you are since it dosnt relate much to the throttle being pressed.

 

[BlackCat914]

easy way to test the fuel pump is to listen for it. have your door open and turn the key to on but dont start it. you should hear the fuel pump add pressure to the system for a few seconds. a tip. if you do it multiple times you might not hear anything because its already pressurized.


pull a spark plug and see if your getting spark. im sure you are since it dosnt relate much to the throttle being pressed.

A fuel pump will prime no matter how many times you cycle the key, but it has no relation to how much pressure it is able to push. Matting the gas pedal all the way to the floor cuts fuel to the injectors. You have no distributor cap and rotor.

 

[elibbitha]

So it happened today. Got in the car, fired up with no problems, we drove to the store (60 deg. outside, 2 miles). 20 minutes later, had starting problems on the way back. I posted this question when we got back.

So, here we are a few hours later, it started up just fine, no problems. It's getting spark, and I can here the pump. (but this is without the intermittent symptoms)

A fuel pump will prime no matter how many times you cycle the key, but it has no relation to how much pressure it is able to push. Matting the gas pedal all the way to the floor cuts fuel to the injectors.

So when it starts doing this, you can crank away and it won't fire. It wants to start, you can here it just barely start. It studders for a split second, you let off the key, then it dies right away. But if you give it some gas (pedal 1/4-1/2 way to the floor) it'll fire up and then it runs fine. So we're not going all the way to the floor. Sorry, were you trying to say here there's a problem with the pump? Or that me hitting the pedal isn't actually doing anything? (I apologize if I'm a little dense)

You have no distributor cap and rotor.

haha, too right you are. Caught me, it's my girlfriends car, she mentioned she had the 100k mile maintenance done. I didn't do the work myself, I just assumed from my experience with older cars. I haven't worked on anything newer than my '91 chevy (specifically no fuel injection or cars w/o caps and rotors).

 

[SJC]

Mine is doing the same thing.

 

[t4runner604]

Had this problem.. clean your iac. Fixed my problem.

 

[BlackCat914]

So it happened today. Got in the car, fired up with no problems, we drove to the store (60 deg. outside, 2 miles). 20 minutes later, had starting problems on the way back. I posted this question when we got back.

So, here we are a few hours later, it started up just fine, no problems. It's getting spark, and I can here the pump. (but this is without the intermittent symptoms)



So when it starts doing this, you can crank away and it won't fire. It wants to start, you can here it just barely start. It studders for a split second, you let off the key, then it dies right away. But if you give it some gas (pedal 1/4-1/2 way to the floor) it'll fire up and then it runs fine. So we're not going all the way to the floor. Sorry, were you trying to say here there's a problem with the pump? Or that me hitting the pedal isn't actually doing anything? (I apologize if I'm a little dense)



haha, too right you are. Caught me, it's my girlfriends car, she mentioned she had the 100k mile maintenance done. I didn't do the work myself, I just assumed from my experience with older cars. I haven't worked on anything newer than my '91 chevy (specifically no fuel injection or cars w/o caps and rotors).

I'd look into cleaning the throttle blade and the IAC (idle air control) valve. In addition to that, I'd also make sure your fuel pressure regulator isn't leaking. I mostly associate a leaking FPR with hot re-starts, meaning it'll start fine cold, but has an issue re-starting after sitting for a few minutes after a drive to the store. It does sound like a fuel issue though.

 

[elibbitha]

Awesome thanks guys! I'll check both the IAC and FPR. I'm gonna have to wait til next weekend though. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[KTM311racer]

Awesome thanks guys! I'll check both the IAC and FPR. I'm gonna have to wait til next weekend though. I'll let you know what happens.

This is an old thread, but I didn't see where you responded with what the problem turned out to be. I am having the exact same issue on a 97' and I would love to know what fixed yours.

Thanks!

 

[elibbitha]

Wow, sorry, forgot about this.

Unfortunately I don't have a good answer for you. The problem just resolved itself after a couple weeks.

I was going to try cleaning the IAC, just never got around to it. A couple weeks later the problem went away. Maybe it was bad gas? Happens to me all the time ...

I'd try the IAC suggestion.

Best of luck.

 

[KTM311racer]

OK....thank you for getting back on here though. I will try cleaning the IAC and see what happens.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Props to the OP for replying to a three year old thread......