Weird starting issue
 

Hey Everyone,
I have an issue starting that has happened 3 times now. What happens is, I turn the key and the starter turns over normally but doesnt ignite. It eventually times out and stops or I turn it off to stop it from turning over. Each time, I have been able to start it by flooring the gas pedal, holding it down and turning the ignition.
The 2004 4Runner has only around 55,000 miles on it b/c commute into NYC by train. The bulk of my driving is done on the weekends. Sometimes only on the weekends so I dont rack up much. It's the 6cyl Sport and is in otherwise good shape.

This has only happened 3 times in the last month or 2 but the last 2 times were today and a week ago so I'm getting scared of getting stranded somewhere.

ANY idea what this could be?!

Dan

Not sure about your issue, Dan, but if you don't get a reply here, you might want to try the Yotatech forum--lots of activity and good advice there. Just on general knowledge, I would check your fuel filter for clogging, and maybe do a fuel injection cleaning (both a tank additive and a spray for the intake). All that inactivity may be gumming things up. Flooring it to start is basically to overcome flooding from all the cranking (and as a rule of thumb, you should never engage a starter for more than a few seconds at a time, or you'll fry it). Good luck!

Thanks Bob! I didnt see if there was a fuel filter that I could get to. The maint manual that I purchased doesnt even mention replacing one for general maint... unless I overlooked it! :confused:

Your fuel filter is most likely in-line, somewhere along the inside of the frame rail between the tank and the engine. I can't promise you anything, but I always start with the simplest things first--filters are often the culprit of odd problems that seem to come and go, and they're a lot cheaper than shop labor rates for diagnostics!

That's for sure!

It appears that the filter is in the tank! I guess there's no changing that if it's true.

Yep, you are correct! I did some digging, and yours is definitely in the tank. That's just bizarre--filters are supposed to be a regular maintenance item--no one's going to pull their tank just to change a filter. Well, as the saying goes...neeext! If you don't come up with any better answers, then I would consider the injector cleaning--it's beneficial even if it doesn't fix the starting issue. Best of luck!

Yeah, kind of makes you scratch your head. I also wonder why they put 1/2 of the spark plugs in a place that makes you have to take 1/2 the engine apart!?!
Thanks for your help!

vsc light now
 

So I took the 4Runner to a local mechanic and had him replace the spark plugs. They are a pain for me to do and I was pressed on time. I had him run the diagnostics to see if anything came up for the starting issue.
Nothing did. I picked the truck up and as I was driving home, the VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights came and stayed on. He claimed they were there when I brought it in but that's simply no the case!
I found this link in case it helps any one else. I havent tried it yet, however. Should I get a OBD2 reader? Do some of the cheaper ones allow you to do a zero point calibration?
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/proble...libration.html

it worked!
 

status update: the vsc trac issue is now fixed by following the zero point calibration link.