turborich

Thank goodness that mine starts perfect every time. After reading this I'm worried Anyways 155,xxx miles & no issues at all with it not starting every time like a champ. cross my fingers.

except when the fuel pulsation dampener was bad & leaking, for some reason I had to press the accelerator to get it to start. New part & good as always.

mmcpeck

This got put on the back burner for a while, just other things to worry about and the truck always starts and it runs great, so I booted it for a while.

Now that it's winter, it starts better, but only because it cools down faster. If it sits for like 2 hours or more it starts no problem, but still any time between 15 minutes and 2 hours and it will take some cranking to finally turn over, and then it's a slight sputtering and then it recovers it self pretty quickly and is fine.

I've never had any other engines in my life start differently at different times like this, they all start exactly the same every time you turn the key, but these 3VZE's seem to do this to me.

Any ideas what would be affected by temperature and cause a hard start? Keep in mind it's not that it won't start, it's just a hard start.

Any ideas what would be causing it to only do it at certain times? When it's real hot, after running and sitting for 5 minutes, so it's had a hot soak when not running, and is now hotter than operating temp, it starts great. When it's cold as ice, it starts great. When it's somewhere in between it starts like crap....but always starts.

Just trying to figure out what would be that temp sensitive.

Any 3VZE experts??

Thanks.

fireman1559

mine started everytime without a problem. it started with the bump of the key once i droped in a bigger battery

mmcpeck

Fireman, what size battery did you drop in?

This problem is obviously directly related to temperature, and I am really leaning towards it being some type of fuel issue.

I have noticed that if I get into it at a time when I know it will have this starting issue, and I tunr the key ON and let it sit with the ignition ON for 30 seconds or so, it will start much easier....no idea why this would be and it's not very convenient either.

I have seen the cold start injector timing switch mentioned before for 3VZE starting issues. Can somebody tell me exactly what this switch does and how it works? Could the cold start injector be an issue here?

Thanks.

MudHippy

Technically speaking...

The function of the start injector time switch is to control the cold start injector ground circuit and determine maximum duration while cranking. It's bi-metallic switch is heated by both engine coolant and an electrical heater.

When the engine is cranked, current flows from the STA circuit of the ingition switch to the cold start injector. Current also flows to the heater coils of the start injector time switch. When the bi-metallic contact of the start injector time switch is closed, current flows through the STJ circuit to ground causing the cold start injector to deliver fuel. To prevent engine flooding, the injection time is limited by calibration of the start injector time switch and a timer in the ECU.

Layman's terms...

It controls how long, and/or whether or not, the cold start injector fires. Once it attains a certain temperature the circuit in the switch(STJ) opens and the cold start injector can't fire, period.

Here's the link to the FSM so you can test it and find out.
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...88coldstar.pdf

And here's the one for the cold start injector time switch.
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...ne/97colds.pdf

FWIW, I have a 650 CCA battery in mine and it's always been plenty good. No starting issues here!

Good luck!

airkewld4life

Mine just sat for 10 days while I was in Baltimore, got back yesterday and didn't go out to start it until today. Cranked right up.

Richjrosa

I probably wrong here but almost sounds like vaporlock. A vapor lock can also develop when the engine is stopped while hot and the vehicle is parked for a short period. The fuel in the line near the engine does not move and can thus heat up sufficiently to form a vapor lock. The problem is more likely in hot weather or high altitude in either case. From Wikipedia

ninjabrainz

With mine, it was the "elbow" (squarish, connects the hose from the air filter to the hose that goes in to the manifold). It's just to the right of oil & transmission dipsticks. It's plastic. Had mine for month, did a similar thing. Found a hole on the bottom of the "elbow". Patched it w/ thermal piping tape almost 2 years ago, starts like a champ every time now.

PimpinUHos

When it gets down to about 5 degrees or below mine won't start very well. Every other time fires right up. Couple of guys suggested you check your intake, maybe? Probably your rig hates the Yankees.

buckz6319

well mine has not failed to start every time I want her to.....but I have other issues with this 4runner I'm not happy about

WatsonToyota

mine was a disastrous environmental hazard....but she started great everytime!!

mmcpeck

Yeah this weekend I will take a look around the intake and check it out, I might just take it all out and look at it, then put it back together, so I know everything is nice and tight. I am planning on doing the ISR mod anyway, as soon as I figure out the best way to do it.

Anybody know if anybody makes a pre-made swap for the ISR mod? I don't have the resources to get used parts like I see in a lot of the ISR mod threads. No junk yards on LI let people walk through and pick off what they want, and they'll tell you to leave if you ask for a couple of random intake pieces or couplers from a 1988 Volvo intake or whatever.


Pimpin......Hahaha, no way man, this truck has spent it's entire 18 year's in NY (real NY, not the sticks of upstate NY), it's a die hard Yankee fan. I don't know what either of the PO's would say, but I can't see anybody who likes Yota trucks being lame enough to like the Mets.

4x4runr

Mine sat for over 8 months.... put a battery in and cranked right up in a split sec....

don't have this problem and hope to never get it too.
do research on the "big 3" mod. I plan on doing it after I finish the chop

mmcpeck

I tried searching for the Big 3 upgrade, but it's tough to find anything on it. You get every post that ever had the word "Big" in it.

I saw that taikowaza mentioned it earlier but don't quite understand what it is.

Is it new battery cables, a new alternator and a new starter, hence the 3 in Big 3?

The truck cranks like a champ, even when it's 5 degrees outside. Although when it's cold I don't have a starting problem, fires over with a bump of the key when cold (and hot also). After it sits a bit and I get this starting problem though, it cranks fast, faster than any other car I've ever had. The starter is strong as can be, and it seems like it is getting plenty of voltage and amperage from the battery by the speed it's cranking.....it's just the actual kicking over that's the issue. Does the Big 3 upgrade help with this too?

runethechamp

Mine starts right away, always. The only exception was when I had the timing all wrong due to a TPS out of adjustment and tried to start it cold at 8000 feet in the winter. Could just barely get it going.

It even started after about 1/10th of a second after my rebuild. That sure was a relief.

rattlewagon

mine starts mint. everytime. even with an old battery.

mmcpeck

It's making it worse that nobody has seemed to have this problem, but yet I've had it on 2 out of my 3 3VZE's.

Oh well, I'm gonna pull the intake apart this weekend, clean the TB, make sure the intake isn't cracked or anything, and put it back together nice and tight, clean some other stuff up and see what happens. One of these days when it warms up, I will rip it out and do the ISR mod.

I'll post back what happens.

PimpinUHos

might sound stupid, but timing? when i bought my runner it was timed like -15 degrees.
Had trouble starting sometimes and no power. Initially I thought it was just because I was switching from a 4.0 inline(JeepXJ) to a 3.slow. Anyway doesnt take any time to check. Good luck!

mmcpeck

I doubt it's off, the engine runs perfect and is actually pretty quick/powerful for a 3.slow that is.

Actually now that I think about it, I do have a hesiation when accelerating when the engine is cold, especially when you switch gears, like from 1st to 2nd it has a "dead" spot, a hesitation, and then will pick up. Once it warms up the hesitation goes away.

I'll give timing a look, thanks.

PimpinUHos

That's what mine did, and if I didn't warm it up for at least like 10min, when I'd take off it'd try to die. Hopefully thats it. Makes for an easy fix!