If anyone has an idea of where to start, I would appreciate it. Cold starts are problematic. It cranks fine, but it acts as if it is flooded. I have hosed out the throttle buddy twice and ran injector cleaner in the gas.

If I run it, it will start fine for approximately the next 24 hours. If it sits longer than that, it starts hard, requires excessive cranking, and misses for the first few moments. This has been happening since the weather turned cold. I park it on a hill, and once or twice I have had to bump start it.

My guess is that fuel pressure is bleeding down, leading to flooding. The truck has 150K on it, and it has been doing this since late fall. Once it is running, there are no issues. I have probably put close to 5K on it since this started. I live thirty miles out of town, and only go in once a week for fresh produce, so if I had an idea of the parts required to fix this, I would mail order them, change them out and pray. That is easier than going to town and running around in circles trying to find someone who has parts in stock and knows what is wrong.

 

did you check the fuel injectors ?

 

I am going to tear into it this morning. How does one check the injectors? Is it likely all 4 would fail at once?

 

The first thing I noticed was a defective plug wire. I did not pull the plugs as it is a loooong walk to town if I destroy a plug wire while doing so. The plugs have about 10-12K on them. Since I have to replace the plug wires, I will also get a new set of plugs.

There was no residual fuel pressure when I pulled the hose off. It squirted fuel immediately upon cranking, so I do not believe the fuel drained back into the tank through the pump. There was fuel puddled at the entrance to the fuel rail.

The odd thing is that it fired up immediately when I cranked it over to see if it would pump fuel. I shut down the engine, put it back together, and it started but ran rough for a few seconds before smoothing out.

 

The FSM specs that the fuel rail pressure only holds for 5 minutes. The fuel pump does have a flow back valve, but obviously, Toyota isn't real concerned about long-term holding of the fuel pressure. Don't worry about it.

Did it do the same thing the next time you fired it up? Doing it right after you have the system open, in my mind, is a chance you still have some air in the system. If it does it the NEXT time, if you don't open the system, there may be something worth looking into. Just my opinion, after working on my two Toyotas for the last 25 years.

I wish you all the best!
Pat☺

 

Thanks for the info. I have to go somewhere tomorrow (Wednesday), and it will be interesting to see if it starts easily. The plugs and plug wires are supposed to arrive Thursday afternoon, so I will change those out Friday.

 

I strongly recommend a dab of silicone dielectric grease in both ends of each and every plug wire. It can make a difference in not only keeping dirt and corrosion out of the connections, but also in removing the wires comes the time to change them out again.
BTW: a good way to check for a bad plug wire is to run the truck in the darkest area you can find. Look at the plug wires, and see if you can see any little lightning bolts coming from them. If you do, bad wires. Also, keep an eye on the plugs. Make sure the negative on them isn't worn or erroded too far. Make sure the gap is still correct. It matters.
Much preferred are Denso or NGK, both plugs and wires. NO Bosch. Those are for European vehicles, and our Japaneses vehicles just don't get along well with them.

I changed the plugs and wires, as well as the distributor cap and rotor, and radiator hoses, every spring. I would keep the old stuff I took off, and stash them in a corner of the truck some place. Made sure that if mass production bit me in the tail pipe, that I had known good parts to replace the bad ones with, even on the side of the road. It's been a policy that came in handy a couple of times over the years.
Just a suggestion, not a requirement.

I also grease the heck out of every zert I could find every spring and fall, as well as if I went through mud and deep water. Check the breathers for all the differentials,as well, while you're under there greasing. A clogged breather will get you diff oil in the brakes. Not good. They're easy to unscrew and check for free flow of air both ways.

Sorry, I ramble. Shutting up now...
Pat☺

 

Plugs and wires came in today's mail. I changed them out. I had two wires that left the metal ends on the plugs. Those plugs looked pretty bad. It will be interesting to see how it starts tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the help, hopefully this takes care of the issue.

 

How goes it? Any updates?

Yeah, I'm nosey
Pat☺

 

It has not been cold or damp the last two nights, but I am cautiously optimistic. It started Immediately yesterday morning and this morning. Thanks again.