My son has a 2001 Tacoma 2 wheel drive which he ran out of gas.
We added 5 gallons, and it just cranks and won't start.
It was running very rough after he initially started it and didn't realize it was low on fuel. Now it just cranks until the battery is drained.
My question is whether or not there is an injector bleeding procedure that we need to run through to get the air out of the lines and the injectors?
I'll pull the fuel line tonight to be sure that the pump is working.
By the way, I own a 1985 Toyota 4x4 that I bought new, so I'm obviously a big fan of Toyotas.
Thanks for your help and ideas!

Kevin (Dawgcatcher)

 

most likely he sucked up something nasty from the fuel tank when he ran it empty and it clogged the injectors.

 

I'm not 100% on this, but I understand that the way to re-pressurize an EFI system is to turn the key until the dash lights come on, wait ten seconds or so, turn the key off again, and repeat a couple of times, then try to start. I don't know how robust the fuel pumps in these things are (yet), but running it dry may have killed the pump (sounds like you're checking that though).
Good luck

 

We added another 5 gallons of gas just to be sure, then cycled the fuel pump about 10 times.
I can hear it running for a few seconds after we bump the starter, and we can smell fuel in the engine bay after many attempts to crank the engine until we kill the battery.
My neighbor keeps suggesting that we pour gas in the carb like he does on his boat. He's still not up to speed on the new fangled fuel injection. Does everyone have a neighbor that thinks it's helpful to stand in your way and ask you questions when your frustrated already?
We charged the battery overnight, and tried again this morning. No joy.
Just cranks and cranks and cranks.
Anybody wanna buy a 2001 Tacoma? Needs some tuning.

 

When you run a pump dry it cavitates. If it cavitates for too long it will be ruined. It sounds like that is what happened to you. The pump will run, but won't pump enough fuel to start or run. Send the pesky neighbor to the parts store after a new pump. When he gets back, take the pump from him, spin him 180 degrees and give him a good shove back in the direction of his house. Install pump and drive away.

 

err uhh yea u might wanna test the pump first before you start throwing money at it

 

ill trade you my perfectly running 88 for your non running 01.

 

OK, you got me on that one, but it might be worth $140 to get rid of the neighbor.

 

I'm gonna look for a test port tonight to see if I can check the fuel pressure, then try to pull a line to do a flow test into a bucket.
I'd be happy to find a bad fuel pump.
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

you should check everything else as well before shotguning a pump. on my tacoma there is no mechanical fuel pressure regulator. If there is one on yours you should block it off and check to insure its not stuck open. there are also several other parts of the fuel system which could have been clogged by junk in the tank. Check the fuel filter, the pickup screen at the front of the fuel rail, and the lines themselves.

i say this but at the same time if you can smell fuel in the engine bay theres a good posability that it is getting there, especially if you can hear the pump priming with each key on engine off cycle. even a cavitated burnt up fuel pump should be able to at least get a little sputter if not a start.

pull a plug and check for spark also just to be sure there isnt some unlikely issue with something else.

 

Victory! It was a simple fix involving the fuel pump.
This 2001 Tacoma is lowered with airbags (It's not my truck, I think it's a crime to lower a truck), so it has a fuel cell and an external fuel pump and prefilter.
We were checking for the make and model of the fuel pump, and I noticed that the inlet hose spins easily where it connects to the pump. I pulled the hose off, and it was apparent that the loose connection allowed the pump to pull air rather than fuel.
We tightened the connection, ran the pump a few times, and the truck started right up.
Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

 

Hey DawgCatcher welcome to YotaTech! You should stick around even though your problems fixed

 

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