Intermittent Starting Problem - Tacoma Sport 2022

I have a newly bought Toyota Tacoma 2022 sport and its already having an intermittent starting problem. It would crank and attempt to start and would fail, then check engine light will be on. It would start fine after the next attempt. This is happening intermittently. At first, the dealer thought it's the batter and installed a new one. A week later and it started happening again. It rarely happen but it's painful to experience having a new car and its already having this issue. I left the car with the dealer and it's been almost 2 weeks and they still have not able to duplicate the problem. How would you diagnose this kind of problem? They said they're unable to escalate to Toyota until they have the error code. Thanks in advance and any advice would be appreciated.

 

Clear code and carry on.

 

If you are able to duplicate the starting issue make a video with your phone and send it to your service department.
Dose it matter if the engine is hot or cold?
Dose it just happen randomly or is there any pattern to the starting problem?
Do all the dash lights work normally when it fails to start?
Do you have a code reader?
Look under the hood your self. Battery cables tight? Grounds tight? No loose connections?

 

About all you can do is drive it until it happens again.
Then have it towed to the dealer. DO NOT START the truck.
Don’t let the tow guy start it either. You need to have the CEL remain on.

Or buy a scan tool (a good one) and record the code.
But honestly, I doubt the dealership is going to do anything with out CEL present or an active problem.

 

Intermittent problems are the most frustrating and hardest to diagnose. If it were me I would take your truck back and make sure I kept my OBDII scanner in the truck. The next time it does it and while you still have the CEL, read the error code and take a picture of your scanner screen. At least you will start to get an idea of what you're dealing with this way. You could leave your truck there for a month and not have it happen. The minute you leave the dealership with your truck, it will do it again

 

Is this an automatic with a remote start/push to start?

Four things to check:
Measure the ECU to make sure the power levels are correct (dealer check)
Possible harness connection (dealer check)
Possible remote start related "safety" switch(es) are the cause (dealer check)
Neutral safety switch issue/connection (dealer check)

Dealer should know these are common with the remote start/push to start as well as the neutral function and harness connections.
You can try next time it happens;
lock / unlock the doors then try to start
shift the shifter to neutral try to start then back to park and try to start.

Its a switch or connection issue,..... hard to find if you do not isolate the circuit and do the checks.
HOWEVER to find the issue it must be occurring during the check, frustrating yes, but not impossible.
There are only so many things that it COULD be in the start/stop wiring.

 

Are you push to start? If so, how long are you holding your foot on the brake pedal as you crank the engine? If you let off just as you press the start button, it will sometimes not start.

 

I had a starting issue when I first bought my 22.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/strange-starting-idle-problem.753951/

not sure if your issues are the same, but this was happening at least once a week for about 6 weeks, then it just seemed to stop. I made a few follow up posts in there as the problem persisted. Dealer couldn’t find anything, then it just seemed to stop on its own. Granted I live in an extreme climate, but it was happening regardless if I garaged it or not for a while.

 

Clearing the code won't stop an intermittent start issue. Something is wrong above and beyond just a cel.

 

Hi, this is a push start. Thank you!

 

Any evidence of a mouse in your engine bay?

 

I believe we do have a similar issue and it can be really frustrating. I left the car with the dealer for 2 weeks and they couldn't duplicate the problem. I pulled out the car today but worried it will do it again. I spoke to their techs and said if it's electrical problem, it should register in the ECU. So if it ever happen again, he asked me to return the truck and will run a scan and see if err code will register. If nothing registers, he said could be a mechanical defect which is harder to troubleshoot. Frustrating!

 

Nope.

 

I leave my foot on the break until it starts.

 

You're absolute correct. Intermittent problems are the most painful, frustrating and hardest to tshoot. I'm not a tech and no idea how to use the tools you mentioned but the tech I was talking to today said to return the car if it fail to start after the crank. He will ran a scan the next day and check ECM. If nothing registers, then it's possibly mechanical issue.

 

well mine eventually did go away on its own, haven’t had it since about February. I used to worry about it every time I went to start my truck, and would record myself starting it hoping to capture the problem to show the dealer. It’s been so long I’ve forgotten all about it until I saw your post. Hopefully the same happens with your truck.

 

Did you try a fresh battery? The oem batteries are junk.

 

That is the very one that the dealer tried, replaced the battery.

 

I have a similar issue. Looks like this is a common problem on the 2022 models. However, I was thinking to bring it to the dealer, but I will wait a couple of weeks, may be the problem goes away.