Ethical Question

They both say a faulty ECU can block out starts. The independent mechanic I know personally and he claims he’s checked the starter etc and it’s the only reasonable explanation.

I will likely advise my friend to fully disclose and sell at pre pandemic prices.

 

If it it's an automatic, the next time it happens move the shift selector to: [N]eutral and turn the key or even better: hold the key in the start position while moving the lever to Neutral. If it's a stick, suspect the neutral switch on the clutch pedal and make sure it's all the way to the floor when turning the key.

 

Why ? What does this achieve ?

 

It just comes down to if the guy wants to solve the problem or not. Figuring out if it is a neutral safety switch can mean the difference between selling with no issue and selling with unknown issue. In the order of troubleshooting, those switches (manual or automatic) would be easy to check but as stated above, take time to isolate. Trusting the dealer or mechanic are fine things, and I understand not wanting to second guess them. From what you've stated, this may or may not have been checked by either party, and if they happened to be issue means you could avoid the ethical question vis a vis solving the issue.

 

If the truck starts after doing this, the problem is likely in one of the components mentioned above.
If it doesn’t start, then it “probably” isn’t those components.

My advice is, get familiar with the starting diagrams provided by @Dm93
Then make a plan of attack on what to check first. I like to start with easy stuff.
Like the “security” light. Is it flashing?
Then go to the Safety switches like @Williston said.

Then, I’d probably pull the Start relay and look for the correct powers.
Because that’s the “middle man” in the starting system.

 

What was cleaned?

Listen carefully when it doesn't start. Did you hear a single faint click then nothing. If so I would almost bet money it is the solenoid contacts in the starter solenoid that are burned. Easy fix for less than 50 bucks and little of your time.

I had the exact thing at about your mileage (~45 - 50K ) and these contacts solved my issue.

See this thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...rt-that-is-the-question.737373/#post-26249933

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwokxzjlYcQ

 

Sell it to your friend.

(Replace the starter first.)

 

Hey mike, golden rule buddy. Flip it around. Would you want to know if you were the buyer?

Comes to TW to ask if potentially being a douchey shyster is ok.

Dont be a turd.

All love my frienemy.

 

I had a Ranger that did the very things you described in the first post. Turned out to be the crankshaft position sensor. I don’t even know if Toyotas have these but it was a really simple fix, three bolts and a plug. Might want to look into that.

 

They have one. But it won’t affect the ability of the starter to crank the truck.
The truck would just crank and crank and crank if the CPS was bad.

 

Hide it in a barn and report it stolen. Did I win the game? Wasn’t clear, are we looking for ethical lines to cross?

Sell it to the dealer that hadn’t been able to fix it. It’s already disclosed to them. Or keep looking for the fix.

 

X2

 

As Jimmyh mentioned above, and to me back when mine had the exact same problem, it’s the starter solenoid contacts. A not too difficult repair with common tools most everyone has. I replaced mine, now it starts every time, instead of most of the time.

As far as your ethical question. It’s my belief karma is a real thing. Meaning if you do 10 bad things, 10 bad things will happen to you. If you do 10 good things, 10 good things will happen to you. Belief is a weak choice of words on my part. It’s something I’ve seen in my life, and other peoples lives. A good example is someone I’m related to. Lying, conniving, manipulative, hypocritical, just an all around horrible human. I’ve seen some bad things happen to this person, and very little good. If you go and do something you already know is wrong, something similar bad will happen to you. My personal opinion, I believe in this more than any religion.

 

Lots of sound advice here on repairing it yourself or having it done. Otherwise do this and just be clear it's "as is" to the purchaser.

 

Be honest be it dealer or person if you sell it.

Even if you sell it to the dealer, that just kicks the can down the road to the next person who owns it. I'll reckon you wouldn't be happy if you or someone you knew bought a vehicle and found out something like this after.

Also, probably not wise to say this in a public forum and might not jibe with the COC here..just a thought

 

I had a similar issue with my wife’s JK. The plastic interior part of the rod end on the transmission side of the shifter cable was worn out and when the vehicle was put in Park it wasn’t quite far enough, on occasion, for the park/neutral safety switch. A new cable cost around $300. I found a company that makes inserts for the rod end. I think I paid around $10.
Check out your cable end. I started out with the usual suspects and then I tracked it down to this very simple problem. With as many insert products as this company sold, it must be a common problem.

 

dealer should have a policy to stand by the vehicle and fix that for a period of time
It’s their responsibility to inspect it and perform needed repairs

there is less ethics considered when selling to a dealer because the very job of working at a dealer, for many positions such as salesman, means to be a thief anyway, as I’m sure you know

mechanic working for pennies breaking his back? Janitor? Hard working detailer? Porter? Not a thief
Feel free to make the correct conclusions about the certain positions that are, on your own. It’s obvious for anyone to see

sounds like an easy fix for anyone to put a starter in it, which most cars of this age and miles need anyway due to total and constant failure

you can’t be expected to notate every scratch and blemish. That’s not your job and nobody is paying you to do it. It’s their job. Buying used cars comes with risks. If it’s not one thing currently broken, 3 more major things will break in a month that have nothing to do with you.

yet another time we are reminded why manuals are better. They can be push started in this situation.

sure you can mention it and knock a couple hundred bucks off the price to sleep better at night. Not a big deal.
It’s also perfectly theoretically possible a truck may not have this problem, then develop it a month after trade.
I bought mine quiet. Month later it was loud squeaking from the TOB. How much am I into it dropping the trans to put a clutch and CM HydroTOB? Not the dealers fault.

 

At the end of the day, you have to live with your decision and decide what will or will not help you sleep at night. We don’t have a ton of control in life. If you can control feeling just a little less shitty about yourself, take that opportunity. If you’re apathetic, know that you’re going to get mixed answers from a bunch of strangers and will look for the responses that best support the choice you’ve already made.


As a side, my FJ would intermittently (about every 6 months) tell me I had gas when it in fact didn’t. Mechanic wasn’t sure what was up. I fixed what I think was the problem, but sold it in under 6 months after that. Should I have disclosed the problem I hopefully fixed?

 

There are several potential causes for this issue and the dealer is not the right place to go for this sort of thing.

Depending what sort of means you have for fixing this thing or resources at that. It can be a really easy fix. It could be something in the starter. Very well may be, but the chances exists it may be something else.

The forum is happy to aid you if you have the resources and tools necessary to do this, but if you do intend on selling, yes, you disclose, because otherwise it's a really bad thing on you as far as cosmic karma goes.

 

Key fob battery ?