Truck randomly dies while driving or won't start until an hour later

A motor needs three things to run, compression, spark and fuel. You said it dies and won't restart for a hour. Used that hour to find out what's missing. We can eliminate one right off, compression because was running. So your missing either fuel or spark. Check for spark first. Pull the coil and reconnect the connector with a spare spark plug installed. Watch for spark while cranking. Proceed to check for fuel pressure. If you have fuel pressure up to the injectors check for power and ground (ECM driver controled). It's very unlikely that the fuel pump is gone. Very rare. Most likely a CPS issue or possible MAF sensor. I've seen MAF sensors giving the wrong information to the ECM and the vehicle will stall. Rare but it happens. My guess would be CPS, connector or wiring to the harness. Your going to have to do your diagnostic work and don't guess, it will just cost you.money.

 

Start simple: I'd first run injector cleaner through.... like sea foam , bg 44, or liqui moly and see if that clears it up. If not, process of elimination. Don't use the cheap 99 cents stuff.

as far as the fuel pump, I'd check the electrical connections. All sorts of weird stuff can happen if wires aren't making a solid connection.

 

The short answer, no. Fuel pumps are electric motors and usually fail after sitting for long periods or fail after being used for a longer period. The motor heats up then stops. Letting it sit for a period of time allows the pump to cool then it starts to work again. Toyota pumps are bullet proof and failure is rare. The only one I've changed was in a vehicle that had sat for a long period of time with a low fuel level. The fuel went bad in the tank and locked the pump.

 

I'm away from my truck and new to Tacomas, but my old S-10 would do this. Turns out it was the fuel pump relay going bad. Is there a relay in the fuel pump circuit on a Tacoma?

 

I had a late eighties Nissan did the exact same thing. Replacing the fuel filter made it all go away.

 

A few weeks have passed and the problem persists. It would go 5-7 days without incident and then happen again.
The most recent time it died was near a guy who was a mechanic for 33 years. He took off a spark plug cover and put his screwdriver in it and asked me to try and start it up; he stated there was no sparking.
He had a handheld computer to check for error codes which was plugged in, but it was having connecting issues. The guy started to think that there may be a short somewhere and that he thought that was the problem.
Does anyone know if there's a way to check for bad wiring? I'll try replacing the fuel pump relay in the fuse box and see if that helps (fingers crossed).

 

You sure you aren't in a 3rd Gen?

Sounds like a key immobilization issue. Exact same issue in a new Camaro I had for a while (POS).

 

Yea, it's only a second gen (2009).

The Toyota dealership said they had a similar if not he exact same issue with a 3rd gen (2016) model but they didn't even try that fix.
It happened today and I'm sitting on the side of the road. The truck shook a little as it died which I didn't notice before.

A bad key immobilized would explain it not starting but would it make it die while driving?

 

Update on my problem:
My truck dies within like 5-10 miles-ish after I fill up my tank. It will once in a while decide not to start, but the dieing shortly after filling up seems to be common and reproducible. There are no codes presenting. I'm thinking it might be my fuel pump going bad? After my truck dies, I open up the gas tank briefly and let it sit for a short bit (15 minutes last time), I would try to start it again and it would work again. Mileage is about 90k.

Any thoughts? Thank you for your help in advance.

 

Remove the drivers side kick panel and check for oil residue in the connectors below the parking brake area that may create a short.

 

I highly dought your fuel pump is going bad. It's very uncommon for Toyota pumps to fail.

 

How does oil residue in a connector cause a short?

 

Don't really understand your question. If there is oil on a connector it may create an unintended path for electricity to flow / short or create excessive resistance that may reduce a signal voltage to the ecu