Won't start in cold .

Hi guys. 09 4.0L Tacoma with 324000km on it. Every year I've been buying more and more expensive batteries for it to compensate for its hard starting in winter. This morning it really ticked me off. It wouldn't start but all my co-workers' vehicles started fine in -30⁰C. Even an old Pontiac G5 beater car started up fine. It's embarrassing when you're the only Toyota driver and it won't start. They all look at you with a "why would you even own one then" look on their faces lol. I had to take the bus home and leave the truck at work to deal with tomorrow.

It cranks like mad with the agm battery in it, faster than the original battery would crank in summer, so no issue there. It's over 1000cca. The truck just spits and sputters and tries to start but then dies. I hold it cranking for 30 seconds of sputtering then let it sit for a few minutes, come back and try again. I did that 4 times today but it started to deplete the battery so I gave up.

Has anyone had this specific issue and found out what causes it? Is it the spark plugs, fuel pump/filter, a leaking fuel line? My 99 with the 3.4 would do the exact same thing on these cold days, but it had nearly 400,000km on it. So frustrating when your buddies with a $2000 beater start right up like it's nothing. This is probably the 10th time I've been the only one in the parking lot that can't get running in the past few years. Very frustrating.

 

If it doesn’t start with a brand new battery, then it’s not a battery issue.
Especially when you say that it cranks over and over and is sputtering.

Is all maintenance up to date?


Also if you had a fuel leak you would likely smell it.

 

If it's cranking, has to be air, fuel or spark. These distributor-less electronic ignitions are pretty bulletproof but when's the last time you changed your plugs? How about other basic maintenance? Air filter clean? Cleaned throttle body, MAF and the cold start IAC? Do that, especially if your truck has an aftermarket air filter (K&N). Have you hooked it up to a scan tool to check for CEL's or pending codes?

If those things are checked off the list, I would start checking for fueing issues. Our fuel pumps have in-tank "lifetime" filters that can clog easily in a short time with bad fuel and are always something to suspect in higher mileage trucks. I would check fuel pressure on the rail and go from there.

I don't live in Alberta but every properly maintained Toyota I've ever had fired up at any temp (-50f in Jackson Hole and Steamboat, CO) at any elevation.

 

Along with basic maintenance don’t forget valve adjustment. More often than not, at least on small engines, valves that are out of spec cause hard start/ no start conditions.

 

I replaced my factory fuel pump with an aftermarket one and did not tighten the line on the pump right. Could be an in-tank issue which you would not be able to smell. With that many Canadian Miles I would think it could be a clogged fuel pump.

OP how does it start when it's not the Frozen Tundra? Get a fuel pressure tester, and an OBDii reader (Torque on Android).

 

Cold start injector temp switch.

 

Like every one has said, air, fuel, spark.

Air is the easy one, check air filter, l( can you see light through it, will truck start without it?) Leaks after the MAF (remove top engine cover, check clamp, listen for air leak, Check air hoses to manifold)

Spark, - if good cranking, voltage is probably okay, but do check the battery to body ground cable (clean, not corroded, cable has all its copper strands, insulation not cracked and crumbling) spark plugs changed in the last 100,000km.

Fuel - water in line/tank, fuel pressure challenge.

Like its been said, the ECU likely knows what is wrong, need to check the codes by connecting an OBD reader to the OBD port.

If this is all Greek to you, take it in to a mechanic. These problems likely did not start overnight and have been creeping up on you, so the basic maintenance items are going to be the first things the mechanic corrects.

 

The spark plugs are about 110,000km old, air filter is 20,000km old, oem air filter. I can start with that but I don't recall it improving last time I did those. I haven't cleaned the throttle body or MAF in this one in about 100,000km, and I don't clean IACs because I always seem to ruin them when I do that. Does the 4.0 even have an IAC? Usually I would do all these this winter but this fall I tore my bicep and had surgery so I've been useless in the garage and will remain so for a few weeks yet.

No codes on the scan gage. It's never thrown a code in the 9 years I've owned it. I have no doubt it could have fuel pressure issues but I've always thought it wasn't possible to find a practical way to read it on these engines? I've spent many trips out away from civilization where I've had to keep filling the tank with a box full of jerry cans covered in mud. Somewhere along the way some of that probably made it into the tank. But my understanding is you need to remove the box and replace the pump inside the tank with it's integrated filter. I don't have enough reason to do that at this point. The truck starts and runs 100% from about -25 to +40 degrees C. It's just those random nights that it drops below it's threshold and it won't start.

 

Looks like there's just an IAT sensor (no problematic IAC like my old 3.4L) and when it goes, throws a P0110 code.

As for fuel pressure, you *can* check it but need Techstream (either at the dealer or via a cheap AMAZON cable and the program). Then follow this guide:

https://www.fjcruiserforums.com/threads/fj-cruiser-fuel-pressure-testing-and-inspection.738448/

Seeing your mileage and reading "muddy jerry cans" has me suspecting fuel pump since you are on top of the routine stuff. -30 might be the pump's current threshold but it may start creeping in to warmer temps.

For the record, a fuel pump whose filter can't be easily and externally changed is a step in the wrong direction, Toyota!!

 

Your plugs should be changed at 48,000 km., clean the MAF and throttle body too.

-30C is cold (about -31F). Suggest a full set of maintenance tasks by you, a supervised buddy or mechanic.

I'll assume you are wise enough to have some form of 0W multi-viscosity oil and the coolant won't freeze in those temps.

Couple things you may consider trying.
Spark, pull a plug out, reconnect the coil, ground the plug body, have someone crank the engine. You should see a spark. If not.......
Fuel, open the throttle body, have someone crank the engine, shoot a small burst of ether into the throttle body. If should briefly start. If not......

I don't know if these tests will work on the truck. I have used these techniques when restoring a non-running motorcycle to help diagnose the problem area. But the motorcycle engine is a very simple and basic engine. No electronic doodads.

 

plug it in

 

110000 km on the plugs, holy shit. You need to start by changing them.

 

I had issues with mine not starting below -30 in northern MN on the stock battery. It would pop and stumble but not catch. I swapped to a higher CCA battery and never had issues after that.

If you have gone that route already, there has to be something else going on. I'd check those spark plugs then move to the fuel pressure.

 

Can also just jump the fuel pump in the fuse panel to get a Key-On Engine-Off pressure reading

 

Thanks for chiming in everyone. Tonight I tried it again when I got a chance. I took a quick video to show what the truck is doing. Pretty much acts like an old diesel with several dead glow plugs trying to start. It's -31°C here tonight and the truck did the exact same thing as this morning when I tried to leave work (I'm working night shifts). I guess this is why you shouldn't drive your off-roading rig to work maybe. At least not in this part of the world. There isn't much I can do but pull it into a warm building on my last nightshift and hope it starts in the morning so I can get it home. I work in a very remote area so there is no infrastructure in place to work on the truck or to even get it towed (would probably cost thousands to tow it from here).

https://youtu.be/NM05l1PS0O8

I'll be changing the spark plugs if I can get it home next week and go from there. Unfortunately I have to wait for the next extreme cold wave to test it which often doesn't happen until I'm back at work again. The process for checking fuel pressure seems pretty convoluted and sort of irrelevant in my opinion for this particular truck. Because most likely any heavily off-roaded truck with this much mileage has needed, or will soon need a new fuel pump. So I'll be looking into working that into my schedule. But I'll wait until I do the spark plugs, MAF clean, throttle body, PCV valve, etc. See if that makes any difference and go from there.

 

with the lights dimming like that with a new battery it seems you have a cable connection degrading. Either between battery and starter or a weak ground somewhere.

 

Not sure I've ever driven a vehicle that did not have dimming lights when you cranked it over? Also at this point the battery was nearly dead because I'd cranked it for like 10 minutes earlier in the day. But yes I do need to clean my grounds as part of my major rust remediation plan for spring 2021 when I blast the rust off and cover the truck inside and out with corrosion inhibitor oil and cosmoline.

Anyone ever used one of these?:
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/universal-adhesivepad-engine-heater-250w-0300001p.html#Questions

I might be able to stick that to my oil pan and drag the truck to the nearest electrical outlet. A coworker is going out to town tomorrow morning and could pick it up for me. But I'm not sure the oil pan on a tacoma is big enough or flat enough to stick an adhesive heater?

 

please tell me you realize the truck is possibly flooded and you have cranked it with the pedal to the floor to shut off the injectors and add a bunch of air to help clear the cylinders.

 

Yes I did hold it wide open for a good 30 seconds a couple times and it made no difference. I also tried different throttle positions. It sat for 15 hours and was still the same after all that time. If it was flooded it should at least act a little different after sitting for 15 hours I would imagine but I could be wrong.

Someone is bringing up a magnetic block heater tomorrow night. I looked at the oil pan and it's all rusty so no chance that an adhesive heater would stick. I'll see if I can get any luck heating it up with the magnetic one. Not sure the oil pan is even magnetic but I'll make it work.

 

i am sorry your going through this.

pan is metal.

I have used an airplane preheater on a few cars in the boonies.
Plugs more than likely got flash flooded and yea your in a position to have to change them.
Just be safe and work smart..