good info to know!!

 

Went out just now to see if car would start for the second day in a row. It started to fire when I turned the key but it didn't catch. On the next attempt it just turned over but didn't fire. I decided to stop at this point and wait about an hour.Before I changed the coolant sensor it wouldn't fire until I cranked it for 45 minutes to an hour. I will try plan B which is pump the gas pedal twice before turning the key. If this works then I will continue to do that in the mornings when I start it for the first time. This has me baffled because other than not wanting to start in the mornings for the first time the car runs fine for the rest of the day. Changing the injectors will be my last resort because even if I'm able to do it myself it will cost around $500.00. I'm wondering if a sensor could be bad in the injectors. I really don't think they are dirty since the dealer cleaned them and I'm on my 4th bottle of injection cleaner in the fuel tank.

 

I just realized I was running 10-30 w oil and it was 17 degrees this morning. Because I'm looking for any kind of answer I just changed it to 5-30 w, still won't start. I have spent to much money and it's to nice of car to give up but I don't know what to do at this point.

 

I finally got it started and it's warming up as I type this. I will take it for a drive and see if it runs OK. When I try and start it I feel like it's either not getting enough fuel or I guess it could be getting to much. I think tomorrow morning I will give it two pumps before I turn the key. I will update with my results.

 

A few things:

Is the engine turning over faster when warm as in the oil is too thick when cold?

The engine throttle body has no injector pump to add fuel as with a carb. Try depressing the throttle slightly when cranking.

Look under the hood for a small black box labeled "diagnostic" mounted to the passenger strut tower. Inside the box are electrical terminals. Find the FP and B+ terminals then prior to starting engine cold jump them with a paper clip or short piece of wire. This will force the fuel pump to run and pressurize the system. It has happened the fuel system leaks down and engine being cold may be more difficult to start.

One thing to try is using a hair drier to heat sensors and other components to simulate warm engine conditions. If doing this also try heating the distributor to heat the sensor coils inside.

A weak ign spark can cause issues with cold start.

 

Thank you for the advice and I will try your suggestion if I have problems tomorrow getting it to start. I would like to add that once I eventually got it started today it ran perfect when I took it for a drive. It was a cold day all day I think the high was 22. When I was in the driveway changing the oil it was 17 degrees. I will update with more information tomorrow.

 

Well it snowed last night and the car sat out in the cold. Really had my doubts that it would start this morning. I decided to pump the gas twice and turn the key. It didn't start the first time but it did try to fire instead of just cranking like it has been doing in the mornings. After giving it a few tries it did start and I let it run while I shoveled the drive. It's suppose to warm up next week so I'm anxious to see if that effects the first time morning starting. I will update later, thanks again for everyone's assistance.

 

Car wouldn't start again this morning so I called Toyota service department. They ended up picking the car up and will see what they can figure out at no extra charge to me. What we did discover is that when they picked it up at 2 pm the temperature outside had warmed up. The car fired right up just like it should. This tells us the problem is temperature related. It really sounds like the coolant temperature sensor should be the problem but I just replaced it. Hopefully I'll have some answers in a couple of days.

 

Please post back with what the dealer finds out.

 

Still waiting to hear back from the dealer. Our outside temperature has warmed up so they are probably having trouble getting the same symptoms as when it's cold.