Crank but no start - Fuel pump?
Asked by Jonah409 Sep 15, 2015 at 06:51 PM about the 2005 Toyota Corolla S
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
ey everyone,
I got an online change past weekend, pick up my my car from NTB after oil
change and drove away with no problems.
Later that night i started the car again and the crank took a few extra
seconds before it started. This happened a second time, after that i was
idling at a stop and the car the shut down on me...after that i would start
and the car just cranks but no start.
Tried jump start (thats what i thought it was at first) still wouldnt start. Towed
it a different mechanic (NOT NTB), he said he'll need some time to
diagnose. Any suggestions from you guys on what it could be ?
NB: I havent experienced anything like a slow down, power loss while driving
before (possible symptoms of a failing fuel pump?) this incident
Thanks in advance
16 Answers
I will go under the assumption that the mechanic was just busy when he said it will take time to diagnose. Reason I say that is b/c it can be diagnosed in a few minutes, by running an OBDII scan, checking fuel pressure on fuel rail. It is a coil-on-plug and will take no more than ½ hour or so to check all these things, including maxi-fuses if it is an fuel supply or spark problem. Please come back and let us know wassup.
NTB is National Tire and Battery - a chain of auto service centers. Yes, he was busy. He called later on and said it is most likely fuel pump or something related to computer (i am not exactly sure what he meant here) - he was getting no output from it fuel pump (fuel pressure) and tried with starting fluid and the car would start. He did say he could not get anything back from OBDII tool. Is that even possible? Anyways i did give him a green light to replace the fuel pump. Hopefully that fixes it. *Fingers crossed*
if it doesnt fire up with starting fluid i believe something is cutting the power, its not the pump alone.
schalk - the mechanic said it would start with starting fluid - Anyway just not familiar with NTB around here in Calif. Thanks for filling me in on that, So it is apparently a fuel starvation issue. And as for not getting a DTC from an OBDII scan it depends entirely on the quality of his scanner. Also, yes, a fuel pump can fail completely with no symptoms beforehand. Best of luck to you
Also I don't know if you bought the car new but there was a recall by Toyota for 2005 -2006 Corollas for the ECU. The computer. Go to the link I will put in here and enter your VIN to see if your Corolla was taken in for replacement: https://ssl.toyota.com/owners/login
Ok so the mechanic called yesterday. He said the fuel pump change fixed the issue. I went and picked up the car, driving it back home it felt as if the pick up increased a little. Or it could a placebo effect to...you know my mind probably wants to think it runs better after spending $225 for the fuel pump change :P I did check on the recall, the only one that shows up for my vehicle is "Safety Recall E04 - Remedy - Front Passenger Airbag Inflator Module" Appreciate you guys input. Thank you
Power of suggestion and placebo effect - especially combined -- will fix things that are not broken. But my opinion is that it was the pump and you are good to go. The recall, being more than 10 years now, has probably just 'expired' so to say. If You can't/won't take the time to bring it in after this long well you are SOL (Toyota's perspective not mine)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221532535612?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82
The pump new costs about $180. Above, - So add $45 to that for labor... the mechanic gave you a really good deal.
I bought the car used from a 2nd owner @ 117,000 miles (its at 160,500 now). So maybe the previous owners may have already taken care of the ECU recall I'm hoping. Yea I was referred to this mechanic by a friend so trusted him with the car even though it was my first time at his tiny shop. Other auto service centers here charge $99 an hour for labor only. Excluding the markup they have on parts
Your friend gave you good advice. Let's just say he "Keystoned" his cost on the pump - double it- ... Normal acceptable business practice. Nothing dishonest. He has a wholesaler he can buy from at the same cost as... say... NTB. I stand by my comment that getting a new fuel pump - installed- for $225 would not happen anywhere near my area.
And now as a 100% opinion statement -- Your Corolla will last another 10 years and another 100k miles... just keep up with oil changes . and so on..
FordNut - what oil would you recommend for 05 Corolla (160k miles) ? Thanks again for your responses
I thought my experience might be helpful to others. I have a 2009 Toyota Matrix that has had similar symptoms for about 3 months now - cranks but won't turn over. If I let it sit for a while, eventually it starts. It seemed to happen when it was very hot and just recently when it got very cold overnight. I had the fuel pump replaced because the tools at the Toyota dealership couldn't figure out what was wrong. They charged me $1500 to replace the fuel pump. Now and for the first time, it happened in the cold and they said it was "giving code" that the crank shaft sensor is bad. I am at their mercy and I need my car, so I will be spending another $700 to replace the sensor. Ugh!
LindsayCole answered 4 years ago
I have a 2009 Matrix, manual transmission. It has been having this problem for years, mostly just in colder weather. It starts, but then it putters out. If I wait 20-30 minutes, it will then start. It's so weird and MOST frustrating and inconvenient. I'm not sure it's worth spending $1500 to replace the fuel pump in hopes that might solve the problem. I sure would love to know if anyone has definitively figured out why this is happening in the Matrix/Corolla. Otherwise, it's a really good car, runs great.
