Will not start

Tiny
JASON FLICKNER
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 TOYOTA 4RUNNER
  • 4.0L
  • V6
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 218,000 MILES
My vehicle will struggle and fail to start until add antifreeze. The fuel pump kicks on and the engine cranks but will not ignite. Once running the truck drives and accelerates great. I have replaced the ECT, cam, and crank sensors. The antifreeze level drops but no leaks or significant white exhaust. After driving a while it starts while repeatedly pressing gas pedal and eventually won't start until I top off the coolant at the radiator cap. Sometimes it takes 10 oz to refill antifreeze. Three mechanics said no connection between the coolant and the ignition. All three say it’s the fuel pump and starting after filling coolant is only coincidence. It’s been a coincidence over four dozen times and never fails to start after filling the coolant. Any ideas on why the truck will only start after coolant is filled? Thanks!
Friday, January 25th, 2019 AT 8:48 AM

17 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 51,648 POSTS
That's a good one. Sounds like you have a blown head gasket due to the loss of coolant lets confirm the issue by following this guide:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Please run down this guide and report back.

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Saturday, January 26th, 2019 AT 12:02 PM
Tiny
JASON FLICKNER
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  • 6 POSTS
Thanks for your response Ken. Any additional input or ideas is greatly appreciated.

It has had compression, bleed-down, and the antifreeze carbon test and it has "failed" all three tests. It is suspected to have a compromised head gasket or head that's currently having no effect on engine driving performance. Also all of the spark plugs have normal grayish combustion deposits and none appear steam cleaned.

Once the truck is started by filling the antifreeze it drives and accelerates great, idles fine without dying, and the temp gauge never passes the half mark. Sometimes it will start and run great for multiple days with hard driving both on the highway and in town with many stops before the no-start until I fill the coolant. Other times I have filled the coolant and it rough-starts after a five mile trip to the store. It's never left me stranded tho.

While driving it will blow a heavy white cloud but usually only during acceleration and only for the first 2-3 minutes of driving. Then the exhaust can't be seen by my friend intentionally following to check. I do believe the head or head gasket problem is part of the no start issue and the fuel pump is fine. But so far no one can explain to me why filling the coolant allows the engine to ignite and if anything can be done to fix the ignition problem short of rebuilding the engine?
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Saturday, January 26th, 2019 AT 2:48 PM
Tiny
JASON FLICKNER
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
I should also add that when it rough starts it will crank for a few seconds even after releasing the key. After several no-starts I can get it to ignite by pumping the gas pedal repeatedly while its cranking. It will start up very rough and weak but revs up within 1 minute and runs and drives great after. I know this indicates the truck will most likely no-start after the next stop. But even that is not a given and sometimes it starts with no problem on the next stop following a rough start.

Also a no-start is cranking the engine and repeatedly pumping the gas and it will not ignite at all after trying for a good while.

Here's a video I just made of the process when the truck will not start and adding coolant to make the truck to start strong.
Video (Click to make bigger)
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Saturday, January 26th, 2019 AT 2:56 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 51,648 POSTS
Thanks for the video, really helps. it sounds like a compression issue that resolves somehow like the lifters are pumped up causing the engine to lose compression do you have the correct engine oil weight?

Grade .................... API SL"Energy-Conserving", or ILSAC multigrade engine oil
Viscosity .................... 5W-30 (preferred), 10W-30

The coolant lose is a concern as well, it must be going somewhere. Here is a guide to help us confirm:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

I am going to put this to our other experts to see if they can jump in here to help.
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Monday, January 28th, 2019 AT 1:02 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
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Good afternoon,

If you have a head gasket leaking, it can still run pretty good until the leak gets bad enough to stop the engine.

You need to start with getting the head gasket replaced and the heads check for cracks and being warped.

That would be the first step.

If too much coolant gets in the oil, you can do bearing damage to the mains and rods.

Roy
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Monday, January 28th, 2019 AT 1:11 PM
Tiny
JASON FLICKNER
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
I changed the oil myself yesterday and filled with 5W-30 as well as a Lucas oil stabilizer. No indication of any coolant in the oil (milkshake color). The antifreeze must be over the radiator's overflow hole to start. Also the ambient temperature is near 60 today and there is no heavy white smoke in the exhaust. Actually you can barely see any exhaust.
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Monday, January 28th, 2019 AT 1:30 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
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Got it.

You still need to address the head gasket as soon as you can. That is the first step for this repair.

Roy
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Monday, January 28th, 2019 AT 1:52 PM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
  • MECHANIC
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Hi Jason got a weird one don't you? I suspect a faulty intake gasket allowing coolant to enter combustion without getting in oil or effecting compression. So when coolant is full it acts to seal intake from sucking air from crankcase leaning out some cylinders. Once running and up to temp pressure from coolant system stops air from entering cylinders. Think it over but removal of intake to see not a bad job and much cheaper than heads. Also agree with you not fuel pump.
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Monday, January 28th, 2019 AT 3:54 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 14,526 POSTS
I believe Doc may have the answer. White smoke would be coolant burning off and a small intake leak would likely seal up as the engine gets warm. A way to check to see if it is a head gasket would be to do a coolant pressure test while looking into each cylinder with a bore scope camera. You can get small ones that will work with a smart phone these days. Real handy for things like this.
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Monday, January 28th, 2019 AT 8:55 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 51,648 POSTS
Can we do a compression test to see what life is left on the engine? Here is a guide:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Let me know
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Tuesday, January 29th, 2019 AT 11:40 AM
Tiny
DOCFIXIT
  • MECHANIC
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Hi Jason, where are you in dilemma?
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Friday, February 1st, 2019 AT 12:03 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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Any progress on your truck Jason?
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Wednesday, February 6th, 2019 AT 4:58 PM
Tiny
JASON FLICKNER
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
I put in a fuel pump in my 4Runner this week and the no start problem remains. The morning after the new fuel pump was installed the truck wouldn't start. I added 2 ounces of coolant to top off the radiator and the truck started up strong. I now have a couple new mechanics running a coolant system pressure test and compression tests on all the cylinders. They did the exhaust in the coolant test, and the truck failed again. I don't have the exact results on the cylinder pressure tests yet but they just told me all the cylinders pressure tested pretty good for the truck's age. I will post all the results from the tests currently being run and any conclusions and recommendations from the new mechanics ASAP.
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Saturday, February 9th, 2019 AT 3:40 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
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Hi Jason,

What does pretty good mean? Was there any movement in the cooling system when they did the leak down test?

Roy
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Saturday, February 9th, 2019 AT 3:43 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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"They did the exhaust in the coolant test, and the truck failed again." That on its own says there is an internal problem. There should never be a way for combustion gasses to get into the cooling system. Plus you need to keep adding coolant to it as well. The engine either has a cracked block/head or a failed head gasket or a combination of them.

You said that it starts and runs good after adding coolant, that ruled out it being a fuel pump.
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Sunday, February 10th, 2019 AT 5:11 AM
Tiny
JASON FLICKNER
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
The cylinder compress test results were:
Left Bank Right Bank
1 - 165 1 - 160
2 - 155 2 - 160
3 - 170 3 - 165
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Sunday, February 10th, 2019 AT 4:48 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
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The compression is good and can be good, but you need to do a leak down test on each cylinder to see if there is compression pushing the coolant up in the radiator.

Roy
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Sunday, February 10th, 2019 AT 4:53 PM

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