Erratic starting after ignition and keys were replaced?

Joe, Thank you. I don't know what you mean by the immobilizer being "set" nor being "reprogrammed". Yes, I believe that the starter engages. The engine always cranks. Sometimes it will start smoothly with no problems. Sometimes it starts and then almost immediately shuts down, Sometimes it won't start at all. Regardless my mechanic is now convinced that my car has the immobilizer. Toyota has since acknowledged that the new ignition furnished by Toyota s not immobilizer compatible and the keys they furnished lack the transponder chip. Toyota no longer has available an immobilizer compatible ignition for at least my car. My mechanic determined that the car started and stayed running as long as the old key was in contact with the new key and/or ignition. As soon as the old key fell into a different position on the key ring the engine would stop and/or not start at all. My mechanic's solution is to take the car to a locksmith who will re-key the ignition to accept my old keys with transponder chips that will be re-coded to work with the new ignition. That is preferable to the somewhat cheaper option of getting blank new keys with programmed transponder chip and having them keyed to fit the new ignition which would require me to carry my old key to unlock the doors and my new key to start the car.

Bill

Joe,

Yes re-keying the new ignition to work off the old keys and re-programming the old keys to the new ignition solved the problem. Thanks for your assistance and interest.

Bill