Starting / Fuel Line / Fuel Pump or Blocked Fuel Filter or plugs

JREXJET

MEMBER
1998 TOYOTA CAMRY
2.2L
6 CYL
RWD
MANUAL
315,000 MILES

1998 Camry V6 Manual.
Lately when I try and start it in the morning it fires but then coughs and splutters and then shuts off again. Each time you try to re start it thereafter it stays on a little longer each time ( a few seconds or so ) then coughs and splutters until it shuts off and then after quite a few attempts it seems to fire as normal and then everything’s fine. Once it fires as normal it runs without incident for the rest of the day and starts fine everytime however if you leave it un started for more than 8 hours ( usually overnight ) it has the issue starting again. It has a battery only 2 months old as I replaced that but didn't fix the issue. It seems to be taking longer and longer each morning and draining the battery now trying to get it going in the morning? Any ideas? I think that it being un started for more than 8 hours in the biggest clue?

4 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,737 POSTS

Sounds like fuel pressure is not holding when the engine is off. You can verify that by connecting a fuel pressure gauge and watching what it shows after the engine has been off for a long time. Battery voltage gets drawn down during cranking, and that causes the fuel pump to run slower than normal during that period. That makes it take a lot longer to build pressure high enough for the injectors to work. You can try turning the ignition switch to "run", then to "off", wait a few seconds, do that a second time, THEN turn it back on and crank the engine. Each time you do that, the pump will run for one or two seconds. That will give it a chance to build pressure before you start cranking the engine.

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Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 AT 6:20 PM

JREXJET

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thank you. That definitely sounds like the issue as once that pressure is high enough it goes no problem so I'll give that a try. If it is indeed a pressure problem what part do I need to get looked at or replaced?

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Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 AT 6:52 PM

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,737 POSTS

Losing pressure can be caused by a leaking injector, a leaking fuel pressure regulator, and a leaking check valve in the fuel pump assembly. You have to pull the injectors out still attached to the fuel rail, and watch to see if one gets wet to tell if it's leaking. For a leaking regulator, on engines that still use a regulator with vacuum hose on the fuel rail, you can pinch off the return hose, then watch to see if the pressure holds. If the check valve in the pump is leaking, the pressure typically drops pretty fast compared to the other two causes.

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Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 AT 7:05 PM

JREXJET