My car won't start -- Fuel Pump and/or Rail?

[02slera]

^^^ kinda looks like the plug that is supposed to go to a horn or piezo around that area, on my car, there is what appears to be a horn located behind the passenger side strut, but my car was wrecked before i got it, other have said there is supposed to be a horn or such inside the front passenger fender that i think is supposed to make noise when you hit lock multiple times on keyless entry. mine does not operate properly, so it doesn't matter how many times i hit the "lock" button, the car doesnt make any beeps, and the horn that is on my car under the hood behind the passenger side strut never seems to make any sounds. then again my car was rigged anyway, i have a jumper running from the horn relay to the horn in front of the radiator so the horn will work.

[wyckd]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh

car stalled again.

This is gonna be one of those things where when you figure out what's causing it you go "doh!" and smack your head. Have someone with a camera nearby when you figure it out so you can post your reaction.

damn..if only it were that simple. i would love for a simple problem like that, something foolish... but i've honestly checked everywhere lol. i'm pretty damn sure i checked everything. and the car is 10 years old...and so are its wires.

i'm gonna try this next:

The EFI fuse powers no less then 12 components, 4-5 of which are in close proximity of where you were working. These are the Evap vsv, EGR vsv, Canister vsv, ACIS vsv, and the Idle Air Control Motor. I suspect that you may have gotten some sea-foam or whatever cleaner you used to clean the ACIS valve into the vacuum actuator chamber of the ACIS, Now when the ECM actuated the ACIS vsv it pulled the cleaner out of the vacuum chamber and into the vsv and creating a dead short across the coil for the vsv, this short will only get to ground when the ECM tries to actuate the ACIS as it sends a ground to the vsv.
Try removing the small black cover on top of the engine and disconnect the ACIS vsv (follow the vacuum line from the ACIS Valve to the vsv if you dint know which one it is) and start the car and let it warm up then drive it ( not on the highway or busy streets). If it runs OK try hooking it back up and see if it acts up.
Let me know what you find.

btw, that loose wire at the passenger firewall...seems to be factory alarm wire, which i don't have installed. the Viper alarm i have is installed at driver's side firewall.

[wyckd]

i haven't tried anything since my last post, the fuse still keeps blowing out.

but, i'd like to pose a few questions to you car geniuses if you will so oblige me...

. can a flooded engine cause a fuse to blow out?
. to get to my fuel pump for troubleshooting and/or replacement, do i have to drain the fuel tank?
. would it be stupid to replace my stock pump with a Walbro 190 fuel pump? i don't plan on any boosts/charge.
. could a bad spark plug prevent the fuel from burning WHILE the engine's going and driving the car? i mean, could spark plug be one of numerous reasons why the fuse keeps going out at ridiculously low RPMs?
. i hear fuel sloshing around when i start my engine...almost like a loud trickling sound...is that normal? i don't recall hearing that before. (i did hear it before messing with the ACIS, i'm sure)

[02slera]

without boost there is no reason to upgrade the fuel pump to a higher volume pump. to test the fuel pump, i would look for the fuel pump relay and find the wire that is energized and powers the pump, then test that wire with a multimeter to see amperage. if its not a short or pinched wire, then something on that circuit is pulling too much power.

[wyckd]

without boost there is no reason to upgrade the fuel pump to a higher volume pump. to test the fuel pump, i would look for the fuel pump relay and find the wire that is energized and powers the pump, then test that wire with a multimeter to see amperage. if its not a short or pinched wire, then something on that circuit is pulling too much power.

thanks. i've decided to quit and take the car to a mechanic. i don't have the equipment nor time to try and diagnose the problem. damn car is taking time away from my studies...not good...


btw, what the heck is this? it sits right underneath where the intake tube meets the manifold (at least, i think it's called the manifold)

[Midias]

Thats the IAC

[wyckd]

i dropped like a teaspoon of seafoam onto that...

[wyckd]

well, local mechanic is stumped too. i'm taking it to dealership now...let's see what balonie they come up with for profit.



edit: lol..........Toyota can't find anything either...wtf do i do now

[02slera]

i know what i would do.
i would put i multimeter in line with the fuel pump or another part on that circuit, and keep an eye on it, and if i blow a fuse without a spike in amperage on any particular part then i would move on to the next part until i find which one is causing the excess amperage. you should buy a lot of fuses of that size and keep them in your car obviously. its simple to see that the amperage of the circuit cannot exceed the amperage rating of the fuse. it sounds like your problem is kind of intermittent, that probably why others cant find it, but if you have a meter hooked up to the circuit WHEN the fuse blows, then your making progress. there will be a sudden change in amperage, it may happen so fast that you only have a split second to see the meter, some meters have a "hold" function where they will keep the highest number on the screen. you have to find the source of the amperage increase. also try to look for certain conditions that are in place everytime the fuse blows, for example... are you more than 1/4 on the gas every time? is it just when the engine heats up? does it only blow when returning to idle after driving? etc.

[wyckd]

i guess i'll use this thread as a personal log to track my progress...

i'm gonna go shopping for a multimeter tomorrow for the car...

but here's something else i've observed.

i believe the same day, or day before i messed with the ACIS, i installed an auto dimming mirror following the instructions on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36175
i did that less carefully than i should have, so i unplugged the power to the mirror...car still blows a fuse. i'm going to go back in the A column and check for damaged wires and solder the splice instead of scotchloking.

i then removed the cigarette lighter, and a USB adapter that goes into it to see if that helps...nope..car still blows a fuse.

i did observe though, that, the car only blows a fuse when i accelerate too quick. and going off the fact that i never have problems on the highway or high speeds, i realized the car only blows a fuse at first gear. i have to accelerate like a grandma keeping the RPM under 2000, once i'm in 2nd gear, i can drive like an a-hole or whatever, car runs fine. for example: today, i was at a stop sign, car behind me honked at me because i wasn't paying attention and missed the green left-turn arrow. when it was yellow, i tried to go, and i accelerated too quick (yet still under 1500~RPM) the car blew a fuse.

i also noticed, that the car is low on motor oil...my last oil change was by Toyota...it was free...i'm guessing they skimped on the oil and didn't put in 5 quarts.

so now i wan't to figure out...why does the car only blow a fuse at first gear accelerating "too quickly"? i think this is why i couldn't figure it out before, even though i noticed my car always blew a fuse in 2 situations, taking off a stop sign, and braking, and taking off shortly after because the light turned green--i normally don't drive fast.

so...onto the multimeter i guess...at least i know now how to intentionally blow the fuse.

[02slera]

also, as for all the items your checking, such as the power mirror and 12v outlet, its probably useless to check items that do not lose power when the fuse blows. in other words, its something on that circuit thats causing the problem, so it is something that "goes out" or "loses power" when the fuse is blown. the things you unplugged may very well be on that circuit, i dont know, but just thought id tell you if you didnt already know this. when you buy a multimeter, buy a digital one that reads dc voltage and most importantly current. the voltage will be read in volts (obviously) and the current will be read in amperes or amps for short. what your looking for is the amperage to go higher than the number on the fuse. you have to put the meter "in" the circuit to accurately measure the amps, so you disconnect a wire, touch the positive lead of the meter to that wire, and the negative lead of the meter to where that wire was hooked up, so now the electricity flows through the meter.

EDIT: sorry if what im telling you is knowledge you already have, im am only trying to help.

[wyckd]

actually, most this diagnostic stuff is new territory to me. what you're telling me is very useful and i appreciate your help.

the mirror i disconnected from power because, at the time, i wasn't sure which cable i had tapped into for power...only knowing that it was one of the ignition cables underneath the dash. the 12v...that was just something simple i wanted to rule out so i don't have to slap my forehead later if it actually turned out to be the cause of all my troubles. but it isn't, so now i must move onto more harder methods of diagnosis.

another thing of concern to me was that i moved the rubber stopper from the OEM position of my kick-down cable following the instructions here: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showt ... post485045

[wyckd]

Log:

went backwards with the auto dimming mirror installation, checked all wires. left the scotchlok as it looked to be very rigid--wrapped it with electrical tape. checked for broken wires nearby. relocated its grounding.

removed retrofit HID/Projector headlights. replaced with aftermarket anzo headlights (which, its halos are absolute garbage btw).

restored original position of kickdown cable.


floored the car at a complete stop to force the fuse to blow....it did. i noticed the kickdown cable at its original position makes things worse because it takes longer to get out of first gear. so i moved that back to its modded position. now i accelerate like a grandma and watch to upshift before accelerating more (i drive an auto trans).

i guess that rules out all the irrelevant possibilities...tomorrow i shall get my hands on a multimeter. and to get a list of all the hardware connected to the EFI circuit for testing.

[02slera]

guess...
something wrong with wiring/connections around fuel injection
or
fuel pump issue.
i dont know how hard/expensive it is to replace the fuel pump, you may want to consider doing so.
just a guess though.

[wyckd]

i was going to replcae the fuel pump, and maybe even the relay...but only after i was certain that it was the cause of the hiccups at first gear.

how is a "flush" different from a drain & fill? i was thinking maybe i should do that for my transmission...that's the one area i never really looked into, and i don't think i ever did anything with it....and i've driven the car myself for at least 50,000 miles. through snow, the desert, and the mountains.

i've seen a few threads on toyotnation regarding transmission fluid...and 100% saying don't flush, yet drain & fill is recommended.