sedan struggling to start

[matthewboii]

Hi, i have an 08 sedan and my baby is having a hard time starting! I turn it over and i takes a few seconds of what sounds like when you have to crank an old cars ignition in its attempt to start! And this is at all times not just the morning, toyota wants to charge me 120 $ an hour to look at it and i can NOT afford that! Ughh whats the point of a warrenty when you still spend hella money!

Any ideas are so greatly appreciated

[KCALB SIRAY]

They souldn't be charging you if you have a warrenty. Odd they would say that. Check the spark for one thing.

[Brian]

Seems like this is happening to a lot more people now. It happens to me about once every six months.

[matthewboii]

What was wrong?

[supmet]

Autozone does free battery checks and maybe even starter/alternator checks too. If the starter check isn't free they'll have the tools to rent for free or cheap.

[talnlnky]

Go to an auto electric shop, they usually will test your battery for free. Check to make sure your bat is fine.

If its a battery issue, stop using electronics when you car is turned off... you are just killing your battery quicker.

If you have a manual and you don't fully press down the clutch sometimes it'll stutter cause you are riding the fence so to speak.

[1stToyota]

Hi, i have an 08 sedan and my baby is having a hard time starting! I turn it over and i takes a few seconds of what sounds like when you have to crank an old cars ignition in its attempt to start! And this is at all times not just the morning, toyota wants to charge me 120 $ an hour to look at it and i can NOT afford that! Ughh whats the point of a warrenty when you still spend hella money!

Any ideas are so greatly appreciated

If you've got extended cranking time before it starts, it won't be your battery. More likely a fuel pressure problem or fuel quality.

[Marthos]

Hi, i have an 08 sedan and my baby is having a hard time starting! I turn it over and i takes a few seconds of what sounds like when you have to crank an old cars ignition in its attempt to start! And this is at all times not just the morning, toyota wants to charge me 120 $ an hour to look at it and i can NOT afford that! Ughh whats the point of a warrenty when you still spend hella money!

Any ideas are so greatly appreciated

What do you mean by, like an old car, is it cranking slow? Is it cranking normal but for a longer time?

[matthewboii]

Normal but for a longer time, and what i mean is because of the way the starter is i am not actually physically holding the key and cranking, just giving it a quick turn and it does the "cranking" itself. And it just sound normal like a really slow start, like it tries three or four times before it actually starts

[jambo101]

Not sure why an 08 wouldnt be under warranty but i wouldnt use that auto start method i'd use the old fashion method and hold the key in the crank position for up to 5 seconds to start the car,if it doesnt start the first thing i'd do is call the dealer but failing that there isnt much you can do on a modern car as its all electronic,i'd open the gas cap to vent any over pressure, check for spark,check that all vacuum lines are attached and all electrical connections are tight then get some beer.

[TheRealEnth]

That happened to me for like 3 weeks until the battery finally gave on me, and i needed a jump... check your battery like they said at an autozone or something like that... thats the most likely culprit... Turn everything off before turning on your car... A/C, Radio, Etc

[Marthos]

That happened to me for like 3 weeks until the battery finally gave on me, and i needed a jump... check your battery like they said at an autozone or something like that... thats the most likely culprit... Turn everything off before turning on your car... A/C, Radio, Etc

A shot in the dark here but read the manual about your keys, Do you have the transponder keys (maybe wrong name my manual isnt infront of me atm) I read about the key ring and other keys causing a nostart.

I bet thats your problem, however, this has happened to me 1 time and I have the normal keys.

[matthewboii]

Thank to those of you who actually fully read what i was asking, called toyota back and the guy i spoke to had just forgotten to mention that id be covered if it wasnt something i had done, so we will see next sat whats wrong! Sadly i have to wait, i have a busy schedule

[Kioshi]

BAttery terminals, are they CLEAN?

Mine hasn't done this since i cleaned out my terminals...it use to this sometimes and in cold starts, but not anymore.

And my toyota dealer also wanted to charge me $120, even though the car is stil under warranty (engine wise)...I'll fight them off~~

[Brian]

Mine just did it a couple of hours ago.

[Kioshi]

Brian, are you going to go into the dealers to check it out soon?

I would like to know the actual cause of this (confirmed), instead of guessing ie: spark plugs, alternator, starter, batter terminals, etc....

Keep us updated on this situation~

[Brian]

I'm not gonna take it in seeing as how it rarely happens and chances are the dealer won't be able
to duplicate the problem. I'm not to worried about it at this point. I still have 35k miles left on
my warranty.

[matthewboii]

Well i will be going in next Saturday, because im at 27k and really at this point NOTHING should be wrong with my car its still brand new and i take WONDERFUL care of it, so i will post what the verdict is.

[PhilD424]

Well i will be going in next Saturday, because im at 27k and really at this point NOTHING should be wrong with my car its still brand new and i take WONDERFUL care of it, so i will post what the verdict is.Can you make some kind of audio recording of this or a video of the problem?

[Kioshi]

True, and they might start pointing fingers at your DC Header and try to charge you to take a look at the problem overall ~_~.... they'll bust me for my Fujita CAI :P

I'll let you know IF i get this problem again..i see corrosion building up again on the terminals~~~

EDIT: Thanks Matthewboii, update us next Saturday...it will be of great help ^_^

[Brian]

they'll have to prove one of my installed parts caused the problem which is impossible because this happened more times when the car was completely stock.

[Kioshi]

Yeah, but they'll still be persistent about the bolt on mods on our cars...service advisers are just lame like that in California.... :(

Maybe replace the battery terminals w/ new ones? If it did it when it was stock, mine did it before i had CAI and under drive pulleys....

I'll wait for matthewboii's response back to this..

[AlexNet0]

If you have a manual and you don't fully press down the clutch sometimes it'll stutter cause you are riding the fence so to speak.


sounds like battery or alt not charging properly.

just wanted to quote above and point out that the inability to start without clutch on OUR standard transmission is purely due to a switch that is mounted on the top of the clutch pedal. It is on or off, allowing an instant signal to be transmitted to the ECU to crank, no in between or "riding the fence" due to that safety feature.

I know this because I do not press the clutch pedal while starting the car, ever. I have removed this switch and soldered the wires together for a remote starter.

I would however like to see if the OP ever got this resolved.

[Kioshi]

Forgot to add, when this problem occurred A LOT, i had the battery checked and the mechanic (3rd party) said the battery is charging. but it could be the alternator not charging like you said Alex... would the underdrive alternator pulley have something to do w/ this??

[AlexNet0]

Forgot to add, when this problem occurred A LOT, i had the battery checked and the mechanic (3rd party) said the battery is charging. but it could be the alternator not charging like you said Alex... would the underdrive alternator pulley have something to do w/ this??

if it is the underdrive pulley, then it would be the first case of this that i have heard of. It is unlikely, however if the alternator is just barely putting out enough amperage to match drain, then running any extra electronics would seem to have the opposite effect of a "trickle charge", more like "trickle drain". making the output of the battery weak at all times, but you would not notice during driving, because the alternator is supplying just barely enough to sustain ignition and battery amperage.

if that makes any sense. then the underdrive pulley would make it even harder to charge. but no, not directly caused by the pulley, just revealing a pre-existing issue.

the alternator and wires need to be checked; the alternator for output, and the cables to ground/battery checked for connection secure-ness and corrosion.

[Kioshi]

I hope its the latter. I have all 3 pulleys and dont want to take any out :( i will take a close-up pic of my terminals to further progress this thread for you guys...

My negative terminal is cracked very little, but can be replaced easily...might be a factor in this problem?

[AlexNet0]

I hope its the latter. I have all 3 pulleys and dont want to take any out :( i will take a close-up pic of my terminals to further progress this thread for you guys...

My negative terminal is cracked very little, but can be replaced easily...might be a factor in this problem?

cracked? I would replace it. I have had "secure" (not really tight) battery connections cause intermittent cranking, however when properly secured, (tight, not able to wiggle, move, etc.), the problem went away. not this car, fyi, but an issue I have seen regardless.

[Sir A.Y. Atoyot]

cracked? I would replace it. I have had "secure" (not really tight) battery connections cause intermittent cranking, however when properly secured, (tight, not able to wiggle, move, etc.), the problem went away. not this car, fyi, but an issue I have seen regardless.

The terminals can be as tight as you like, the real issue is whether or not they are clean. Not the outside - the inside that contacts the post on the battery. The only way to find out is to remove the terminal clamps from the battery and clean the insides of them, along with the battery posts, using sandpaper or a wire brush. Get both inside the clamps and outside the posts perfectly clean and shiny. If there are any deposits left, scrape them off with an old knife or something. Coat the surfaces with Vaseline and tighten the clamps. You might need new bolts and nuts.

[AlexNet0]

The terminals can be as tight as you like, the real issue is whether or not they are clean. Not the outside - the inside that contacts the post on the battery. The only way to find out is to remove the terminal clamps from the battery and clean the insides of them, along with the battery posts, using sandpaper or a wire brush. Get both inside the clamps and outside the posts perfectly clean and shiny. If there are any deposits left, scrape them off with an old knife or something. Coat the surfaces with Vaseline and tighten the clamps. You might need new bolts and nuts.


Same issue I was getting at, just forgot to mention it, all about the contact.

[YarisSedan]

yeah corossion on the battery will kill the battery faster draining voltage and amps overnight creating a weak start. Espcially if it only happens on a cold morning. Altenator is charging fine because you would have a battery light on.

Another possibility to hard start is carbon buildup inside the engine and manifold. Carbon absorbs the fuel and also gums up everything making it much harder to start. Especially if you are using low quality discount gas without any detergents to keep the engine clean then you probally do have a bit of buildup which is why it takes little longer to start the car.

Maybe time for a fuel system service.