Hard starting, but only once... so far!

[tadc]

Greetings all - thanks for participating in such a great forum.

My wife has an 07 Yaris automatic with about 43k miles on it. So far it's been nearly flawless (despite the TWO body-shop visits it's required due to... 'mishaps').

The other day, she went to drive the car to work and it didn't start on the first try - and it's always fired up pretty much instantly in the past.

She hit the key and let it crank automatically (as usual) and it gave no hints of starting. It seemed to crank at the normal speed and duration.

She tried again several times, and on the fourth or fifth try it started normally with no apparent issues. Since then we've driven the car several times and it hasn't repeated this behavior.

I had started the car a few hours earlier that morning and ran it briefly - just long enough to move it out from behind my car. I've done this many times in the past with no apparent issue.

Actually I lied earlier - just ONCE it did take an extra second or so of cranking to start. But that was months/years ago...

Any thoughts on what the car might be trying to tell us(other than it's just gone out of warranty)? :) Something flaky with whatever sensor that tells the car to fire the plugs? Dirty fuel filter? Some kind of air leak in the fuel system?

Thanks for any thoughts.

[1stToyota]

I could be incorrect, but it seems like this issue happens infrequently, but mostly with owners that bump the key just enough to let the ecm do the automatic cranking/starting...don't think it's been an issue w/ the ones that start their Yaris' the old fashion way.

[R2D2]

If you have the owners manual there is a section in there regarding the security system and the chip in the key. Given the info in that section concerning interference from key rings etc, I've come to expect an occasional starting glitch once in a while. Hasn't happened yet though. I don't keep much on the key ring though.

Do you have a lot of keys/metals on that key ring? If so you might try addressing that first.

R2

[tadc]

Thanks for the quick replies!

1stToyota- so you're suggesting it's a glitch with the "automatic" starting? I assumed that if the starter was running, everything else would function as normal, but I guess I could be wrong.

R2D2- I'm pretty sure this Yaris is free of any electronic wizbangery. It's a real stripper - no ABS, no power windows/locks, not even a rear wiper. In fact it didn't even come with a radio (although speakers and wiring were in place!), but I quickly rectified that problem.

From looking at the key, I'm pretty sure there's no chip or other electronics. It's the same generic Toyota key blank they've been using since the 80s.

She does have a fair amount of crap on the keyring though...

[Yaris Hilton]

Like 1stToyota said, there are a bunch of old threads on this forum describing the same thing, and it's usually turned out that the person with the problem was just quickly bumping the key and letting it start itself. Hold the key in the start position a little longer, and it works.