2008 Camry doesn't start, but does after battery disco/reco

[The_Jeff]

BIL's car. 170k miles. Only codes are for EVAP and CAT. 4 cyl non-hybrid.

Had it over to try to patch the rocker panels. (Cold work, no welding.) Went to start it, I cranked but let go of the key slightly prematurely and it didn't start. (I'm used to Fords and others that will keep cranking until they start even if you release the key.)

Tried again, nothing, not even a fart of lighting off. Cranks great.

Thought I flooded it, tried flooring the gas as well as intermediate positions. Nothing. Did not smell of gas.

Disconnected the battery, reconnected. Started like just off the showroom floor. Let it idle for a few minutes, it varied the idle up and down a bit for a normal-seeming relearn. Turned car off, restarted, it's fine.

Now it's doing it for BIL. Might have been doing it before, we don't know, he doesn't share car problems willingly.

Thoughts?

 

[D60]

Toyotas are incredibly bad about relearning throttle trim after a battery is disco'd. Seen it on an '01 RAV4 and '09 Taco where it's all you can do to get it to start and idle after power is removed.

Granted, it seems you have the opposite problem, but I'm still guessing it's a butterfly trim issue. Clean the TB?

How is batt voltage? Is it losing its relearn if dipping too deep during cranking?

 

[TmanP]

Did it get started and shut off a few times without really warming up/getting driven, to move around the garage/driveway for the body work? I had that happen once on my 2.5 - it was moved around the driveway/garage for a very short distance in cool weather and then did not start properly the first time I tried afterwards (I suppose it was technically flooded as I remember a bit of white smoke out the exhaust once it was running). It started fine after I did the "clear flood" (foot to floor while cranking) procedure. That might explain it happening as a one-off, but it is odd that it would happen again. I'd try cleaning the throttle body as a cheap and easy first step.

 

[Nukeman7]

Although it is not showing a P0335 or P0339 code, it kinda sounds like an intermittent failure of the crankshaft position sensor.

 

[Egg_Head]

BIL's car. 170k miles. Only codes are for EVAP and CAT. 4 cyl non-hybrid. ....

Now it's doing it for BIL. Might have been doing it before, we don't know, he doesn't share car problems willingly.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are no good deed goes unpunished when it comes to "free" auto repair. It has bitten me more than once.

 

[supton]

Did it get started and shut off a few times without really warming up/getting driven, to move around the garage/driveway for the body work? I had that happen once on my 2.5 - it was moved around the driveway/garage for a very short distance in cool weather and then did not start properly the first time I tried afterwards (I suppose it was technically flooded as I remember a bit of white smoke out the exhaust once it was running). It started fine after I did the "clear flood" (foot to floor while cranking) procedure. That might explain it happening as a one-off, but it is odd that it would happen again. I'd try cleaning the throttle body as a cheap and easy first step.

I had something like that happen once. Started, moved, shut down, all in seconds. It sat for a week and then cranked stupid fast, but not starting. Finally came back after a really long crank time. Not sure if that is what you or the OP had, but ever since, I've been reluctant to start (and run) a car for less than a minute.

2008 Camry would have the 2.4 and not the 2.5 that I had in 2011. But Toyota probably used the same programming.

 

[IndyIan]

Did you hear the fuel pump priming with the car on, but not started yet? I've had a similar thing with the old Focus needing a longer crank time. I wonder if its something to do the fuel system and its on demand pump control? The ECU thinks, that the injectors have pressure, but don't?

 

[The_Jeff]

Did you hear the fuel pump priming with the car on, but not started yet? I've had a similar thing with the old Focus needing a longer crank time. I wonder if its something to do the fuel system and its on demand pump control? The ECU thinks, that the injectors have pressure, but don't?

Really good question! I don't recall either way, I think they're very quiet on these cars.

 

[Nukeman7]

Did you hear the fuel pump priming with the car on, but not started yet? I've had a similar thing with the old Focus needing a longer crank time. I wonder if its something to do the fuel system and its on demand pump control? The ECU thinks, that the injectors have pressure, but don't?

Really good question! I don't recall either way, I think they're very quiet on these cars.

If you suspect it may be a failing fuel pump or FP relay, try the old mechanic's trick or spraying carburetor cleaner aerosol into the air intake / throttle body snorkel for 5 seconds and cranking immediately. If it starts and runs for several seconds, you have confirmed it has spark and compression. As such, it is narrowed down to a fuel delivery issue.

 

[D60]

If you suspect it may be a failing fuel pump or FP relay, try the old mechanic's trick or spraying carburetor cleaner aerosol into the air intake / throttle body snorkel for 5 seconds and cranking immediately. If it starts and runs for several seconds, you have confirmed it has spark and compression. As such, it is narrowed down to a fuel delivery issue.

Not exactly, could just be a mixture issue.

I hear what you're saying, but caution and skepticism are warranted here. I had a Nissan where I almost replaced the fuel pump because it would run several seconds on the juice, but it was just a MAF problem

I'd absolutely verify fuel pressure before throwing a pump at it. At the very least, pull a line and watch for it to puke when priming.

Also I don't know how Toy does it, but on a '14 Rogue it won't prime EVERY time. It seemed to be on a timer, but I never determined the exact logic. You could get two or three consecutive primes, then it seemed I had to wait ~30 seconds, so I don't think it was based upon FRP