Truck won’t start

For about 10 minutes tonight, I thought my truck was leaving me stranded. Finished baseball practice and hit the remote start like normal to hear my starter spinning but no fire. I turn off the remote start to get the starter to stop spinning.

Thinking it’s probably the remote start module that took I shit I try to start it with the key - same deal. Engine spins over with the starter but not even close to starting like it’s not getting any fuel. Decide to unhook the battery to let the ECUs reset and try the key again - no luck.

At this point I call my wife and tell her I have to call a tow truck. Explaining its like the fuel pump died and I remember reading here about people having the fuel ecu mounted to the frame rail fail. Decided to hook the battery and give that box and the tank a few good whacks and make sure the connection are seated. Try again and the truck fires up like normal. No check engine light, no abnormal operation after it starts.

Any guesses on what the deal was? I don’t know if tapping the fuel ecu had any impact or it was coincidence but everything including the remote start is back to working normal. Sucks though because I’ll definitely think twice about where I’m turning it off for a long time.


Side note - truck had exactly 91,000 miles when this happened.

 

@Ruggybuggy - any ideas?

 

Interested to find out what it was.

 

Do you have Techstream? I would start by seeing if there are any codes.

 

Weird.. in to see what happens

 

I have a viper remote start with audiovox bypass. I have had this issue in the past, but not for a long while. When I was installing some wiring for power fold mirrors I made sure all my wiring for the remote start was tight and not moving all over the place. I found one loose wire. Fixed that and haven't had the problem since. Make sure you don't have a wire that is shorting out because it came out or was cut due to vibrating against a sharp metal support in the dash. That was actually the problem I had.

 

Search around and get a working version. Even though there are no hard codes there could be codes set that won't turn on the CE light and would help you. Because your truck is running fine now there really isn't a problem. Don't load the part cannon and hope to solve the issue you had. It could get very expensive.

 

Inside tech stream lol couldn't help it lol

 

do you have obd fusion app?

 

If you download the app and come over to my house I can give you a Veepeak dongle

 

@Ruggybuggy

horrible pic but I’ve got P0230 and P1604

 

This thread seems to further my initial suspicion of faulty FPCM…
https://www.tundras.com/threads/fuel-pump-control-module-ground-side-circuit-voltage-drop.63638/

 

Now we're getting somewhere. Don't condemn the fuel pump module yet. Disconnect the connector to the fuel pump and test for power and ground. You can activate the pump fuel circuit with Techstream. Tundra had a problem with the two wire harness that runs from the module to the fuel pump.

 

Thank you for getting back to me on this. I’m assuming testing while everything is working normal is kinda like pissing in the wind and I’ll need to wait until it won’t fire to look into the harness / connector issue? Voltage good would indicate pump problem and low or absent would point to harness or module issue?

 

Personally I would look as the harness and connectors. You could also try a wiggle test. Start the truck, parking brake on and truck in park (safety first). Wiggle the harness and see if you can get the truck to die.

 

That kinda sounds sexual

 

Got to experience more of this today. Truck worked flawlessly Thurs-this afternoon. After driving all over town this morning and making multiple stops, hit the gas station on the way home. When I went to start it after getting fuel, it didn’t want to start. This time - the starter didn’t want to keep spinning where as before I could turn it off and pull the key and the starter would continue spinning.

Exact same sequence as before except I didn’t try to start it via remote start. Multiple failed attempts with key, unhooked battery still no start. Unhooked battery second time and hit fuel pump ecu and fuel tank. Reconnected battery and it started.

Notable difference this time - after the failed starts 4hi, 4lo flashed with trac control, airbag, and battery light on.



I’ll check for new codes. This is getting old fast.

 

This time it did not log any codes.

 

How old is your battery?

Edit: Better question would be what's the voltage of your battery?
Edit Edit: Test the voltage in the morning.

 

4 years old but it’s a Northstar AGM. I just threw my DMM on to verify and it’s putting out 12.86v even after the multiple non starts and a short drive home.

I have a voltage booster installed and it’s been topped off every 6 months or so.

 

Opened the fuse box and found the 10A ignition fuse a little wobbly due to an add-a-fuse with the iHacker LED headlight harness.

 

Pulled the ign fuse and get the same symptom as earlier today - same flashing lights and everything.

wondering if it coming loose during start sequence triggered the fuel pump code…

I don’t remember the lights flashing the first time this happened but it’s possible I just missed it. I had a lot going on and my kid with me.

 

Is this a fuse inside the cab or in the engine bay?

 

Under the hood. The main fuse box between the battery and the master cylinder

 

I absolutely hate those fuse taps. They leave a loose fitting connection and can cause all sorts of problems. Get in there with a small pick and see if you can tighten up the fuse terminal. Check other fuses for the same condition. Generally when weird multiple stuff happens its usually a bad ground or battery. Load test the battery and do voltage drop tests. Check all your grounds from the battery.

 

Pretending to run the Baja 1000 in the cinders a couple times a year probably doesn’t help.

 

I moved the add a fuse to the low beam headlight circuit instead of using the ignition circuit. Figure it’s better to lose a headlight than deal with non-start. Eliminating one variable at a time…

 

The mental gymnastics are real. Keep at it. Stay strong.

 

I was wondering how the hell could that come loose. Fast Fridays….yeah you aspiring trophy trucks will shake that shit out