Trying to start 01 Tundra w/ 3400

Hi Everybody, I have a Tundra that shut down on me a while back. I drove it home on propane. I need it to drive now. The first problem was fuel related. It would start on ether but would not stay running. One day I put ether in it it started and ran for about 5 minutes on gas alone. I shut it off and tried again. no restart w/o ether. I think it probably needs pump or juice to pump. My immediate problem is it started to rain and I accidentally locked all my keys in the truck w/ ign in the on position till the next day till dealer opened. I charged battery up and then tried starting it on ether. No good. I checked all ecm fuses. All good. Any ideas?

 

Official welcome

 

Thank you Seth for the welcome. That is an impressive and high pickup you have there. Chuck

 

How many miles on it, just so we can get a gauge on fatigue of parts?

I mean, any time something starts with starter fluid but won't stay running, and won't run on its own, I'm thinking it's a fuel delivery issue. So I'd say fuel pump.

The fact it won't start now, if you fully drained your battery the last time, you didn't say how old the battery is, but over-depleting a battery can damage it. You can pull the battery and run it to your local auto parts store for testing.

You know you can also take your truck into the dealership and pay an hourly rate for diagnostics, right? They can tell you what's wrong, you just gotta pay to have it towed in and towed out. My insurance covers me on towing, so it's heavily discounted if I don't use it often. Maybe yours does too.

 

Thanks for your reply Shifty. The patient has 287,000 on the clock. Battery works fine. My biggest issue is I don't think it is firing. The local dealer wants 130 to tell me what is wrong. Sometimes they don't get it right. more to fix it.Doubt they will use aftermarket parts. I have no insurance. Maybe 2 tows. If I get it to fire I can drive it to a garage and have them drop the tank if I need to. I am working by myself. Thanks for trying. Chuck

 

Welcome,

Quickest, cheapest, easiest, best, most cost-effective way of determining if the issue is fuel pump/fuel pressure related is to hook a mechanical gauge up to the fuel rail and check the pressure there. Factory spec is between 36-44 psi, IIRC. Check the bleed-off rate. After 5 min the pressure should still be greater than 21 psi.

 

Do any of the cheap OBDII wireless dongles show fuel pressure? Could be another way for OP to check those values.

I'd be highly skeptical if suddenly the truck is not firing any spark at all across all cylinders. Can you pop off a coil while someone turns it over to check for spark just for some kind of confirmation there's no spark at one or more coils? Lack of any spark from any coil would be a significant symptom.

While I'm sure you think the battery is good, but a free test is a free test to ensure it has the amperage to crank, not just the voltage. Ruling out one possible culprit, which can remove several other possibilities. Sometimes finding symptoms is just as important as ruling them out.

 

Check for spark
Check for fuel pressure

 

IDK. I may be unnecessarily archaic and skeptical of an electronic devices ability in this regard but I feel more confident and comfortable with nothing but a mechanical gauge and the fuel rail and nothing in between.

 

That's my preference. Example from my first LS swap 15ish years ago here: https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversi...to-68-chevy-c-10-stepside-10.html#post6993756

See pics at the bottom of that massive wall of text. Was only documenting it heavily in case it'd help others work through the same. Hardly anyone was doing GenIII swaps into 67-72 GM pickups back then.

I don't fully see a way to do similar with the 4.7 in my Tundra, but I'd actually like to do it, honestly. Digital is convenient, analog is king.