Sometimes it works and some it doesn't

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A

abozool

10 Year
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Threads
1
Messages
3
Location
Cookeville, TN
Hey all,

Please for give me for making my first thread about my car problem :ban:

Ok, so I have a 1999 Land Cruiser V8 it runs great and all that lovely, but some times it doesn't not start it cranks but it wont start, so my V8 runs on the mood. I took it to couple of mechanics and non of them knows what the problem with it. I checks the fuse and all electronics and also changed the starter and I changed the Cylinders plug. So yes I have done a lot for it, but still it did not change anything.

So, please help me I'm desperate right now:(
 
Do search on efi fuse and immobilizer issues here. Lots of info.
 
Check fuel from from the fuel pump. A number of members have had fuel pump issues.
 
My LC left me stranded, albeit temporarily, at a gas station on the Colorado / New Mexico state line last year. It turned out to be an EFI fuse that looked fine when it was installed. The problem wasn't hard or time consuming to find. Air, fuel, and fire all have to be present for combustion to occur. I had a scanner with me and there weren't any codes so I was pretty sure that fire wasn't the issue. I was still breathing so it wasn't air :D. That meant check fuel. The filter was new and the tank was full so the first thing that I checked was the EFI fuse. Initially it looked ok but I decided to change it anyway. When I pulled it one leg was burned thru. It's a very odd failure mode for a fuse...
 
It is strange that it runs intermittently and when it runs it's totally fine. It really never dies randomly? It's only when starting? And no hiccups, loss of power or dashboard lights coming on from time to time?

You need to diagnose this during those times when it won't start. At those times when it's refusing to run you can unclamp the fuel line and put it into a bottle to see if the fuel pump is working (only turn it over briefly as the bottle will overflow much more quickly than you think if the pump is indeed working). If fuel is being pumped the next thing I would check for is spark at the plugs. I agree that air supply should not be the issue as there is no turbocharger to fail. Those two tests will narrow the diagnosis to a fuel or spark problem. You can go from there.

Let's say it doesn't pump fuel. When something like this happens (it works every now and then) you often have to look beyond the fuse box for a short circuit, because a blown fuse should provide consistent failure, whereas if there is an intermittent short somewhere or if the pump is crummy it might work from time to time. If it does pump fuel, you know your timing belt could be ragged and hanging by a thread, so if that's due I would change it before it snaps completely.
 
I'm having the same issue at this moment. In fact I was about to write a RTH thread because I need to move my LX and it won't start and I saw this thread.

So I'm reading here and googling to find more info. I was reading that if you have a failing fuel pump then some symptoms include
Engine sputters at high speeds meaning it jerks around, loss of power while accelerating,
Loss of power while car is under stress, surging meaning the vehicle is moving along fine then suddenly surges as if you depressed the accelerator, and lastly the no start issue.

I haven't had any of those symptoms at all. My car clicks but won't start.

My 80 series did the same thing. I changed the starter and all good.

In 80s tech I have also read of people getting new starters only to fail a few months down the line.
 
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A bad starter is pretty easy to diagnose if you can make sure your battery is okay: assuming a good battery the starter either engages and turns the engine over (in which case it's good or at least not totally shot) or the engine doesn't turn over and the starter makes some kind of evil sound in which case it or one of its parts/connections could be bad (assuming the engine isn't seized (which is easy to test as well)).

Starters have the bad habit of failing either right away or after a long time (they follow the typical bathtub curve--I believe common consensus is that the OEM starters on these vehicles are usually good for somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10 years/180000 miles (no one measures how many times the starter has been engaged, and it would've matter anyway as it's just an average--a lot of people just replace them at that time when they are doing round two of the 90,000 mile maintenance with the timing belt, water pump, hoses and tees, etc.))
 
Yeah. My starter has to be OG. 17 years old, but only 94k miles on it.

At least with the 80 I could bang on the starter, because I could get to it, and make the truck start.

Any other way to get this truck started assuming it's the starter.
 
In the real world, I don't think you can start a Series 100 without the starter. In a lab, sure.

Bump starting a modern 4WD automatic that weighs over 5000 pounds? I would not be brave enough to even try, and all my friends who would have tried that are dead. I don't think it would work, even if you had a really long hill to try it on, and I'm sure something would break. I have seen one automatic bump started and it was a really old vehicle worth very little and my acquaintance had to get it up to 30 mph to do it.

If you were in dire straights (like in some African village with no chance whatsoever of getting a new starter) you could possibly, possibly try turning the crankshaft nut clockwise somehow with the ignition turned on if the starter fried (this is how old cars and airplanes were started, remember), but I can't think how I would even get to that nut and turn it fast enough with compression to start it without getting injured or destroying the fan. You could put a long ratchet on it and give it a good quarter turn and if you were really strong and the vehicle was in tip top shape it might fire. But probably not.

My short answer is no. I'd love to be told I'm wrong though.
 
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