Engine Not Starting Properly In Cold.

[Sico2]

This morning I wanted to start my Yaris and to my surprise it did not want to start at all. It revd, revd and nothing happend. It sounded like it had no fuel (half a tank inside) or something. Finally after 3 or 4 attempts it started. Did not sound very healthy though, coughed up few times and finally went on properly.

I know I probably did not drive in the last 7 days or so, as I had to work and never had occasion to do so. Also I was very surprised I did that at all, since the car is 6 months old and would never expect it from a Toyota car, or actually from any almost brand new car.

Do you think if I had to worry at all, do I need to talk to the dealer, or is it normal when I don't drive for a long time?

Because I remember doing so in the past, but never had a problem with starting the engine. Even in the recent - temperatures I had no problems.

I am not sure if this has nothing to do, but in the last 6-8 weeks the car runs a bit louder as normal especially while cold . It makes a sound of its valves turning louder in the engine. Short, numb metalic sound of valves being pushed up and down.

No idea if I should worry about it at all.

[Raeman]

Can't help with the problem (if there is one) but i too would be quite alarmed if it was mine, esp if it's only young.

I would book it in at the dealers just to have things checked and to put your mind at ease. :)

[Cyker]

Did you try and start it right away?

On my old petrol Fiesta, it would splutter if you tried to start it right away from cold, but I found if I twisted the key to position 2, left it for a second/or waited for the oil pressure light to go out, then tried to start it, it would start perfectly.

I just assumed that delay was giving the fuel pump a chance to pressurize the injectors properly or something.

In my diesel I have to flick it to pos 2, off, and pos 2 again to get a smooth start because the glow plugs need to warm the engine more.

(It's a bit weird actually; I didn't think common rail engines needed to do that except on seriously freezing days!)

[Mick G]

This has happened twice to me with the same model and similar age as you have. Last week it took about 3 attempts before it chugged into life. It had been quite a cold night and I hadn't used it for the best part of a week.

But... about 3 months ago, long before the cold snap so I don't think temperature is a factor I had it much worse. Again I hadn't used it for a few days. It just wouldn't start no matter how many times I tried to turn it over. It got to the stage I had the bonnet up and the plastic cover off the engine to see if there was an obvious problem. Eventually came to the conclusion that it was going to have to be towed back to the garage. I thought I'd give it another try and video what was happening on my phone (to show them at the garage). Of course, as soon as I got my phone out and recording it turned over and chugged into life (really chugged). The whole process took about half an hour from me first getting in the car to finally driving off.

I left it as a one-off and didn't see it again till last week.

Interesting to hear someone else has seen the same and I'm intending to mention it when I take it in for it's first service maybe next month.

Next time it happens I'm definitely going to get a video of it.

Mik

[Raeman]

Sounds like it's getting damp somewhere under the bonnet.

Maybe some electrical spray on every switch/relay and grease on the Battery terminals may solve it.

That's what i would do first, if that does'nt work then take it to Mr T to sort.

[alfiejts]

I had a very similar experience a few times on my old Yaris - when it had been left for several days and the Battery was starting to get a bit tired.

I put it down to the fact that with a tired Battery, it was struggling to supply electorical power to the fuel pump to generate enough fuel pressure for the injection system at the same time as operating the starter motor.

There was a "hint" of the engine trying to start - some fuel was getting through and it wasn't completely dead - but not enough to fire it up properly.

It first happened when I left the car for a couple of weeks, then as the car got older, after just a week.... Eventually, a long weekend away would cause this effect and I swapped the Battery (after all, it was seven years old by this time....)

Your issues sound exactly like this - except that you have new cars and the battery shouldn't be failing.

Could it be that sometimes a door isn't shut and the interior light is being left on - as that would cause a battery drain and gradually flatten te battery with a similar effect?

On my daughter's Yaris, the boot needed a real slam to get it shut onto the second (proper) catch and I noticed that if it was only on the first catch, the boot light didn't go out. I had to adjust the boot catch to make it easier to close the boot lid properly and put the boot light out. I was just wondering if it could be something similar on your cars, as that again wouldn't be noticeable but would cause the battery to lose its charge slightly over time when the car was left unused...

Just a suggestion of something to check out....

[gar]

You may have had a slightly contaminated fuel supply or something. More likely if you have nearly drained the tank on an older vehicle.

Again damp may be present, the Battery should only be iffy if you have left something on or it is defective... Not too likely though!

My guess is it is weather related. Damp, cold, etc.

Funnily, this can hapen on hot days, with a warm engine... The fuel in the system evaporates so it is harder to get fresh fuel up into the engine to start.

Also, this may happen if you have just started a cold engine, let it idle, then turn it off. If you do this a few times, it can make it verry difficult to re-start! Modern engines need to be warmed AS you drive, the complete opposite of what a lot of people do as they start the car, run it on idle whilst clearing the windows etc, then drive off, thinking the car is warmed up enough.

If you do this, note that the gearbox will still be stone cold, along with the tyres, steering gear, etc. Warm everything up together, if you can.

Another good tip, VERY important if you drive a turbo powered car, is to run the engine on idle for a min or two when finishing a journey to let the temp equalize in the engine and DON'T be tempted to do the 'Hollywood' engine rev, when you turn off the engine as this will give youmore fuel in the system so when you re-start, it MAY start too quick, not letting the oil up and around the engine, making it run a bit dry for that crucial few seconds! (This may be more relevant to older cars as many newer ones return unused fuel to the tank anyway, but still worth noting!)

[Sico2]

In new models, you won't close the car if the doors are not slammed properly. Even if they aren't the light goes off after 30-40 seconds. So little chance for Battery discharge.

Always been fueling at BP, maybe one time at Shell. As said previously, the car was being left for longer than recently and did not happen.

I emailed Toyota for advice, but have been waiting now for 3 days. Maybe I'll give them a visit.

And as Mick G says, will try to record it on camera if it happens next time.