Yaris Won't Start

[Raeman]

Hi all, typical eh? Been out all afternoon washing & polishing the car and went out before and now it won't start

All ignition lights are on and everything is working but when the engine is spinning over, there's a loudish whirring noise, like it's the starter motor or something not catching on. :ffs:

Incidentally, about this time last year it did the same thing, i changed the sparks and it seemed ok. But since then it has done less than 10k so the plugs should be ok yet i'm thinking.

Anyone any ideas as (typically) i need to use it tommorow so any help will be great.

Cheers. ;)

[s m smith]

Hi all, typical eh? Been out all afternoon washing & polishing the car and went out before and now it won't start

All ignition lights are on and everything is working but when the engine is spinning over, there's a loudish whirring noise, like it's the starter motor or something not catching on. :ffs:

Incidentally, about this time last year it did the same thing, i changed the sparks and it seemed ok. But since then it has done less than 10k so the plugs should be ok yet i'm thinking.

Anyone any ideas as (typically) i need to use it tommorow so any help will be great.

Cheers. ;)

sounds like starter motor problems, have you checked the starter motor??

[PhilGee]

"Normally" a starter motor failing would give the symptoms of a flat Battery. Would just click and not try and turn engine over. Silly question, but have you got anything under the bonnet really wet when you've been washing it?

[s m smith]

"Normally" a starter motor failing would give the symptoms of a flat battery. Would just click and not try and turn engine over. Silly question, but have you got anything under the bonnet really wet when you've been washing it?

why would a starter motor give a reading off a flat Battery??????????

[PhilGee]

Most common prob with a starter motor is the part that pops out and engages with the flywheel either sticks or looses its force to be able to engage and turn flywheel so what you hear is a single "tap" type noise, very similar to what you get when you try starting a car with a flat Battery.

[Raeman]

"Normally" a starter motor failing would give the symptoms of a flat battery. Would just click and not try and turn engine over. Silly question, but have you got anything under the bonnet really wet when you've been washing it?

Nothing wet under the bonnet. Only opened it to check the oil, fluids ect..

Strange really as it's not a usual starter motor problem it's doing. Seem to be more of a "Whirring" noise but the engine is still spinning over. On some other cars i've owned, the noise is just a "Click" as mentioned, indicating the starter at fault.

I'll do the usual plugs out check tommorow and check all the fuses, connectors ect.

Ah well. Live and learn eh?

[Yaris SR Kid]

Have you tried fully charging Battery, as you could have left door open/stereo on while washing car!

[PhilGee]

As above, doesnt harm charging the Battery, or using another car to "jump" start it. Sounds as though its not got the compression to get it fired up but i cant see it being that just happening all of a sudden.

[Raeman]

Ok, problem sorted!!

Tried car again today and still no go, felt like it had no compression but it was spinning over fine. Took the plugs out and noticed that the middle 2 were very oily but the ones at each end weren't so bad

Anyway i cleaned them up, put them back in, then checked every connector i could get to and sprayed with wd40 for damp.....Still it wouldn't start!! :censor:

In the end i gave up and rang the AA, as the wife is a member and the Yaris is her car....

AA came within 1hr and i told the guy that i had moved the car from the front of the house, on the road (5yards) and then parked it on the drive to clean it....

"That's the problem then, have you cleaned the plugs?" he said...

"Er, yeah, i did that before and checked everything i could" says me, a little confused by his immediate resolve.

"Happens all the time mate, car left overnight then started for a couple of mins means the plugs get oily and it won't start afterwards. In fact i have just been to Warrington for the exact problem on a Nissan Micra. Jap car's seem to do this more than any other make and this is the 5th Yaris i have been to with this problem, mazda's do it aswell but they are allways a b*stard to start".

As i had already cleaned the plugs, he didn't even open the bonnet, just let it cranking over for ages until finally it spluttered into life and was running great again!!

Now i had been trying all morning and gave up for fear of flatenning the Battery or causing some other damage as i didn't have a clue what was wrong.

Seems that i was all fault for firing it up when stone cold, reversing for a few yards then turning it off.

Although it's now running great again, i'm going to change the plugs anyway as they are quite dirty. Another thing the AA guy asked me was if the car was used for short runs, which it is, in fact it's only done around 7k since last year.

Because of this, the problem might have been made worse as the plugs were already quite mucky from it only doing short runs anyway, so he advised that i change them or clean them every 6months or so.

So there we go, one fixed Yaris all caused by firing it up for 1min from cold.

Note.....Let your Yaris warm up first!!

[T V O R]

A good excuse to go for a nice run in the car then? Give it a blast up the motorway will do it a world of good

[PhilGee]

Glad its sorted mate. I'll bear this in mind.

[Richard Davies]

A run up the motorway should also give the Battery a top-up, I was told to do this after my Battery problems a few weeks ago.

[Raeman]

A good excuse to go for a nice run in the car then? Give it a blast up the motorway will do it a world of good

Yep, did just that today. Gave her a good ol blast up the M6 then back home, did about 70miles of which approx 60 were m/way. :D

Car running great now, new plugs will be fitted tommorow.

Result!!

Thanks for all the helpfull suggestions aswell guys.

[Chris81]

Not surprised that the AA man should mention the Micra as it's a well know problem with them. Hadn't heard of it with the Yaris before but will beware. A fix on the old micra was to temporarily pull out the fuel injector fuse and then crank it - as it stopped more petrol getting through to the plugs it stopped you from flooding the engine even more and eventually it would start. Or something like that.

[Raeman]

Not surprised that the AA man should mention the Micra as it's a well know problem with them. Hadn't heard of it with the Yaris before but will beware. A fix on the old micra was to temporarily pull out the fuel injector fuse and then crank it - as it stopped more petrol getting through to the plugs it stopped you from flooding the engine even more and eventually it would start. Or something like that.

Yeah, your right mate.

He did mention about the FI fuse, esp on the Micra. ;)

Ah well, new plugs in today and it's great again. :D

[alimart]

I've had that problem too, on a couple of times. Member of Toyota Club so called out the RAC. Exactly the same symptoms. RAC guy reckoned that we were flooding the car.

His solution was just to clean evrything, churn away and eventually it started.

Whenever we need the car to go a short journey (ie round the other side of the house) we take the car for a run so that the engine warms up (light goes out). Crazy waste of petrol but we live in the country and having to wait for two hours can be a problem.

[Raeman]

I've had that problem too, on a couple of times. Member of Toyota Club so called out the RAC. Exactly the same symptoms. RAC guy reckoned that we were flooding the car.

His solution was just to clean evrything, churn away and eventually it started.

Whenever we need the car to go a short journey (ie round the other side of the house) we take the car for a run so that the engine warms up (light goes out). Crazy waste of petrol but we live in the country and having to wait for two hours can be a problem.

May seem a waste of fuel but for the hassle it can cause, it's better to be safe.

Oh and welcome to Yaris world.

[gar]

I've had that problem too, on a couple of times. Member of Toyota Club so called out the RAC. Exactly the same symptoms. RAC guy reckoned that we were flooding the car.

His solution was just to clean evrything, churn away and eventually it started.

Whenever we need the car to go a short journey (ie round the other side of the house) we take the car for a run so that the engine warms up (light goes out). Crazy waste of petrol but we live in the country and having to wait for two hours can be a problem.

May seem a waste of fuel but for the hassle it can cause, it's better to be safe.

Oh and welcome to Yaris world.

My Bro used to do this in his Calibra 4x4 turbo! he used it in Guernsey and just did not get the engine warm enough. Then, when back in the UK, his landlady used to start it and move it to a diff parking spot as you can only park for 23 hours straight. Go to start it after a few of them, no chance! Clean the plugs and heat them in an oven for ten mins, re-fit and bingo!

Mind not to burn yourself, though! New plugs are not really the answer though unless your old ones are shagged as they will do the same in a short time. Cleanliness is the key and if hot, they will work better!

[Stoford Yaris]

Ours has done this several times, it is (apparently) known fault if the front interior lights have been on for a while (sometimes they don't go off). Does your dash sometimes drop into Kmh for no reason? These two issues seem to be linked and are known on 2007-2008 models.

Toyota have no fix other than to treat the problem as if the Battery is flat and to jump start the car.

[Raeman]

Ours has done this several times, it is (apparently) known fault if the front interior lights have been on for a while (sometimes they don't go off). Does your dash sometimes drop into Kmh for no reason? These two issues seem to be linked and are known on 2007-2008 models.

Toyota have no fix other than to treat the problem as if the battery is flat and to jump start the car.

Mate, my SR is a yr 2000 model not an 07. The only interior light is one on the roof, and the dash never goes to automatic (and i presumem you mean KPH) Kmh unless i tell it to.

Any of these have absolutely nothing to do with the plugs getting oily and car not starting issues.

I really don't understand your post at all.

[Stoford Yaris]

Ours has done this several times, it is (apparently) known fault if the front interior lights have been on for a while (sometimes they don't go off). Does your dash sometimes drop into Kmh for no reason? These two issues seem to be linked and are known on 2007-2008 models.

Toyota have no fix other than to treat the problem as if the battery is flat and to jump start the car.

Mate, my SR is a yr 2000 model not an 07. The only interior light is one on the roof, and the dash never goes to automatic (and i presumem you mean KPH) Kmh unless i tell it to.

Any of these have absolutely nothing to do with the plugs getting oily and car not starting issues.

I really don't understand your post at all.

Don't really understand your post either. Mine was posted in response to the original post (engine turns but won't start) and that's what ours (and quite a few other recent 1.3s) does, especially after doors have been left open for mucking out the inside.

The front interior lights come on when you open the doors and seem to to be part of the problem as they don't shut off properly even when the doors are closed. The dash drops into Kmh (that's what it says) randomly - that may be related to the lights / starting issue, it may not - Toyota can't or won't say.

[eepp]

First post here. Hi from Montréal!

I just had the same exact problem under the same exact conditions and this helped me solve it. Two days ago, I was walking by my car that was parked on the street and some guy was trying to park behind mine with difficulty, so I drove it for about 4 seconds in order to move it 1 meter forward. Then I didn't touch it for 24 hours. Next thing I know when I start the car is that it's cranking like crazy but won't start. And winter is slowly starting here.

So I bought a socket set (since I never had to do mechanics on this car) and tried removing a spark plug but I thought I was missing a spark plug socket. In fact I had it, I was just blind/drunk I guess. So in the end I didn't remove anything and put everything back. I waited another few hours and tried pressing the fuel pedal to the floor and cranking it like there's no tomorrow. After 20-25 seconds it finally started! My pedal to the floor made it go to 6 kRPM and then I kept it at 2000-2500 for a minute, after what it stayed without choking at its normal 500 RPM when idle.

Anyway, glad I didn't have to call a towing for that simple problem. Everything is working okay now.

Thank you for the tube.

[13th]

Hi I've recently just purchased a 2009 SR Yaris and am facing the same troubles as the OP. I cleaned the plugs in mine and replaced the Battery with a new one and it is still not starting :(  What else could cause it? 

[zet]

my yaris does not start the key does not kick the engine every thing lights ok in dashboard its been a month now 

[furtula]

10 minutes ago, zet said:

my yaris does not start the key does not kick the engine every thing lights ok in dashboard its been a month now 

Looks like empty car Battery.

Get the Battery voltage checked.