5VZ-FE Starting issues

[Todd]

Hi all.
16yr old Son was driving his first hilux (2004 3.4ltr petrol) and is having a starting/running problem.
Vehicle was driving at the time and he managed to pull over safely but then engine died and wouldn’t restart.

I tried a these couple of things today.

Checked all fuse in cab and engine, though there’s no “starter” relay (?) in the engine compartment like the fuse box lid has on it.

Cracked fuel line just behind the timing cover and no petrol leaked out while key was in the start position.
So I thought fuel pump and removed it and ran 12v to it and it seemed ok and filter appeared clean, reassembled everything.

Cracked open the outlet of a fist sized black thing (on the left hand side under the bonnet) that fuel ran through and it started leaking when pump was on.
So then cracked open those same front lines as I did first and now they have petrol.
Turned engine over quickly and they leaked faster.

Engine will run on stater fluid through the air intake so I’m thinking the electrical spark side of things is ok.
Had a good look around for any loose plugs or wires and came across a dodgy soldering job on the vacuum solenoid plug that connects to the charcoal box and it was missing a female connection on the plug so I replaced plug with a couple of small spade connectors.

Engine will still not start normally or even roughly without engine start spray.
Cranking it over it sounds like it should fire and healthy/clean.
I don’t have any codes as I don’t have a scanner either.
Thinking of checking the MAF sensor tomorrow (?.)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Mud Dog]

Welcome Todd.

If it starts / runs by dripping fuel into the air intake then you have a fuel related issue. It's either fuel delivery or fuel delivery management.

Check that there is fuel pressure on the injector rail (there should be between 2 to 4 bar and there is a regulator on the return side of the rail that controls it). If the pressure is low, even though there is fuel there, it might not be enough for the injectors to operate. Check the injectors themselves.

If that all checks out then it has to do with fuel management - that could be a simple thing like a poor or loose connection. More often than not, this is the case. If it's not that, then it's either the ECU itself or a sensor that's not supplying a signal to the ECU (or even a faulty signal).

[Todd]

Cheers, I’ll check those out.