need help with this new issue i'm having..fuel pump?
 

so for the last month or so when I go out to my car on my break at work my car will crank all day but not start it cranks and I try to start it about 2 times and by the 3rd time it usually turns over. well today I went outside and tried starting my car and again it cranked but wouldn't start. It wasn't until the 5th or 6th time I tried it that it finally turned over. I also noticed what seems to be coming from my fuel pump, this whining noise and the sound is not there all the time but it's noticeable sometimes. The sound is also there after I have this problem, it's pretty noticeable. It sounds like the fuel pump is primming gas but the sound doesnt just go away after like 5 or 6 seconds like on most cars when you turn the key to the start position but don't start it. the sound lasts even when the car is running for about 3 to 5 minutes or so. This I didnt start noticing on this car until recently either. It is also a new devolpment. also while idling sometimes my idle drops down really low like about 600 rpm randomly then goes back up to it's usual 800 to 900 rpm. I never really noticed this problem before. I cleaned my MAF, IACV and Throttle body about 2 months ago I do currently have a code for the egr. I am going to clean it out soon when I have time but I doubt that even has anything to do with my problem. I thinking fuel pump like it's not primming enough gas to the engine.But I don't really know all that much. a

anyone have any suggestions, what i could check for? it's just so random and once the car turns over it runs fine.:confused:

Another thing is this probably only happens like 3 or 4 times a week out of like 50 times starting my car. it's not an every day occurrence.

Try replacing the fuel filter its cheap and not to difficult plus your fuel pump will love it.

Sounds like my car months ago. Id done the MAF IACV TB EGR cleaning, no codes, checked crank and cam sensors, checked injectors, swapped MAF new fuel filter, checked starter and battery at an autoparts store and still its gotten progressivly worse. Now it is almost a daily occurrance. I ordered a fuel pressure tester and im going to throw that on and drive it around and when it decides not to start im going to look at the guage and see what the fuel pressure is then and go from there. Makes me think its pump or fpr related...

Mine is a 5spd so i roll start it when it doesnt want to start but i do get the bogging low rpms occasionally however the car doesnt miss a beat at WOT.

Sry to thread jack but seems were going through the same thing.

^but ya if its been awhile since the filter has been changed def do it....if anything youll be doing regular maintenance and not wasting money.

I changed the fuel filter back in January so it should be OK, thanks for suggestion though! i'll check it.

thanks for your input, is you car making the wired winning noise from the fuel pump for a prolonged period of time too? because that's what mines doing and that's what makes me think it's the fuel pump, it starts up and runs perfect and like I said this probably only happens every once and a while. But I deff don't want to get it progressively worse like you said. what would be the steps to check if the fuel pump is working properly? The car runs great other than this problem and it's good at WOT I just smoked a cocky *** toyota, also my max is an auto.

so new update, just rechecked my codes and sure enough i have PO335 crankshaft position sensor. would this cause my starting issue? where is this sensor located?

yes it would. ur max has 2 crank sensors. One by the oil pan (to the right of the crank pulley) and one on the rad side of the engine where the engine and trans meet. There are pretty easy precedures for testing each with a multimeter and screwdriver. If you search on here ive seen writeups on testing them both. But id also start with taking them out and cleaning them off. They are referred to as a POS crank sensor (the one by the trans) and the REF crank sensor (the one by the pulley). My POS sensor was caked with dust and dirt from clutch wear and the REF had oil junk all over it. But if the ecu doesnt recieve the correct signal from te crank sensors it will have a hard time getting in time which might be while it takes quite a few times to start.

I believe P0335 refers to CKPS POS sensor
and P1335 refers to CKPS REF sensor.

thanks verry much for your help, after I found out I read up on some forums and discovered wich one it was. It was the one on the tranny near the radiator. But I also read it is a better idea to replace both of them at the same time, so I did just to be safe. took me an hr and half to replace both because I did not have the right tools on hand and lets face it getting to these sensors are a PITA! but obv I still have the check engine light for my egr. I'm going to drive it around and see what happens. fired up nicely after the install so hope all is good!:D

Awesome glad you were able to get it running/starting right!!! hopefully it will continue to start as it should

thanks man I appreciate it!:)

yep. but as far as i remeber if you have a problem with your cam pos sensor, the car wont start at all.

but what i would of done in your position is buy a new fuel pump. our maximas are old and there are a lot of them at junkyards so they are cheap......i would of changed it just to have a peace of mind

well inspection is this month and I'm currently paying for college expenses right now so that being said I know I will fail emissions right now because of my egr. so I'm going to get that done first and if I have any extra time or money I'll do the fuel pump. You're right my car is 14 years old and it will need replacing soon so I might as well go to a junk yard and get one now just to have it on hand when I need it!

car starts up without a glitch now!

Why would a junk yard fuel pump equate piece of mind when right now he doesnt have a fuel delivery issue? Seems like throwing parts at a car without proper diagnostics simply because a car is old doesnt seem right..... :eek:

And its not a cam pos sensor.....