Tacoma starts, idles for a couple seconds, then shuts off

Hey guys. My 2019 Tacoma TRD Off-Road has been having an issue starting in cold weather (about 15°F or colder). On the first attempt to start, my truck will make a fast buzzing noise while starting, then it will idle for roughly 2 seconds, then it just shuts off like I hit the ignition again. No bogging or hesitation. I know this is not an issue with the battery, as it usually takes around 20-30 attempts to get the truck to start and hold idle. I tried holding the gas at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and full throttle with no luck. In fact, if i hold The gas down and it shuts off, it will not let me start the truck until I open and close the door. The remote start also does not work at all when it is doing this. I hit the lock button 3 times as always, but the lights don't flash back at me, and the truck doesn't try starting at all. These issues started about a month ago. I had the low pressure fuel pump and third brake light recalls done a week ago in hopes the fuel pump might help, but had no luck as it did it the next cold morning. I changed all the spark plugs the other morning, but it hasn't been cold enough to test it yet. I made an appointment to bring it to the dealership Sunday night, so they could look at it Monday (today) morning while it was cold, but the weather decided to take a turn and warm up exactly when I needed it not to, so I ended up cancelling it. Has anybody else had the same issue? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edit: I did try disconnecting the MAF sensor, but it did not change anything

3/4/22
I just had another issue starting my Tacoma this morning. Same symptoms as before, but it's making a buzzing noise the first couple times I try starting it. Sounds like it's coming from the front right. It said "steering lock engaged" while it was trying to start, but it didn't feel locked. If I put my foot on the gas and bring the engine up to around 3k when I start it, I can get it to idle a little bit longer before it stalls. Also, if I hit the start button as the engine is stalling, it will keep running, but shuts back off again after a couple seconds. After doing this a couple times, the engine would turn over, but wouldn't, like it wasn't getting any fuel.

 

Curious if you've had the fuel pump recall performed? I know this image doesn't mention LP fuel pump, but the documentation for engine stalls does.

 

This thread may help: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/truck-starts-then-dies-in-2-3-seconds.327802/


Inspect/clean your Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor. It may be dirty from the filter oil. That's where I would start.

 

I'd start with completely disconnecting the remote start and see what happens.

 

We have a 2017 highlander with the same engine as the 2019 tacoma. This is a similar problem we had and it was due to a purge valve or evaporative system issue. It would present itself a lot of times after filling up with gas, but also just random times. Some valve was sticking. Dealer repaired for about $300. Also with this same engine, just random not being able to start the car, all kinds of lights and errors about braking system, etc. Ended up being a battery. The car is 5 years old and we've had to put in our 3rd battery. On these auto stop/start systems, seems like the batteries go out in only about 2 years. Of course we were driving it high mileage, probably 35K per year.

 

when you filled up did you do the extra clicks with the gas filler nozzle to top off more? that will cause what you described. when i bought my 16 the salesman advised me on this.

 

it does sound like a fuel issue. I actually had this happen to me last week with my pos company car. It would start idle for a bit and die. It was a fuel pump module failure.

 

I will give this a try. Thank you

 

I usually do top it off. This is good to know. Thank you

 

The fuel pump was just replaced under recall

 

As stated in my original post, the low pressure fuel pump recall was performed

 

Other than the engine light coming on after I started it with the MAF sensor connected, I have yet to have a single unwanted light on in my Tacoma. The battery is clearly fine, or I would be unable to start the engine 20-30 times without hesitation. The valve could be an issue, although this only happens when the temperature reaches sub 15°F

 

Ah, I was half asleep reading your initial post.
The rest of the table in my post should be a good place to start.

 

My fuel pump was fine, it was the actual electronic module

 

No, but I did hear about that issue from my Toyota Mechanic friend so it must be common. It was a stuck purge valve (I think). There are 2 parts to the evap system that can commonly fail, one of them is near the fuel pump and I think would have been really expensive to fix. I think the one they fixed on the highlander was in the engine bay. While on the topic of the 2GR-FKS engine, be prepared for a water pump replacement by 150K. We have 5 high mileage Toyotas all different models and every one of them except the 4.0L 4Runner (best engine ever) has needed a water pump.