Truck won't start after fuel pump repair

Hello everyone!

I purchased a 1995 Toyota Tacoma this past November, and it has been a ton of fun so far. As someone who's been a rube about auto mechanics for pretty much my entire life, I've really enjoyed getting to learn how to do more than replace a battery in a vehicle. And next to my Haynes repair manual, this site has been an invaluable resource!

Which brings me to my problem. About a month ago, I took the truck to a mechanic because of a fuel leak caused by some rusted out fuel lines at the fuel pump. Got the fuel pump hanger and lines replaced, and the gas leak was resolved - truck worked great!

A couple of weeks ago, though, I went out to start the truck and the engine wouldn't turn over. All the lights, the radio, etc. all turned on immediately. The engine will rotate, but it wouldn't start.

It was parked on the street in front of my house, so we pushed the truck into my driveway so I could maybe tinker around with it after doing some reading about what could have gone wrong. Well, after we pushed the truck into the driveway, I decided to just see what would happen if I tried to start the truck again. And tada - it started! I didn't actually do anything other than push it 30 feet, so I presumed this problem wasn't actually resolved.

Turns out I was right. I went out the following day to start the truck again, and the previous problem occurred: the engine will rotate, but it won't start.

I'm guessing there's probably a connection that has come loose/detached related to the fuel pump work I had done recently. I've poked around the area around the gas tank and it seems to me that it's not really easily accessed. So I wanna ask y'all: is there a way to check the fuel pump connections without having to drop the whole gas tank out? From what I've seen, it seems pretty involved and, while I'm eager to learn about this truck and how to take care of it, I'm also cautious about quickly getting in over my head here.

And I'm also open to other ideas about what I should check or rule out before diving into this fuel pump work. I just figured this was a likely culprit given the work that was done on it recently.

Thanks everyone!

 

You should be able to get to it from above, only the double cabs require dropping the tank. You would just need to take out the driver side bed bolts, loosen the passenger side and then proper up your bed to get to the top of the tank and fuel pump assembly to check things out and even get into the tank and see if something may be going on inside. You mentioned rusted out, maybe rust in the tank clogging the filter/pump pick up there, what about the external inline filter was that changed too?

 

What size is the engine.....
should be able to pop off the fuel pressure regulator return hose and check for flow.....

you need a two or three feet of spare hose to shout out onto the ground...

If you've got fuel.....next you go to spark.

 

If you are going to get to the top of the fuel tank, replace the fule pump if it wasn't changed a month ago. And If it were me, I'd put a new fuel filter in it too.

 

And dont do what I do.....

dumbass move.....dont try to reuse an old tank gasket......

unless you like cel lights.....

 

There's always the nuclear option....

I have a rhino bed and a tool box to cover it up....
so I just took an angle grinder and cut an access panel ....
little smaller than a lunch box.....barely enough space to get pump assembly out..

put some super foil to insulate and took less than 5 mins...

but I work with power tools alll the time at work tho....
learned on someone else's nickel....

Replaced everything new.....but that stupid gasket.....
....what a brain fart......

I've got it sitting right here on my desk.....still in package.....

so yeah not looking forward to chopping thru the liquid nails......
but the evap code says different.....

 

And yeah I've wiggled into some incredible places in front engine bay....

but getting access to top of tank is almost completely blocked on both sides...
believe me...I've tried....

frame rail on one side and drive line on other....

an 8 year old could prob get up in there......

 

Just how long did you crank the truck before deciding it was not going to start??

Having the hardware to connect a Fuel pressure gauge is one of my go to fuel issue tests don`t guess know .

For the most I do all the electrical testing from the harness connection under the drivers seat.

Unless a damaged harness is visible along the frame rail.

The thing is you have no idea if the crank no start is fuel related have any codes been pulled??

A cranky relay failing to close on a intermittent basis either the coil having a open circuit or contacts getting old and tired.

 

The PO of my 2001 Tacoma did that but just put the bedliner back without covering the hole. On the 2000 model I use to have I removed the bed. Long story short, my problem wasn’t the fuel pump. It was a severed wire on one of the coil plugs.