Locate your starter and tap the housing with a rubber or plastic hammer while turning the key. If it starts this way, your starter is going out. The reason it goes out, the bendix gear in the housing gets stuck.

Hard crank after engine reaches operating temps doesn’t always mean starter. Can you measure battery voltage between the positive and negative posts? Unhook the battery cables and compare voltage to with the battery terminals attached. Starter is located under the intake manifold. About the middle of the chassis.

When engine is idling, do you hear any noises around the alternator? Alternator is probably not strong enough to charge the battery when the engine is running.

 

thank you for your reply. I will give these suggestions a try. The problem occurs very randomly. It can happen every day, or not to happen for 2-3 weeks. Usual trip distance is around 20-30km with mix of city and highway.

 

Condition of spark plugs?

 

Spark plugs are new, installed 2 months ago

 

Has the intake manifold gasket ever been changed?
You may have your fuel pump starting to fail too.
Try running some strong doses of fuel injector cleaner like seafoam or techron over the next week to see if that clears out some crap in your fuel system.
PCV valve ever changed? Air filter is good?
Does the engine turn over fast when hot or slower when trying to start it?
Did you replace the spark plugs with OEM plugs? (the same as what was in there)

 

I am not sure which spark plugs are there now. The engine turn over fast when hot, nothing abnormal, just keep cranking like usual. There was nothing done to this Corolla since we got it 160k ago (car is over 299999 now), just oil changes and air filter. I will give the Techron a try. I am not very familiar with the cars when it comes to the engine bay area, so it will take some time and learning to diagnose what was suggested. I will try to give it to another mechanic. I've spoken to 2 mechanics already and they said it will be hard to figure what's wrong exactly.

 

I'm just guessing at this point but I always think, fuel, air, compression, spark. Usually one part that controls both starting and keeping it running. This is a tricky diagnosis because it could be a lot of things.

 

I would check the battery connections. A Loose one will cause this strange behavior. Even corroded


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The next time that happens, try spraying some fuel, or starting fluid inside the throttlebody when trying to start. (pull off the rubber snorkel) Then if the car starts, or tries to start, you know you're not getting any fuel. (probably fuel pump)
OR you can get one of those spark testers and see if each coil is generating spark when trying to start.
If either one of those aren't happening, the engine won't start.
I'm guessing it's fuel related, but electrical parts act funny when they get hot.
Easy things for your mechanic or you to check when in that situation again.
Good luck

How to Use an Inline Spark Tester to Test for Ignition Spark on a Car or Truck - YouTube

 

The next time that happens, try spraying some fuel, or starting fluid inside the throttlebody when trying to start. (pull off the rubber snorkel) Then if the car starts, or tries to start, you know you're not getting any fuel. (probably fuel pump)
OR you can get one of those spark testers and see if each coil is generating spark when trying to start.
If either one of those aren't happening, the engine won't start.
I'm guessing it's fuel related, but electrical parts act funny when they get hot.
Easy things for your mechanic or you to check when in that situation again.
Good luck

How to Use an Inline Spark Tester to Test for Ignition Spark on a Car or Truck - YouTube



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thanks! I will give this a try as well.

 

... had an older car ... '69 model, with a distrubutor. Whaf rings a bell is that it developed a problem where it stopped at red lights and even at stop signs. The cause of the malfunction was that the inside metal electrodes of the distributor cap had become corroded and non-conductive due to the high voltage spark current that jumps the gap in the top of the distributor as it goes to the spark plugs. A new, clean, electrically conductive distributor cap fixed the problem.
... maybe something of this nature is wrong with your car.

 

What year is your Corolla?
Any OBDII Trouble Codes?
This same has happened to me over the years often enough that when it happens now, I don't even have to look it up. Without hesitation or fail, I buy and install a new, OEM Toyota Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor. When it goes South, it won't throw Trouble Codes.
I call it "Warm engine, won't start." Getting stranded in a parking lot, running errands. Randomly occurs. I never deem my method to be "throwing parts at it" because 1/ OEM ECT Sensors are affordable and more importantly 2/ It always fixes this frustrating problem.

 

What year is your Corolla?
Any OBDII Trouble Codes?
This same has happened to me over the years often enough that when it happens now, I don't even have to look it up. Without hesitation or fail, I buy and install a new, OEM Toyota Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor. When it goes South, it won't throw Trouble Codes.
I call it "Warm engine, won't start." Getting stranded in a parking lot, running errands. Randomly occurs. I never deem my method to be "throwing parts at it" because 1/ OEM ECT Sensors are affordable and more importantly 2/ It always fixes this frustrating problem.

2005, no codes. It’s exactly as you describe - warm engine, won’t start or shuts off at the red light

 

Stalls at red light, but never while driving correct? Sounds like the old school misery called vapor lock. Hot enough under the hood for the gas to boil inside the fuel rail. Was very common with carburetors. With fuel injection, the fuel filter is clogged and the fuel pump is worn from trying to make 80 psi to shove fuel thru the filter. The fuel flow can be enough to drive, but not enough fuel pressure( remember tired fuel pump) for liquid fuel to overcome the back pressure from the boiling in the rail. Try and wrap aluminum foil around the rail and fuel lines and see if it helps. You 4.2L Jeep owners have seen the heat shield under the rail. So, when was the filter changed last? And I second having a code scanner running with coolant temp displayed on graph to see if it goes way high in a second, that is bad sensor.

 

...new, OEM Toyota Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor.

 

It might help if you disclosed what year, model of Corolla, and engine you have. Starter wont cause it to stall.

 

Update: so finally got around to the car. So far, the only thing that was done was changing fuel pump filter. No help. With a help of "backyard" self taught mechanic from Ukraine, he figured out it was a crankshaft position sensor. He explained to me there was no spark when he pulled out a spark plug when the car was acting up again when I was trying to start it. As the sensor is bad. So we will try to get the sensor changed.

 

Was that the problem and is your car working normally again? I'm surprised no code was thrown if it was a sensor?

 

Always great to have updates here, to "help the next person."
Strongly recommend OEM genuine Toyota crankshaft position sensor.

 

Always great to have updates here, to "help the next person."
Strongly recommend OEM genuine Toyota crankshaft position sensor.

The car worked for a few days again and started acting up. We used Hostein brand from Amazon. The original part run over $200 Canadian dollars.

 

Has-been ASE and Toyota Master tech here.Was there a crank sensor code? If not, he's just swapping parts to see what happens. The starter can't cause it to stall, so don't waste time tapping anything! Take it to the dealer, they're more familiar than most.

 

Has-been ASE and Toyota Master Tech here.

Was there a crank sensor code? If not, he's just a parts changer, hoping something will work.

Starter won't cause it to stall, so no need to tap on anything.

Sounds like a vacuum leak. Take it to the dealer, they know more than most, and see more Toyotas.

 

Yes it gave us p0335 code at the time I couldn’t start the car. No codes in the history are present. Car acts normal when it starts. But the problem still exist after swapping the sensor to a new after market one. Taking it to a dealer will be a little costly on 2005 Corolla. I am hoping for a cheaper option. The car is great otherwise. I don’t want to just give it up on it and sell it cheap.

 

Agree about the Trouble Codes. Did you run OBDII diagnostics-- if so, what-all Codes did it throw?

 

P0335 it gaves us the code when I could not get it going. Otherwise when it works there is no code.

 

• Do you have your own OBDII Code Reader? They pay for themselves first-time use
• Is it currently throwing any OBDII Trouble Codes? If so, which ones?
• Are you currently able to drive it?

 

I don’t have one but my friend does have one. I got it started now and it’s working fine on my drive way at this moment.

 

The sensor you purchased is defective or not sending the ecu the correct info. Now you will have to pay labor 2x which will now cost you more for the oem sensor.

 

Thankfully the labour was free. Not sure about the second time. Yes thinking of getting a sensor from Toyota now. I should checked the Ohms in the new sensor before installing it? It was a little challenging.

 

Just a thought...because the code and the no-start situation are intermittent, the problem may lie in the wiring/connectors for the crankshaft sensor. IMO it is worth cleaning the contacts and checking the integrity if the wiring before replacing the sensor again.

 

Hello everyone, so the old sensor and the one that was installed a month ago gives about 1950 ohms reading. I was under impression that this is a wrong reading. I got another new sensor from Canadian Tire here in Canada and this time I provided the vin ti make sure I get the correct part. The resistance reading is about 2200 ohms. I have two manuals for 2 engines. The specs are different for both engines. But the 3 sensors I have all falls in my engine specs which is 1ZZ-FE. So is the problem not the sensor then? Does the difference in reading make a difference? 1950 and 2100? Or both reading is ok? Trying to figure if I should get rid of the sensor from Amazon and instal another one from Canadian Tire store.

 

What condition is the connector at the engine harness? Any bent or broken terminals? I would do a continuity check on the engine harness side to verify it not broken.

Do you have a image of the original sensor prior to installing the Amazon sensor?

 

This is the original sensor and the engine harness

 

I was referring to the main engine harness.