non starter

[PDEC]

Can somebody help me please ! my 1993 3ltr won't start , both the plug heater light and engine check light fail to illuminate , this happened out of the blue with no warning after using the car during the day ,i have ripped most of the dash out of the way to find the fault ,all fuses have been checked along with all the relays i can find , no problem with any of them ,is this an ecu failure or a wiring continuity problem? all other dash lights are as normal and every elecrical item appears to work . GRRRR!

[stormforce]

Can somebody help me please ! my 1993 3ltr won't start , both the plug heater light and engine check light fail to illuminate , this happened out of the blue with no warning after using the car during the day ,i have ripped most of the dash out of the way to find the fault ,all fuses have been checked along with all the relays i can find , no problem with any of them ,is this an ecu failure or a wiring continuity problem? all other dash lights are as normal and every elecrical item appears to work . GRRRR!

if you dont have any luck finding a ecu for your surf try this guy on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HILUX-SURF-2-4...QQcmdZViewItem
i know this was from June but you never know he may still have one in stock.Sorry i cant be of any other help tho

[nero279]

Immobiliser fault?

If i try and start mine without turning off the immobiliser all my other dash lights that normally come on, come on except these two.

[BUSHWHACKER]

It may be a starter inhibitor switch problem, try pushing the gear lever forwards when it's in Park as you turn the ignition key, or try it with the gearlever in Neutral.
Also, there is a couple of relays behind the glovebox above the ECU, check them.
Even try resetting the ECU by disconnecting both batteries for 20 mins.

[PDEC]

No immobiliser fitted , tried all the above , even tried to do the fault codes but couldn't get that to work either !! Double GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[nero279]

I'm sure someone will correct me but,

It's unlikely not to have an immobiliser of some sort, being an import, most insurance companies won't insure it without one. I was reading a thread a few weeks back that said something along the lines of it was common for them to have an 'immobiliser' which is simply a toggle switch under the gaitor round the 4wd lever.

Correct me if i'm wrong someone

[PDEC]

Will have a look at that in the morn Nero , but i didn't see one when i took the the cover up ,a proper look at all the wiring is next as i don't see how the ECU should pack up just like that.

[PDEC]

had a look for an immobiliser - no sign anywhere am going to try fitting an ecu , anyone know where i can get one handy or is it a case of trolling the breakers yards ? Paul. ps when i find the source of the problem i will post on here for future reference , just in case it drives someone else mad !!!

[nero279]

If i still have it, i have a list of phone numbers for breakers who had surfs in a couple of weeks ago, will post tomorrow. Could be worth chucking a line in the direction of Danno, or Andy Enuff who have both broken surfs recently.

[nero279]

Sorry both Danno and Andy's were 2.4s i just noticed your's was 3.0l

[PDEC]

Thanks for looking anyway nero , going to get on the phone in the morning .
regards Paul.

[nero279]

List of breakers contact no's who had surfs in a few weeks back when i needed stuff:

01213 278214
01354 651949
01254 882324
01380 723484
01214 590055
01708 537555
01629 734411

I'm not sure if these are individuals breaking surfs or breakers yards, they were all registered with a premium rate phone service/broker who i contacted while looking for parts on the internet.

[bundubasher]

I have been having intermittent problems with starting - sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't - and so have been bump starting my vehicle for the last six months.

Well finally got tired of rustling up a few natives to push start the truck whenever it stalled in deep sand or mud, so took it in to have the starter serviced. THis was done and a couple of L-shaped copper widgets came out Looking the rather worse for wear) and a couple of new ones went in. Fine and dandy. For about 2 days...

Took it back to a lad who actually INVESTIGATES these things and found out that it was my after market immobiliser causing some sort of short:

When I turned the key to crank I would get nothing - not even a dip in the brightness of dash lights - so first thing we checked was the starter relay (found out a way of starting the car without a key) but as that was going to cost me nearly 45 quid for a new one I told him to keep checking (labour is cheap over here - imported parts aint). So he fits another relay to test his theory but still the same problem - well he has saved my 45 quid so far - so I'll stick with him.

He takes off the lower dash and starts routing around witha 12v tester and works out that it is the immobilser. So he shorts out the ignition switch and it works fine - of course I still need to shove the immobilizer thingy in the hole to get my electrics to work, but not to start the engine.

Now ofcourse this is just a bodge and I'll have to see about getting the immobilzer permanently removed although he seems to feel it is spliced into the central door locking activated alarm (Toyota OE).

Hope this MAY help your investigations.

[PDEC]

Investigation over , bundubasher , The ECU was duff , cranking over was no problem starting was ! The engine check lamp and the glow heater light failed to come on with the ignition switched on as well as the check lamp staying dormant while trying to do the diagnotic tests. All the fuses and relays were checked but all electrics to the injector pump were dead ,hence no start! If the pump had been of a different type with a fuel cut solenoid instead of a spill valve and other electronic gubbins then an ecu bypass may have been possible , anyhow i plugged in the repacement unit and it started first time so for now my problem is solved although i will get the old unit repaired as a stand-by. Regards Paul.

[bundubasher]

Glad you got it fixed. Me, I'm getting my wiring redone at the moment. Due to my adding some 120W spots onto the roof and then wiring them up with household electrical wire - I burnt out alot of the original lighting wiring harness. So having my bullbar fogs and spots rewired whilst I wait to buy some new ones off ebay. If anybody reading this has any IPF 800 series or 1 (one) Hella 550 for sale, please drop me a line.

I am also going to try and uprate my normal headlights for use with 80/100W bulbs and will download the instructions that are also to be found on this (great) site.