Hello from North Dakota, new to the forum here. We have a 2016 Rav4 with 60,000 miles on it that we leased and then purchased at end of lease. Since about 5000 miles, we had one no start that flooded the engine. Dealer said wife must have had foot on the gas when she tried to start it or we have water in the tank as there were no codes stored. But he didn't pull a sample to test for water. I removed the tank and found none.
Since then up to today, we have had hundreds of times that the car cranks and fights to start, but always seems to start. Although the dealer lied of no codes, we have continued to get a p1604 startability malfunction. Just recently paid for dealer diagnostics to find out what's wrong and they stated and I quote, "It is not normal for a car to start like this, but it is normal for the Rav4 as they all do it. There is no fix for it as everything in your car tests perfectly. There is nothing that can be done until something fails."
I called BS on them and he shrugged his shoulders and said sorry, there is nothing to fix.
The issue seems to be worse on hotter days. Any help Scotty??
Put a pressure gage on the fuel rail and watch it while it's having a difficult start episode. I'm thinking fuel pump/relay/filter as that code doesn't mean a lot but I think it will throw that code if it runs out of gas...or thinks it has ; )
Also, listen for fuel injectors actuating (ticking) while performing the test too, this lets you know (mostly) that the pcm is turning them on thus injecting fuel into intake.
Agreed! It sounds like the engine's not getting enough fuel.
Disconnect the air intake tube from the air filter where it connects to the back of the throttle body.
Spray some "engine starting fluid" directly into the throttle body, then crank it over.
If the engine runs briefly you know it's a fuel related issue.
