2007 4.0 SR5 Shut off while driving

My wife was driving down from the mountains and the 4runner shut off while driving. The lights stayed on and all the accessories stayed on. It would not start after she tried turning the key. It would briefly start for a few seconds and then shuts off again.
I inspected all sensors, Maf etc... relays, fuses, grounds, air filter restriction, harnesses, ECU, followed all diagnostic steps from ShopKeyPro and asked many other experts.
The common thing I heard was that the fuel pumps are bullet proof in these trucks, but have not confirmed the fuel pressure, or if I’m getting spark. Which obviously is the first things I should verify before following diagnostic steps for something that’s not causing the issue.
I’m looking to see if anyone has had this EXACT issue! Battery is charged, alternator works and there’s no codes!

 

Was there an overheat in the Mountains? Smell the exhaust for sweet smell and check the coolant for exhaust gases. Any coolant loss? How many miles? I have 2005 SR5 with 150,000.
Never got a Code - check engine light in my 4runner yet!
Also a daughter with 2015 Camry in Denver we drove through Rockies for 2 full days - no issues.
Unplug the battery for a minute to reset computers.

Sounds like a blown fuse?

 

No overheating issue, she was driving down hill at the time. Not sure how coolant loss would make a no start issue. I’m sure if there was a head gasket issue that would be the case. There’s no sign of a bad head gasket. The truck starts for a few seconds and shuts off. Disconnecting the battery is only a bandaid and I want to solve this issue.

 

Overheat would have occurred going uphill. I watched the Camry's coolant level when we were in the Rockies, and it stayed the same. Little 4 banger with 40,000 miles. I thought it would get hot or go towards overheat, but it didn't.

HG would cause a miss and you could smell the "sweet" in the exhaust at morning start up. You could smell exhaust in the radiator too. HG wouldn't cause the "shut down" you are experiencing.

Anyone wash down engine bay recently?

Probably need to talk to Toyota mechanic.

Might as well change the PCV valve while you are the driver's side spark plugs (#6).
Coolant level being really low doesn't necessarily mean you have a blown HG. Neither does that SPs you post, IMO.

Probably need to talk to Toyota mechanic.

Scotty Kilmer says you take the positive battery cable off and the negative cable off - and then touch them to each other to "reset". I've never done this to mine, and I've never had the issue you are faced with - or any check engine light code in 15 years and 150,000 miles.

 

Nope no coolant smell and engine has not been washed down. Everything was fine before this event happened. No repairs except a serpentine belt on the last 1500 miles.

 

Sounds electrical/electronic. What is the history of this vehicle? Are you the original owner? What else is noteworthy?

 

I’m at least the third owner. No major engine work. Just found wet spark plugs and they were replaced 5,000 miles ago. The plug closest to the driver side had a little oil on it when I changed it. I heard these have head gasket issues and the reservoir tank is at the low level. I think I should test to see if there is exhaust going into the coolant with a tester.

 

Also. The vacuum line going to the head from the intake on the drivers side has a little oil in it..

 

Here’s the plugs and all the coil packs ohmed out properly. I’m also seeing spark from the spark plugs. I’m leaning toward fuel at this moment.

 

Might as well change the PCV valve while you are the driver's side spark plugs (#6).
Coolant level being really low doesn't necessarily mean you have a blown HG. Neither does that SPs you post, IMO.

To bad you can't drive the runner. You could watch the coolant level carefully and determine if your really do have a HG issue.
Those plugs don't say HG failure to me.

How many miles on the odometer?

Probably need to talk to Toyota mechanic.

BTW... I had three F225s on the back of a 42 Performance. I ran around the Bahamas seas for 12 years on these 2005 F225s (4 strokes - like a car engine). A picture of the boat can be seen by scrolling my wife's linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-veri-azzara-78a1b6136/)

The Yamaha owners manual says to check/change the plugs at 100 hours, but when my engines was getting only 5000 RPMs at WOT, I soaked the plugs in draino crystal for 2 hours to get the carbon off - then installed them and that engine tacked out at 5800 RPMs - like it does when new.

Sometimes over here you can't get SPs by driving to the Yamaha dealer - a 2 hour trip in traffic. 50 hours is all I would count on new Yamaha Sps as they carbon up and don't run right.

TROUBLESHOOT Alternator (bad ground wire cause the shut down?): I bought a Konnwei Battery system tester to check out both the Battery and alternator. Only used it for the battery so far - and it read 100%.

Could you have a bad alternator?

$46 KONNWEI KW600 Car Battery Tester 12V Professional 100-2000 CCA Automotive Battery Load Analyzer and Alternator Tester Waveform Voltage Test for Car/Boat/Motorcycle…

https://www.amazon.com/KONNWEI-KW60...tem+tester&qid=1570994584&s=automotive&sr=1-1

 

Based on your description, fuel seems worth investigating, also supported by your visual confirmation of spark.