Came home from school to change for work and now I have a dead car. Sat in the vehicle to start it and it did actually start/run but only for a few seconds before it died on me. Now the car will spin over and over trying to start but I get nothing. I have noticed that typical burnt electronics smell but I checked the fuses and everything seems to be in working order. I have the battery on charge now and I'm doing some digging online to see if I can find out if their are any known issues I'm coming up with nothing. Vehicle is a 2009 Scion xD with around 33K miles.

 

I would check all of the intake components to make sure they are all still connected. It could also be something like a fuel pump.

 

I'm thinking it (or at least want to check) might be the pump or maybe the fuse...which I cannot seem to find.

 

Hope it's a fuse. Usually it's either fuel or fire. If it's quiet, you can turn the key to just before it should try to turn over the engine, and you can hear the pump turn on and pressurize the fuel lines. I don't know if its an in tank pump or not, but if it is, it could be hard to hear. Another thing I would try is ,since your mileage is so low, see if the battery terminals are corroded or the battery charge state. People use to spray starting fluid/ ether to see if it would turn over (telling them they had spark), but you run a good chance of unintended ignition / detonation. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

Probably wouldn't hurt to check your ground to the vehicle.

 

when you are cranking the vehicle does it sound like the starter is catching or is it just spinning? If it sounds normal, try starting the vehicle while giving the car gas. When you say the starter is spinning over, is it a constant spinning sound or does it sound like it is catching the tranny? Sorry, for all the questions. Just trying to get a little more background information on the problem. If you CAN get the car to start but not stay on, or the car idles funny, it might be the coolant temp sensor. Theres a ton of things that might have gone wrong. Try to give a little more info and I can see if i can be of more help. Hope you work everything out ok.

-Kaname

 

Best "quick check" would be try spraying some starting fluid into the intake when the motor is being started. If it starts for a burst, then it's fuel prob. if it does nothing.... more likely a ignition problem. That would make your troubleshooting Half done for you.

I have had instances of no-start, and nothing I did would start it up. A shot of Ether (starting fluid) did the trick, and everything worked fine after it had that "shot"
My gas supplier was having water problems and it migrated to my gas!

Moisture remover corrected it after I got it started.
Bood Luck!

 

Just make sure NOT to spray it through the mass air flow sensor. Honestly, i wouldnt recommend doing that in the first place. modern fuel injected cars are pretty spot on. We would never do that at our shop but it would give you a good idea. your car. up to you. good luck

 

Your google kung fu is lacking.
You are not alone.

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=211213