How do I disable engine start AFTER an oil change so I can crank (spin) the engine to build oil pressure BEFORE the engine will start?

[ToyoX3]

Specifically, other than either removing fuel injector fuses, or unplugging a crankshaft sensor, is there an easy and quick procedure to disable the engine from starting so I can spin the engine over and build oil pressure after an oil change BEFORE allowing the engine to start?

Ford has a procedure to do this by depressing and holding the accelerator pedal to the floor while turning the ignition key to the “Start” position. As long as the oil pressure light is illuminated (low engine oil pressure), the engine will just crank (spin over) and NOT start.

Is there anything similar to what Ford has on the 4Runner6G to do this?

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[brumey]

I am curious why you want or need to do that.

 

[LLL1990]

What you're referring to is "clear flood mode" and is mainly an American car thing, GM and Chrysler does it also. Originally designed to clear excess gas out of a flooded engine as the name implies by shutting off the injectors when the engine is cranked with the accelerator floored. As long as the accelerator is floored the engine will crank.

Completely unnecessary after an oil change. Every morning you start the engine after sitting all night it's the same as starting the engine after an oil change. There is no oil in the engine as it's all drained back down in the pan but the pump will get it up to pressure in a second. And if you're concerned about the filter being empty...have you looked at the size of the filter?

 

[Hacksaw]

Completely unnecessary after an oil change. Every morning you start the engine after sitting all night it's the same as starting the engine after an oil change. There is no oil in the engine as it's all drained back down in the pan but the pump will get it up to pressure in a second. And if you're concerned about the filter being empty...have you looked at the size of the filter?

Same thing I was thinking re: every cold start. One small but important addition to your post: oil is "clingy" (for lack of a better word) and once oil has run through the full engine even once, there will be a film of oil covering everything. It doesn't evaporate or go away, and you won't have any case where truly bare/raw metal on metal motion happens. Many people have still gotten hundreds of thousands of miles out of toyota engines (and other makes too), even in the face of this less than ideal oil start-up situation for a couple seconds after every start (and at very low rpm).

 

[ToyoX3]

What you're referring to is "clear flood mode" and is mainly an American car thing, GM and Chrysler does it also. Originally designed to clear excess gas out of a flooded engine as the name implies by shutting off the injectors when the engine is cranked with the accelerator floored. As long as the accelerator is floored the engine will crank.

I wasn’t exactly clear on my reference to the Ford way of cranking an engine without starting by fully depressing the accelerator pedal. I am familiar with this Ford “clear flood mode” procedure. I didn’t intend to infer that Ford’s method was meant to be solely used as a post oil change procedure only. It was just an example of the type of info that I was searching for, in terms of an easy, quick way to do what I want to do without pulling fuses or the like under the hood, as I have done in the past.

Completely unnecessary after an oil change. Every morning you start the engine after sitting all night it's the same as starting the engine after an oil change. There is no oil in the engine as it's all drained back down in the pan but the pump will get it up to pressure in a second.

Yes, there is oil in the oil galley after sitting overnight because the pressure side of the installed oil filter has an ADBV (anti drain back valve). That is the reason the oil filter has an ADBV. To state that every time you start an engine after sitting overnight is the same as starting an engine after an oil and filter change is, well, an idea completely false and not thoroughly thought out just how oil is retained in an engine. Yes, a very small amount of oil is retained in the engine. Not entirely all of the oil drains back down into the pan, as you state. Ford alone has spent a train boxcar load of $100 bills developing their orange silicone ADBV technology that goes in most, if not all, of their Motorcraft oil filters. Ford filters even have the letter “S” suffix on the filter number to denote that the filter has a silicone ADBV.

So, when the engine is started after sitting overnight, there will be NO unusual mechanical valve-train noise because some oil (and not all air) is already present in the oil galley [gallery]. When the upper oil galley has oil in it, but it is NOT pressurized, and the engine is started after sitting overnight, then the lube oil latency (time delay) to get to the upper valve-train area is extremely low. Just a mere moment or two, under normal circumstances.

After an oil and filter change, the upper galley could be drained of oil depending on how the engine was designed. When the engine is started, there can be be the several seconds of oil latency to get to the valve-train after engine start. In my experience, the valve-train noise is easily heard during this time, until the oil pressure is stabilized.

After sitting overnight, you can easily discern the difference between a DOHC gas auto engine briefly sounding mechanically quieter immediately after starting versus the same engine (AFTER an oil & filter change) sounding mechanically louder while the upper valve-train oil galley has air in it.

After changing the oil and filter (first time) on my 2025 4Runner about 2 weeks ago, my 4Runner made an upper engine valve-train rattle for several seconds after engine start. I could hear the sound immediately cease and quiet down when the oil pressure stabilized. I have heard this exact type of noise following an oil and filter change on my personal Ford, Chevy, Volvo and Toyota vehicles.

And if you're concerned about the filter being empty...have you looked at the size of the filter?

I was never concerned with the size of the filter nor it being empty.

 

[Doug747]

Toyo, did you ever figure out how to crank the motor without starting it? I'm trying to do the same thing. Not opposed to pulling fuses, but looking for and easier way if there is one.

 

[ToyoX3]

Toyo, did you ever figure out how to crank the motor without starting it? I'm trying to do the same thing. Not opposed to pulling fuses, but looking for and easier way if there is one.

No, I have not, Doug747. The day before yesterday, while I was at the parts department at my local Toyota dealership, I asked people in the parts department (you never know), service check-in people, and a manager in the service department. Each person that I asked just stared at me with a wide-eyed look that made me think their brain was in the process of doing a cold-hard reboot, if you know what I mean. Each person mumbled something about “I’ve never been asked that question before.”

So, I guess until I can find some other slick way to do it, I will continue to yank out fuel injector fuses like I have always done on my FJ Cruiser.

 

[Vincenzo]

No, I have not, Doug747. The day before yesterday, while I was at the parts department at my local Toyota dealership, I asked people in the parts department (you never know), service check-in people, and a manager in the service department. Each person that I asked just stared at me with a wide-eyed look that made me think their brain was in the process of doing a cold-hard reboot, if you know what I mean. Each person mumbled something about “I’ve never been asked that question before.”

So, I guess until I can find some other slick way to do it, I will continue to yank out fuel injector fuses like I have always done on my FJ Cruiser.

Driver’s side fuse/relay box. You might be able to pull the relay for the injectors. Maybe. Not entirely sure.

 

[ToyoX3]

Driver’s side fuse/relay box. You might be able to pull the relay for the injectors. Maybe. Not entirely sure.

I’ll take a look at that relay, Vincenzo.

I was previously thinking about purchasing a one-day subscription access to an online database, like ALLDATA, to view an electrical diagram to see just what pulling a relay would do, other than shutting down the fuel injectors downstream.

If I pull the relay, I‘LL post back here with my results.

 

[ToyoX3]

Does anyone know if an OBD2-port scan tool has a setting to crank (spin) the engine but not allow the engine to start? I would think that setting would be available on the scan tool to use as a ”Clear Flood Mode” setting.

 

[ToyoX3]

Toyo, did you ever figure out how to crank the motor without starting it? I'm trying to do the same thing. Not opposed to pulling fuses, but looking for and easier way if there is one.

Driver’s side fuse/relay box. You might be able to pull the relay for the injectors. Maybe. Not entirely sure.

Disclaimer: I have zero affiliation with ALLDATA.

I signed up for a one-month subscription access (about $20) from ALLDATA, an online source for automotive repair manual info. As of this month, June 2025, ALLDATA does NOT yet have the 2025 4Runner information available, but they do have the 2025 Tacoma with the same 2.4L L4 (T24A-FTS) engine as the 6Gen 2025 4Runner.

So, I browsed the 2025 Tacoma electrical diagrams for the 2.4L engine, and traced the fuse and relay circuits that control all eight fuel injectors (4 direct injection and 4 port injection).

If you want to shut down all eight fuel injectors with the simplest method (i.e., least number of fuses and/or relays to remove) so the engine will crank (turn-over) but NOT start, just remove the following single fuse that is labeled: 7.5A EFI NO. 2

This fuse is located in a black “fuse and relay” box inside the engine compartment on the driver’s side (left side, as viewed from the driver’s seat) next to the inner front fender. For those that don’t know, please look on the inside of the “fuse and relay” box lid to see a diagram map of the fuse locations as well as fuse descriptions.

When I removed the fuse and then proceeded to crank (turn-over) the engine, the ECM (the main computer) would only allow the engine to crank (turn-over) for approximately seven seconds at a time, then stop. I don’t know if the ECM only allows seven-second-long engine start intervals at any time, regardless if the 7.5A EFI NO. 2 fuse is removed or not, when going through the engine start cycle?

Be aware that there will be several different error messages pop-up on the instrument display that will tell you the ECM is NOT in a happy mood because that EFI fuse was removed. Whenever the fuse is reinstalled, the error messages will go away and the engine will start normally again.

Check out the two attached images to see exactly which fuse that I temporarily removed.

 

[Doug747]

Thanks for the follow up!

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