2001 Toyota Spyder (1zz-fe engine) spins but no start!

Hello all - I’m hoping this will ring some bells with the Click and Clack crowd and someone has been through this before! My car is a 2001 Mr-2 Spyder with about 50,000 miles on it, 5 speed standard with the 1zz-fe engine (Corollas use them, too, I believe). I drove the car, washed it (car wash), drove on home, about 20 minutes, and it never missed a beat. Parked it for two days and when I went back out to start it, no go. It turns over normally, but doesn’t even try to start. I can not see any obvious (visual inspection) problems with fuses. It has a bit over half a tank of gas. I’m “in line” to borrow the local Checker Auto’s ODB tool to see if there are any codes (kudos to them for making these tools available!).

Has anyone any experience with this sort of thing with Toyotas? It has caught me by surprise. My wife and I have driven Hondas and Toyotas since the mid 80s and never needed to do much more than regular dealer maintainence and the usual tires, batteries, brake pads - I reckon I have been spoiled by the rock-solid reliability of these cars.

Help! (and Thanks!)

Is the fuel pump running? Are you getting spark?

Sometimes, even the best cars need repair …sad, but true. As Mc said, the troubleshooting starts with tests for fuel under pressure, and spark to make it burn. It could be much more involved troubleshooting, but it still starts with the basics. Were you wanting to do the troubleshooting and repair yourself? If so, get a spray can of Starter Fluid, and a spark tester from your local auto parts store and give it a whirl.

Fuel pump - can hear a soft humming with the key on, have thought that was fuel pump running. The engine compartment is a bit corwded on a Two. Valid to pull a fuel hose and see if it 'squirts"?

I pulled the coil on one plug, inserted a long handle screwdriver and looked for a spark while cranking to an unpainted bolt. Is this still a valid test for spark? I did not see any and would have expected a fat blue spark.