I've been working on getting my 4runner to start right up smoothly for a month now and I need some advice before I drop alot of $ on her again. I believe it's got to be something in the fuel delivery. Over the past month I've replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the injectors, replaced the O2 sensor back to OEM(very expensive, didn't make a difference if anyone wants my old one), replaced the filter again, I thought the difference that changing it the first time made had faded away (all in my head). Now after reading through more of the literature and topics on this site I found the fuel pump issue in the cheap tricks section. It sounded alot like what my truck is doing, turning over 9-10 times before starting, then running roughly for 10 seconds with a little black smoke, even if the engine is still warm (only has to be off for 10-15 min.). So I did the suggested, I bypassed the fuel pump switch in the airflow meter and it didn't work. I've checked all my grounds and 4crawler suggested going through some of the harness around the intake for the injectors and checking for shorts. Everything seemed to be in order, but the description described in "cheap tricks" sounds too familiar. Do EFI fuel pumps still work partially when they are going bad? My truck runs smooth after the first 10 seconds, so the pump still pumps. Or could this be a relay or something. I just pulled the sending unit out of the tank to check the condition of the tank and the pickup screen and they're both clean. any suggestion about what I should blow my money on next would be much appreciated. I'm not sure if a relay could cause this sort of thing or not, and I'm not sure how a fuel pump goes bad. If I'm even looking in the right area.