Plug on coil question

it barely started this morning. It doesn’t help that it was in the teens outside. I have a new alternator, starter and jeep cables that I’m going to instal along with a new battery so helpfully that helps start on the cold mornings.

 

I hate to be this guy but, I feel in this situation all the parts you throw at it will take you back to the same place... life is expensive right now in every way because of politics but if your engine actually has low compression on cylinder 3 and you're not in a position to pull the head for further diag, you may be better off saving your money and starting to look around for another vehicle to get you by.

I'm sorry this is happening to you.

 

yeah I may just drive it until she quits and either put a new engine in or sell it. Idk yet.

 

check engine light is back on. Went off for a few days when I pulled the plugs and checked the gap and put them back in. Have new plugs on the way. Idk what to do. I’m not very mechanically inclined and I don’t want to pay to have it looked at. That’ll be expensive.

 

If you're confident in your learning abilities then you can try getting a Haynes/Chilton manual and reading through head removal combined with youtube university to see if it's something you feel comfortable with.
Reason I suggest the head pull is because if you catch the issue soon then you may be able to get away with just a valve or at most a remanufactured head

or

Try posting in your local area subforum for physical help. A guy nearby might be a mechanic and/or proficient wrencher who would come give you a hand for some pizza or something. Where are you located?

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c11jFV3E_BY

 

https://youtu.be/f0zzsBhs3iA?si=UY0zociYN02DWGMb

OP, not sure if you've watched this video yet. What he does in this video COULD perhaps rectify your low compression. All these other parts you're tossing at the vehicle won't improve the compression and therefore are very unlikely to make the truck run better. If you can follow the directions of this video, I'm sure you could pull off this repair.

No guarantee this will fix your issue. You still may end up needing to replace a couple valves entirely, or install a new/remanned head, but this is your best chance at a cheap, proper fix at this juncture.

 

I just checked the coolant trick. It wasn’t bubbling so no bad head gasket. Both oil and coolant look normal also.

 

I may just try new coils. They are $150 for both oem. Can I take the plug wires off the 1 and 3 coil and swap them or is that a no no?

 

I would suggest not doing either of those things. Gotta address the low compression

 

Yeah, stop throwing new parts at the problem without knowing what you’re doing. You’re wasting money.

 

10-4. Well I’m taking it to a family friend mechanic on January 9th so I’ll keep yall updated on when he finds.

 

supposedly Toyota addressed the low compression saying it was escaping through the exhaust pipe but yet the service manager recommended not checking the valves. Doesn’t make sense to me.

 

If it's escaping through the exhaust for sure and not incorrect on their part then it has to be exhaust valve related. Only three places it can go from the combustion chamber is out the intake/throttle body, into the crankcase or out the tailpipe.

Two options are head related so either valves or a cracked head. One is cylinder/piston related

Although not 100% the coolant bubble trick has served me well over the years. However it could be and in my experience usually is a crack between the valves More so than a crack between the squish zone and a coolant jacket. However that usually shows leakage on both the intake and exhaust side of things. Cylinder/piston leakage issues tend to appear through the dipstick tube or oil fill port.

 

OP Toyota originally recommended checking (and adjusting) valve clearances every 60k. Nobody does it that often, and it's probably overkill to do that, but your dealer not recommending checking the valve clearances is idiotic.

 

that’s what I thought too. He said it would be too expensive for them to do it and not worth it.

 

When I was in highschool with my 93 yota with the 3.0 (amazing truck btw) my local toyota dealer argued no such thing as a valve adjustment existed. They asked their alleged "master mechanic" who also said no such thing exist despite me pointing out that it had the original with emission sticker for the 3VZ-E in 1993 to match the truck and had printed on it the exact intake and exhaust clearances cold. This is also after pricing out valve shims 4 mins prior.

Fast forward to myself now becoming a rse mechanic and I've learned that alot of mechanics talk out of their ass alot and just take guesses at problems instead of diagnosing them...

Now that my rant is over,
For your learning
As an engine wears over time, the valves tend to recede into the head from being pounded repeatedly into the seat. At 3000rpm one valve will open and close 25 times a second. Usually it's the exhaust valves because of the heat they endure from combustion and the exhaust flowing past them. Whereas the intake valves stay colder because they see combustion then fresh air passes over them which cools them down.

 

So along with my CEL and misfire, I’ve noticed with this tank of gas it’s getting horrible mileage.

 

That's stands to reason.

Low compression = low power

Low power = higher RPMs/more fuel needed to make up for that loss in power