Headgasket Replacement, Car Starts but Dies

Hey guys how you doin? I just replaced the headgasket on my Dad's work truck and it will start but will die within 2 seconds.

It's a 2007 Toyota Tacoma 2.7L 2TR-FE single vvti.

-Checked spark plugs and they were wet with gas.
-Did a dry compression test, 150-150-150-125 psi.
-Sprayed starter fluid into intake and car ran for 5 seconds or until we stopped spraying.
-I pulled the fuel pump relay and jumped connectors 3 and 5 to keep the fuel pump on continuosly. The car started up and ran and idled. It ran real rough and was idling at 500rpm. I didn't give it any throttle but I might go back and try that.

I'm kinda running out of ideas. I'm already mentally preparing to the the headgasket job over again.

-Head was shaved at machine shop
-Machine shop also performed a valve job
-new valve stem seals installed by shop
-all necessary gaskets replaced along the way
-i also put a bead of Toyota Seal packing under the very front of the head gasket which i read on the forums here. But made me feel really uneasy. I've never seen a car call for sealant to be on the head gasket... IDK my gut tells me this Toyota Seal Packing stuff is ruining the compression.

Any suggestions what to do next would be great. Thank you

 

Sounds like you may have missed plugging in some sensor that is keeping the fuel pump from running. Or a ground.

 

Did you maybe get the fuel lines swapped? Easy thing to do if your not paying attention.

 

I like both suggestions, definitely don’t overthink it, check the basic stuff, most likely it’s something simple, just something that’s easily overlooked

 

Well i found the problem!! I scanned for codes and had open circuit for coolant temp sensor. Went under the car and looked under the intake, sure enough the coolant temp sensor was not connected. I connected it but the clip is broken so its only loosely on there now. IDK, i might just put a little dab of rtv on the connector so it has some sort of "temporary" adhesion.

I went to start the car and it started! Unbelieveable, I was like "surely a coolant temp sensor being unplugged cant cause a no start." IDK im not great with electrical yet, but im guessing it provides a ground or completes a circuit or somethin.

Car is running like normal, did some laps around the block, idled for 30 minutes got up to temp. The brand new water pump is seeping from the gasket for some reason. Ill be redoing that, and I got a minor exhaust leak as well, but other than that I am quite relieved.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Makes sense, coolant temp is a major input for fuel control at startup. Default temp when the sensor is open circuit is -40F so it will dump way too much fuel.

Standard Motor Products S1923 for the connector.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...or,temperature+sender+/+sensor+connector,2564

 

Awesome to hear it was only the unplugged coolant sensor holding it back.

I normally don't have too many Toyota repairs in year unless it is a part with high miles on it.

Turns out my '97 Taco that my son drives is due for it's second starter replacement and second heater coolant mixer valve in 285k miles. Parts just got here this morning. Work on those will be tomorrow.

My son borrowed my "shitbox" ('99 'Rolla) to drive for a few weeks until he saved up the money to work on the Taco. Ironically, he texted me last night while I was at work and asked if the shitbox has any known coolant issues?

He saw steam coming from under the hood when he got to his girlfriends house and could see a small puddle on the subframe below the firewall.

I got a tad uneasy seeing a wet area directly below the head gasket in that area.

Turned out with some video of it running, I could see a slow drip from above that area. The damn high press power steering hose runs right over the exhaust and the hose has started to develop a burbling leak at the top while turning the wheels from side to side. Car has 225k and I can only assume this is the original hose.

New hose will be here tomorrow, so I have my Friday activities planned for me.

I had originally planned to spend this Friday replumbing my on board air system in my '17 Taco. Just adding a 1 gallon tank, and swapping all the compression fittings out for push-lock style fittings. The final part I need comes sometime tomorrow as well.

At least we are not working on low mileage Jeeps or the like.

 

Water pumps for some motors require sealant for the bolts, also there are torque specs for the pump to prevent over torquing which can also cause a leak. When you redo the water pump make sure to have the torque specs, tighten it but not fully then tighten to the correct torque spec and in a criss-cross pattern so it torques down evenly.

 

no good way to get a zip tie on it?

 

Well done with great advice.
I was going to ask if he used an actual torque wrench. Damned important, and very often critical. You did it a more diplomatic way.

 

Well, quick update, after my dad put 400 miles on the car is started leaking oil quite heavily. Initially looked like the oil filter, so I replaced that but the leak continues. It looks like its leaking where the timing cover mates to the oil pan. There's 2 things I think I did wrong.

-I did not remove the oil pan during my head gasket job
-I sealed the timing cover using the same 1282B seal packing.

-This time I will be using black RTV (althought i see people using Grey RTV on the timing cover?)
-And should I bother removing the oil pan?

What is confusing me now are all the Timing Cover Gasket Kits. A lot of these dam kits don't have all the O-rings.
The first picture (from Mizumoauto.com, I've never heard of) has them all.
The second picture, Fel-Pro kit, is missing 2 of them?

Also does anyone know what the last little gasket is with the 4 outer nubs on it?
I did not use it on my install, and never saw it used in any videos.

 

1) For the sealant you want Toyota part number

$22 00295-00103 Formed-in-Place Oil Pan Gasket - 3 oz. Tube

00295-00103 also called FIPG 103. Use this, or Permatex Ultra Black. I still think the FIPG 103 is better, but you have a time window so it's a little more pressure to get it right.

2) You don't need to remove the oil pan for a timing cover job, if the oil pan isn't leaking leave it on. More than likely, the issue is that the bottom of the timing cover did not seal properly and gravity and oil have won causing oil to leak from the lower timing cover around the oil pan gasket, making it look like the oil pan is leaking too. I would spray it off with some brake-cleaner, and then have another look. Oil pans and timing covers are separate jobs on a Toyota. Doing one should not cause the other to leak. When you go to redo this timing cover you need to make sure that the mating surface of the timing cover, where you the apply sealant, and the area that is sits against are as clean as possible. Wiping the surface with isopropyl alcohol and a clean cloth will do it, but you need to remove all of the old gasket material, without gouging/scratching the mating surfaces. The sealant will only seal minor scratches, anything that catches your fingernail is enough to cause an oil leak. Get a set of plastic razor blades or use an old plastic credit card to help you scrape away the old gasket material. If you have air tools, a die grinder with a green bristle disc is the fastest way to do it without scratching anything.

3) Those are totally different gasket sets, you need the gaskets specific to your year, model and engine. Best advice is to take your VIN number and go to an online OE toyota parts dealer and look at the cooling system pictures, you will see what gaskets you need and the Toyota part numbers for them. You can take a short cut and get most of the OE part numbers from the aftermarket gaskets sets that you are looking at, they should list the OE parts numbers that they are matching with their aftermarket one. Using the online parts dealer, and your VIN number, you can check the part numbers in the gasket set and verify if they match your VIN, then you know exactly what gaskets you need for job and if the ones in the set work for your vehicle. Also, I would not buy aftermarket gaskets for an engine job, just my 2 cents.

Good luck, sir!