SOLVED! Post 2853 Leaking Injectors, Dealer Techs Rock! Extended Cranking after Engine Swap 3.4L 5vz

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0353

Just found an article (see above) that says:

"If an open or short is detected in the driver circuit for coil #3, a P0353 may set. Also, depending on the vehicle, the PCM (powertrain control module) may also shut down the fuel injector to the cylinder."

That sounds like a possible match to what happened to us, especially now knowing the history of weird coil/injector issues at #3. Dontcha think? Coil problem led to fuel injector shutting down, which led to spark plug issue then piston hole. If that's correct, then perhaps we don't have faulty injectors, but rather the coil to that plug died and caused a crazy chain reaction?

I really, really, really appreciate all the incredibly helpful advice the vast majority of you on this thread have given me - I really don't know how we would have survived engine failure without my Tacoma world buddies!

Keakar, just saw your post - we changed the fuel filter last in October 2010, how often should they be changed ya think?

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/158535-misfire-cylinder-3-running-rough-2.html

a happy ending......guessing we would have been in the above guy's shoes if we'd checked codes a while back.... this guy replaced his plug but based on what's happened to us, i bet his problem will return..... and this dude had issues at #3, turned out to be fuel injectors.

It's funny, of all the searches I've done the last 2 weeks, and it hasn't been til tonight that I've searched #3 cylinder tacoma or 4runner, and those sites plus a bunch more came up with people reporting problems with #3 cylinder. WTF cylinder 3?????? Seems strange, considering this engine is supposed to be such a tough engine, doesn't it?

I suppose all irrelevant now anyway, but it's interesting to me cuz I'd love to learn how and why this happened for curiosity sake and to prevent a repeat!

 

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/p...999-toyota-5vz-fe-3-4l-v6-hot-hesitation.html

and one more 5vzfe guy with #3 issues - now i am obsessed w/this #3 theme!!

 

I think the recommendation is like 35k-50k miles, (to be honest I never bothered to learn) but it takes a while to get dirty and goes 100k miles easy before I think it would get to the point of "needing" to be changed.

I say once every 5 years is a good schedule for you to replace plugs, fuel filter, tranny/differential fluid, and rear end gear oil. I also do new brake pads, belts and hoses, and often tires as well. since I drive an average of about 10k a year, that's my 50k mile service schedule.

I change engine oil (100% full synthetic) and filter every 10k miles and the air filter is also cleaned or replaced every 10k miles

 

Thanks Keakar! We're still suspicious about this #3 cylinder being a repeat offender. Any theories on that? Based on original borescope video, think there's any chance the black hole looking area at the top of that piston could just be carbon build up or oil, that just happened to form in a perfect circle? Thought about trying to "clean" in there w/magnet, then re-borescope. Still looking for that last minute miracle before we fork over the dough.......

Right now I'm cleaning Taco, to get her all gussied up to go live somewhere else for a couple weeks. Still had bits of gravel/dirty water in the bed (from the drainage project we were finishing when Taco problems started) - so wet vac'd it all out, cuz tow truck driver parked her such that the bed is uphill and wouldn't drain on it's own. Not necessary, I know, but it makes me feel better. Vacuumed inside, and now going to clean inside, wash outside, and attempt to use carpet cleaner machine to clean up upholstery/floor. Since I can't fix her, at least I can do this and make her prettier again! Plus I figure if I were a mechanic, I'd likely take more care with the car that looked well maintained vs the car that looked like ass.

Husband checked codes on Civic this morning (we learned our lesson!) due to recent CE light. Code was a 9, which book says is something with distributor. So he just did some kind of electrical test on distributor, and it's a 380, which the book says between 350 and 700 is within specs. So, hopefully we're good, but he's consulting the book again now, and we'll probably consult Civic forum - thank goodness for these forums!!! That car is crazy, it's a 1993, and it's got 230,000 miles - we expected it to die long before Taco! I've been driving that thing since '98 - 17 freaking years!!!!!!! Usually we rip on that old car, and how much we hate it. Of course now, we're like, we lve you Civic, please don't die! She got a nice cleaning today too!

Have a good day everybody!

 

one thing, its obvious this is your baby so ....

stuff happens so cover the seats and carpet with old no good bed sheets so if accidental oil stained feet or clothes get on something its not in the material or carpet.

even the best shops and most careful mechanics don't realize they stepped in something sometimes so why not be extra careful.

you can trust most shops but you never know when temporary help is around so take everything out but the registration and insurance papers so there is no privacy concerns or suspicion of anything. my sister thought for a long time the mechanic stole a bunch of loose change money out of her car only to find out her boyfriend did it. just goes to show how its easy to jump to conclusions so don't leave any phone chargers or receipts or pay stubs, get it clean like you are selling it.

ps - I wouldn't worry about doing a good job cleaning the exterior or interior until after its fixed. they will most likely pull the engine and park it outside the whole time so it will be dirty when you get it back anyway. just a cursery rinse the mud off and clean the trash out is all it needs

 

All clean and shiny! I like your suggestion to cover the interior w/sheets to protect it - trust me, it's certainly not in pristine condition, even after cleaning, but still, at least it's our dirt and no one else's. And glad you mentioned registration - pretty sure I took that out when I cleaned out glovebox, so I gotta put that back in! And restart insurance - I dropped it down to comp when this started, since I wasn't sure how soon it'd be driven again. But I know those guys will drive it after the new engine's in, to break it in or whatever, so better make sure it's insured again! I wonder if they'd want to see the oil we drained, ya think? We saved it in containers.......

It's gonna be tough watching it get towed away tomorrow. But happy too, for sure! I criedlike a baby the night the tow driver put it in our driveway.......all the neighbors came out to see what was going on and were super sympathetic, one even brought warm cookies out!

What color should we have the new engine painted? Votes?

 

Did any one pull the oil cap while it was running? It seems it would have puffed a lot or air out the oil fill hole from the piston blowby. Not sure, but seems likely.

 

Don't think so. There was compression on the bad hole,,but I wonder.

 

they don't need the oil but if you don't know what to do with it just pour it back into the engine and let them dispose of it.

as to the engine color, just stay with original stock color unless you plan to spend a lot of time looking at it and putting chrome doo-dads all over it lol.

after all your not going to be seeing much if things go as planned so your hood wont need to be opened any more

then again, on the paint color super glow in the dark hot pink engine with chartrouse or bright kiwi green valve covers would be very original

 

Thanks for the input guys!!

Koditten, neighbor told us this engine doesn't do that, but heck if I know? We took oil cap off AFTER starting it and turning it off (30 seconds or less after turning off) each time last week, and didn't notice anything strange. What do you guys think, would it be worth starting it to see about this?

Mod - what'd ya mean? Is there hope? Should we repeat compression test? The neighbor that did the test admitted his compression tester might be f'ed up. Tonight, a different neighbor (who typically has NICE tools), offered to lend us his. Worth trying ya think? Confused about what exactly good vs. bad compression means.......

Keakar, that paint scheme sounds super awesome!!!! I will definitely ask for exactly that!!!!!!!!

If anybody has any last ditch efforts/ideas to suggest, we're all ears! Either way, thanks again to all of you for helping us through this miserable Taco time - she will run again, one way or another!!!!!!!!!!

 

Don't listen to him, he's just messing with you. There is very little of the block that can be seen with the hood up. Almost everything you can see is unpainted aluminumn

 

I'm gonna ask him to paint the words:

"Tacoma World ROCKS!" on my engine........

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpUpzXiC9qM

Whoa, these dudes fished around w/magnet for 1st 5 minutes of video, then basically said screw it, try starting it w/out that plug in - AND THE ELECTRODE FLEW OUT!!!!!!!!! Wow! Although, guessing they still need a new engine, considering what I've learned on here and how much damage that little piece of nickel probably did........still, interesting though, that it could just fly out like that!

 

"If an open or short is detected in the driver circuit for coil #3, a P0353 may set. Also, depending on the vehicle, the PCM (powertrain control module) may also shut down the fuel injector to the cylinder."

Guys, does anyone know if this is how our engine (5vzfe) works?

 

I'm certainly no expert, but it really seems everybody w/5vzfe should check cylinder 3's related goodies regularly! I know we will be once new engine is in.....

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/261311-3-4l-rough-run-after-hot-restart.html Fuel injector was the culprit for this guy, at cylinder #3!!!!!!! WTF Toyota? Bad design on the injector at that cylinder it seems.......

This many people w/problems at cylinder 3, and yet no recall? What exactly constitutes grounds for recall anyway? Sure, ignoring the CEL was just plain ignorance on our part - no blaming anyone else for that. But still, I'm truly shocked that my beloved Taco's engine isn't completely flawless!

Figure I may as well share these sites as I find them..........easier for me to find them later, plus when someone has the horrible luck of a similar problem and begins searching the web about it, perhaps they'll find stuff on this thread helpful...

 

There isn't a need for another comp test. That piston has lost a bunch of material it seems. Damage is done, as per the video.

 

Thanks Mod. Appreciate your input. Sucks, but moving forward is a good thing.

 

things like this can be as simple as maybe #3 is where the fuel line first enters the fuel rail so naturally any trash that gets past the filter would go there first and that would be the main common trouble point.

I bet if you look at where the fuel comes from and "how" it goes this will be the case, dirt always collects in the first place it can settle.

 

Check it out! This guy had 375K on his Taco!!! Scanned through the thread, and it looks like he made it to 420,000 miles then tranny started acting up. Wow, this gives me hope that our Taco might go that far too!!

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/226879-hopefully-million-mile-thread.html