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

I'm not doing so good guys. I think I'm gonna take a break from TW for a bit. Sorry, I do appreciate everyone's help but I really can't deal with this anymore. Falling apart.

 

I hope I didn't throw you into that thought Jen. I am always here to try and help out when I can, you know that. Feel free to PM me any time you need something.

 

Nope, that crap firmly rests on my shoulders I think.

I can't apologize for the possibilities tho'. Because, as we all know,,are endless,,frikkin endless. This threads teaches that.

I think the echoing of possible problems tipped the scales with Jen. Was not my intention.

 

I'm sorry guys, its certainly not anyone on here's fault at all. You guys have been so good to us. I'm just not coping so well with the whole damn thing right now. Trying to pull it together. We are just in such a horrible awful situation that just won't f'ing end. I can't believe this is my life now. It was so normal and easy and boring before this. And I want that back so bad. But I can't get there and it sucks.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WD5hpi-xYU

One of my faves.....gonna chill out to some Waylon and stop thinking about it for a while, how bout that? : )

 

Jen, with the truck idling use the handle of a screwdriver and lightly tap the MAF; if the idle fluctuates the MAF is bad (or so I've been told) You said the Engine Coolant Temp sensor has been replaced? ^^ That video tears me to pieces.

 

I can't stay away from TW for more than an overnight span. But you guys probably already knew that.

It's amazing what a good long cry, a lot of Waylon Jennings, a good hot meal, and a good night's sleep can do for a person....and a glass of wine (or 2, or 3, or ......)

Husband did some research on wiring harnesses last night (imagine that, I'm sobbing my eyes out going, what if we need THAT?!?!?! those are $1200 from dealer, and I'm NOT getting something THAT important used, after how much we've spent by now to get new/top quality on all else!). He found a place (in Texas I think?) that sells aftermarkets for our truck for $300. That helped me chill out quite a bit too....

Bama, the MAF apparently WAS replaced, but we'd never been told that, at least not by the people who replaced it. We were unaware that it was replaced until ~1 week ago, when our new mechanic pointed out that it said FAP in handwritten marker (Mod, it didn't look like a stamp) on the side of it , and asked us if that was the one that was on there before. Nope. So for whatever reason, a used (FAP = Foster Auto Parts, a local place selling only used/rebuilt stuff) MAF was put into our truck without telling us about it, and I have no idea where the old one is or why it was swapped. Sweet. Lovin that honesty. Just keeps getting better and better with every discovery. Anyway, the first I've reported on here that it was replaced was yesterday (unless I am truly getting that foggy on remembering stuff, I suppose it IS possible! ).

Mod, yes, we did receive a Quickbooks print out of what parts and labor were done. It was pretty simplified though - not much detail, considering how much work was done/how many things were replaced. In fact, it didn't list any brand names of parts - so while we were paying, I stood there and asked the owner, part by part, what brand each was, and hand wrote his answer on our $6K invoice. And aside from the engine itself, we never received any type of warranty paperwork for the parts that were replaced, and I didn't think to ask for it, or think to ask for the old parts back (FPR, 2 replacement injectors, power steering pump/drive belts, etc). In fact, not only did I not receive any warranty paperwork for the power steering pump, I asked what brand the new one was (I'd been VERY CLEAR from day one we were being "parts snobs" - when it comes to crap that is a pain to get to, why replace parts with aftermarket/used stuff, we want brand new OEM, or at least to discuss the options before going ahead with the cheapest). I was told, "I don't remember." Not, "let me check my records," just "I don't remember." The end.

BEFORE we were aware that a different MAF was in the truck, I specifically asked the engine mechanic if he'd cleaned our MAF, and he said, "I think so."

I did not think to ask him if he'd replaced our MAF and failed to tell us about it.

That question will be asked at some point.....

Unfortunately, Steve and Bama, we were instructed by our new mechanic to not "mess with" anything at all except changing the oil (due at 500 miles, still has special new engine bearing oil) until he returns, because he reset the ECM and is hoping like hell it will kick a code to more easily pinpoint the problem while the computer relearns the sensors. You have no idea how much I would LOVE to perform every test under the sun on that MAF right now, but I gotta follow our mechanic's instructions for now. Hopefully he'll be back in ~1 week.

Bama, I'll definitely share any data from the MAF after he returns and proceeds with his next steps.......thanks for the offer to look at it.

Steve, you a Waylon fan too?

That guy rocks. Our absolute fave, especially driving around in the Taco on some eye popping scenic remote dirt road, sun shining, our 4 legged kid in the backseat - totally carefree, that's the good life. That guy was so damn talented, such a shame he passed so young.

 

Wanted to elaborate a bit on why I started thinking of a TW hiatus last night, and still think maybe I should try to take one, but we'll see if I can actually do it.......

The stuff someone said a couple days ago, I felt he was insinuating that we are some sort of sue happy jerks, looking for something we don't deserve. No, that may not have been his exact words, but that was the tone of his posts (at least IMHO). Yep, it hurt like hell. That is NOT the kind of people we are, period. If anything, we are TOO damn honest. We live a modest life, work hard for what we have, and have never really been handed a damn thing in life. Got married in our living room with our two best friends as the only guests (neither of our families really offered to spring for a wedding); paid our own ways through what college we each completed, yada yada yada. We are not that kind of people, and it really really sucks to be painted that way on the internet. Funny, we found a piece of GLASS in our leftover mexican food that night, after that guy was posting that stuff. I've never found something like that in my food before. Thought it was kinda ironic, because I know there are plenty of people who would have used that to be set for life. We threw it away and ate our dinner. Because I have no desire to destroy a small business who clearly made an honest mistake (and who makes kick ass mexican food too!).

Bama did an absolutely beautiful job of summarizing exactly what I was thinking in his well written post after that guy posted his thoughts, which I was super grateful for, because I just don't have a whole lotta mental strength left to reply intelligently to stuff like that anymore (imagine that?).

But, it was still gnawing at me even after Bama's post. This is the internet after all. And it didn't feel good to think that everyone and their mother could read that, then see that I stopped replying to his posts (stopped trying to explain myself, and why I disagreed with his perspective on the whole thing). Made me feel like people might see that I stopped replying, and wonder if there was some truth to the things the guy was insinuating about us.

So, while I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I actually let it get to me this much, I spent the better part of yesterday going over his posts, trying to keep an open mind about what he said, because let's face it, we're all guilty of getting tunnel vision, and sometimes hearing a devil's advocate perspective is just what we need. Spent hours composing my responses to his comments. Then realized, I don't even want to post this now, it's probably just going to continue fueling a word game that I'm not up for playing. And also realized, gee, I just spent most of my day on this waste of time project, when I'd planned to spend the day running all those errands that I couldn't the last two weeks while the Taco was gone.

And stuff like that is part of being on the forum. You either handle it and don't let it get to you that much, or you let it drive you crazy (like I did the last 2 days), or you don't use a forum. And I'm sure he will not be the last person to insinuate yucky things about us and how we're handling this - again, I'm putting it on the internet for anyone to read, and of course not everyone is going to see it the same way, and they are absolutely entitled to share their opinions.

But I'm so mentally drained from the problem with the truck itself, and all the stuff related to that, I KNOW I don't have the mental energy to deal with stuff like that well. So that's why I'm going to TRY to lay off TW a bit - we'll see how long I can last at that

Wanted to explain this, because I was worried it might have looked like Mod's post about a wiring harness was what sent me over the edge. But it was just the icing on the cake of where I was already at. And Mod, I KNOW you did not have any intention at all of freaking me out - and again, that's part of the forum! We should all be able to exchange honest ideas about what could be wrong when discussing a difficult to troubleshoot problem. But I'm sure you understand - where I was at in my mind, then reading that - just too much. NOT YOUR FAULT. And it's kinda pointless for me to keep up on the thread if you guys feel like ya gotta "handle me with kid gloves" regarding what might be causing the issue.

For today, I'm going to get those errands done, take my 4 legged kid to the park, and try to stay away, at least a little bit, from my beloved addiction, TW. But I'm sure that won't last long, this has become my support group through a miserable, shit situation. Unfortunately, none of my girlfriends are interested in dissecting theories about a faulty MAF - I know there are women who are quiet intelligent about automotive stuff, but I don't know any. But you guys are totally up for dissecting those theories, and also up for helping me learn about the truck, so I can impress my awesome new mechanic with how much I know!

Just the other day, our new mechanic threw out the term "R & R" when he was talking about something related to the timing belt. And I remembered DP writing that on a post. Honestly, I never asked him (DP) what that meant, but at least when my mechanic brought it up , I'd seen the term used in certain contexts, so I wasn't completely clueless. When we got home, my husband said to me, "What did he (our mechanic) mean when he said R & R, I've never heard of that?" My response was, "I have."

Thanks for reading guys.

EDIT: One other goal today - do some serious baking - chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon rolls are on the menu for today, followed by a trip to the post office or UPS, in exchange for some auto parts.....

 

just do your own thing and chill out girl, nobody including you can do or say anything to help until "after" your mechanic returns AND has a few days to look the truck over and report back to you and that will be in like 2 weeks I guess so grab a bottle of wine and the bikini and go get a suntan.

you would be doing yourself a favor to not even try thinking about anything except its out of your hands for now until you get his report so just stop posting in THIS thread is all you need to do. if you need your TW fix then pop in other threads and help others with what you learned and put that learning to good use.

as for the naysayers, ignore them, there are always those who are quick to blame the victim and speak before knowing the whole story. its best to never even reply to them or explain anything or you will have to be explaining the whole story over again.

here is another one for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKpQRjj_WbU

and something for a laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MOavH-Eivw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wpYEOR3-nM

For anyone not familiar with Waylon's music, or who thinks they doesn't like it, give this song a try. I promise you won't regret it. This song KICKS ASS.

Also fits my mood today much better - "chase off those sad blues, big ball's in town" Goes great with baking too.

 

Yep, really stayed away a long time.

Wanted to let everyone know though - our donor Taco brain just arrived at my husband's office. Thank you thank you thank you I called him from Costco to see what kind of beer he wanted, and he was more excited than I've heard him in a long time - "GUESS WHAT JUST ARRIVED?!?!?!"

Fueled up with some "Top Tier" fuel at Costco while I was there (tanker truck wasn't there, hurray!).

Now every time I get gas and they ask if I want premium or regular, I feel compelled to tell every gas station attendant (we aren't allowed to pump our own gas in Oregon) about what's happened, to explain why I'm choosing premium. I'm sure they are fascinated by my sad story.

Baking/Waylon time, my favorite!

How often (if ever) have all of you guys ever changed your coil packs? I promise, this is not a trick question, I will not be upset in any way by any answers

As far as we know, 2 of our 3 are original to the truck, so they've got 17 years/195K on them. One was replaced in 2007. Those other two *could* have been replaced somewhere between 0 and 70K (which is when we bought it) but I doubt it.

Husband's mechanically inclined friend keeps saying he thinks it could be as simple as that. And replacing that one coil pack did seem to fix the carbon tracking problem we had at #3 in 2007 when we took it to the dealer. And they did test in excess of spec at 1.3 when truck was hot just a couple weeks ago. Our mechanic doesn't think it could be that, we've brought it up more than once. And I know no one on here has really commented on that topic when I've mentioned it, which I'm guessing means no one really thinks it could be that.

Bama, you mentioned you thought you might have some extra coil packs a while back, didn't you? Do you know if you still have them?

OEM coil packs from dealer are $100 each. Would hate to fork out $300 if it's not going to change anything, but if anyone has any non used (or used but definitely working) coil packs of any brand that they feel like lending out in exchange for any baked goods of your choosing (and shipping costs of course), you know where to send 'em! We'd send back anything that doesn't solve it, or send a check for what does if/when we found that out. Of course we aren't doing a thing til mechanic returns, but it would be nice to have things lined up to try when he gets back.

 

just my opinion but I wouldn't use premium, especially in a newly built engine.

you do realize premium AND regular gas is the same gas don't you? they just add more octane boost to it is the only difference. I used to work at the refinery and the trucks all filled from the same pipe and when they needed premium they opened a small pipe to dump a gallon or so octane boost into the tanker and each brand truck dumps there own "mix" or version of detergent in it. I used to laugh seeing the shell guys dump a box of tide detergent in it. that's right sports fans shell uses tide powdered detergent as there super secret "special" addatives to keep your engine clean. of course this was before the days of "techron" so who knows what that is.

there is nothing wrong with regular gas and it wont hurt your engine but if you use premium in a new engine you will "always" have to use premium or the valves will clatter.

im not going to argue about the mechanics of it but I did it in two trucks I owned and have real life proof with my own eyes they both cant go back to regular gas if you drive only on premium most of its life. everytime they were under load or went up a bridge it sounded like a diesel engine clattering away.

unless you have a high compression or sports car engine for racing, then just buy regular gas, just get it from a reliable gas station that sits on a hill and never gets high water.

 

Wiring harnesses aren't all that expensive. Plenty of nice Tacos with rusted out frames being parted out. Here's hoping the brain fixes it!

 

Keakar, we started doing that because the engine mechanic told us to. Hmmmm. Well, we've filled it at least 2-3 times with it, so I suppose we'd better stick with it now. Honestly, I could care less about an extra few cents/dollars for it if there's *any* chance it could be a good thing, even considering the additional cost in the long term. My mentality is: piston hole/fuel system issues = do all you can to AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Steve, you are so right, lucky me that they salt the roads in certain places, huh?

 

well I wouldn't say its a bad thing for the break in period, probably a good idea in fact because it burns hotter so it helps it break in faster but after the breakin is done I would suggest you go back to regular gas.

there are people on both sides of the debate about which gas is better but I just look at it this way, if you use regular you can always switch to premium anytime you want but if you use premium on a regular basis (a few years) then the engine will not run right (loss of power, clattering valves under load) without it. that's enough to tell me stick with regular. not to mention around here we pay more then a few cents, its like 75-80 a gallon more for premium here.

I ruined two trucks using premium because they were brand new and I wanted to put the good stuff in them but never again will I make that mistake.

premium gas is for performance engines in performance (sports) cars and regular cars and trucks do better with regular gas.

 

I agree that regular should be used in place of premium during the break in period for an engine that is supposed to run on Regular fuel. Just FYI I do work at a location that deals bulk fuels and premium is no longer just regular with some Ocatane boost and Tide in it . They now do create an "additives package" that goes in the gas. It usually is composed of cleaners, octane boost, and sometimes even a bit of a traceable element so the manufacturer can tell if there gas was used in a blown motor situation. With shell they also add some nitrogen enriched hydrocarbons to adjust the Octane rather than Octane booster.

BTW I'm back to reading this thread after the blowup not to long ago. First off I want to wish you best of luck with the truck. I don't think you're trying to sue anyone, I can see how you are just protecting yourself to see what you're options are should you need to invest extreme amounts of money to get this warm start issue fixed after the damage that has been found trying to fix it.

Jen I hate to say it because I think you might take it the wrong way but in my humble opinion you really need to step back for a while from this. Take a TacomaWorld vacation, enjoy something you like with your friends or family and stop coming on here every day to read the next doomsday scenario. Your head will clear and you'll feel fresh when you come back to concentrate on the problem. Even rocket scientists take breaks when they are trying to figure shit out. Right now coming on here for hours a day to read about your evident truck problems and worrying about what some internet poster says is going to start causing you health problems.

 

Glad you got the ECM. Hopefully you don't need it. I'm still in the camp of the issue being something simple. The mysterious appearance of that foreign MAF sensor has me wondering. I'm in to the end...or as long as you can stand it

Gotta head out to the garage and warm up the grill. Seagram and Gator Aid tonight. Yummy.

Later

Kirk

 

Wow. Thank you everyone. Just got back from other grocery store (had to get a few cinnamon roll ingredients we were missing!) and to come home and read these messages, wow, what a nice welcome home. Although you guys got nothin on that awesome doggie greeting of turbo charged wagging and slobbery kisses, sorry to tell ya! Really though, thank you so much you guys, it helps A LOT to feel the support of TW folks.

Sterdog, I agree with your suggestion 1000%. Trying to pry myself away little by little, I'll get there.....but yes, your logic as to why to make that change right now is spot on, and exactly what I'm thinking too....good news is, even though we should be frugal right now, we were instructed by our mechanic to get some miles on her before he returns. So, we might just be forced to take a mini trip out to the coast this weekend and not think about this crap for a little bit. Gotta follow the mechanic's orders, right? Plus we'll call it an early bday celebration for me - coming up on 2/20 - not gonna jinx it and say "I hope xyz happens by then"

So do you guys think we should go to using regular fuel then? We're at ~425 miles on new engine, so I suppose we've gotten 2-3 tanks of premium now. I will trust whatever I'm told on here on this topic over what the engine mechanic told me (hmm, I wonder why?)

K, do you do anything but work and grill and drink? Oh yeah, go around and do crazy good deeds for fellow Taco owners, let's not forget that one.... I'll have to get Seagrams next time, so far you haven't steered us wrong on the liquor selections!!

 

The engine will run fine on Regular because that's what the engine is tuned to run. By running premium you are just babying it a little, which I don't think will cause any sort of damage or weird computer issues but it will cost you money.

Now go have fun at the beach. We will all be here when you get back .

 

Ok, it's time to inject some well deserved humor in this thread.

*** The Five Guy Name Match Up ***


Correctly match the name to the guy and win an honorary ASE certificate in cooperation with Tacoma World.

*Koditten
*Keakar
*Mod
*Sterdog
*BamaToy1997
*Dirty Pool
*Steves104X4

.... Yeah, I know... too many names, but there are many more that helped out that I didn't mention. You know who you are.