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

once its fixed will you do this to it? http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.festivals-and-shows.com%2Fimages%2F1994-toyota-tacoma-38500-ozark-missouri-21104111.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ttora.com%2Fforum%2Farchive%2Findex.php%2Ft-146717.html&docid=lwTPQupgyvR50M&tbnid=l7E0e0UVbPGLLM%3A&w=400&h=267&ei=fGv_VOOPD8mZNt7RgPgH&ved=0CAIQxiAwAA&iact=c

 

If I drove something like that, I give you all permission to kick my ass. Fugly!!!!

 

I always wonder where they keep the step ladder you need to get in and out of something like that

 

Step up the front tire until you can stick your foot on the frame to the left of the door, then open it.

 

Now, everyones an authority. Seriously,what would someone do with that abomination?

Don't much mind me. I'm grilling and drinking...again. take nothing I say seriously...Seriously.

 

Well, I know 2 people with enormous trucks like that, and both of them are only really used as displays. Local auto stores and stuff like that will pay them a small fee to park it in front of their business for the day or however long they want.

 

Huge expensive undriveable log skidder.

I know someone who has a nice log skidder,,with a chrome exhaust stack, same damn thing except the skidder actually serves a purpose other than means for a divorce,,or loss of house,, or some goofy 3" high $6 trophy for last place finish at the show,,or all of the above.

But hey,,it's a nice trailer truck and to each his or her own. If it's how they want to spend the Monopoly valued money we have now, more power to them.

 

I think the MAF sensor I sent you is going to turn out to be the wrong one Jen. Sorry. I didn't see the pic of your old one until after I had it sent to you..... SOWWY!!!

 

It's probably already in. It might turn out for the better. Keep your cards close yet.

 

Ha! Seriously man! Wow. That is insanely ugly. What the hell was that person smoking when they decided that was a good idea?

 

It's my bad Bama, I should have said something sooner, because I knew about the damn split in production that year and should have spoken up about it when you first mentioned sending one. It's so nice of you to do that though!! In fact, it's so nice that PB cookies are coming your way with the MAF! And I KNOW they are super delish, because of course I had to try one to be sure. Or two. Or ten. First time I made this recipe, and wow. Delish. Same kind the mechanic got the other day - he looked pretty stoked! Hope you like 'em!!

PS: And I hope they arrive intact more so than the cookies Koditten got! He received a tupperware of crumbs!! I should take a pic so you can at least see how purty they are now, before USPS has their way with them........

 

Lucky me, some kind soul on TW just happened to have an MAF that is IDENTICAL to our truck's MAF. And that one was delivered to the mechanic Tuesday morning. He sounded like he was gonna give it a whirl in there, but being that it's now Thursday and no word yet, he either didn't try it yet, or tried it and thinks it fixed it but wants to be 100% sure by keeping it longer, or it didn't work. Let's hope it's not the last one. Also, I thought he'd already switched the ECU, but I guess he hasn't. I know he felt from the start that it wasn't the issue, which I kind of think too. Never made sense to either him or me that a failing ECU would randomly cause the hard start issue coincidentally AFTER the engine swap. He really thinks it's something that changed during that process, with wiring or something. Actually, that was the reason he was doubting that it was the circuit opening relay - that it's located in the cab (not under the hood), so why would it be vulnerable to damage during the swap? But I know he had enough reason to inspect it regardless. I suppose if he never finds a more likely culprit he'll try switching the ECU eventually. But I'm kinda glad he didn't yet because deep down I really don't think it's that, so him holding off on that step tells me he's digging deeper to look for other possible causes - and I like that.

OK, I know we talked about the fuel pump's operation A LOT way back on the thread. I'm going to review it again, hopefully later today. But if I understood him correctly, he thinks the pump is kicking on normally during all starts except the bad ones - on those, it's not getting enough voltage, or not coming on as quickly or as powerfully as it should or something. I think he was saying on most vehicles, the pump is primed when the key is turned to "on" position, but on Toyotas (or at least on Taco) it doesn't turn on til the engine is cranked. I definitely remember that point being discussed 100 pages or so ago - will review again. But in the meantime, if anyone has comments about any of the stuff in this paragraph, I'd love to hear 'em!

Man, you guys are talking me out of a Tundra! MPG is important to us. Not the MOST important thing to us, or we wouldn't have any kind of truck period. We'd just get a 2nd Civic! But if Tundras are that much worse than Tacos on gas, I think I'd hold out for another Taco if we have to eventually give up on this one.

 

yep, tundras are joked about but for very good reason, they aren't just "much worse than Tacos on gas" they are THE worst truck EVER on gas and it will cost you WAY WAY more gas then you think. what ever you were spending on gas for the taco each week (when it was a daily driver) and then triple that plus maybe add an extra tank of gas if you don't drive like a grandma and that is what you will need to average spending on it.

that's why I call it the rich peoples truck, you do "literally" need to have money to throw away to be able to afford driving it.

 

Yer killing me here, Keaker! I have one of those Tundra's. Yes it's bad on gas, but its a truck with huge towing capacity. You can't tow a 5th wheel camper with a Tacoma. I still love my first gen Tacoma, tho.

 

well I never questioned what it can do, yes its a work horse but it comes with baggage of being very expensive to use it and its baggage that cant be ignored if you are looking for a economical DD that can also go play on weekends.

unless I missed it she want in the market for a truck to haul big trailers around all the time or pull stumps out of the ground with, both of which the tundra is great at.

 

Great point!! We normally don't need to do much towing or hauling heavy loads, but this summer we really pushed the Taco A LOT with hauling gravel for drainage projects and hauling concrete/lumber for fencing projects. And I've always thought it must have played a part in the timing of the engine failure. Which made us think, perhaps the next truck should be capable of hauling heavy crap more than the Taco was able to. So I can totally see the value of having a truck like that - whatever suits your lifestyle best is what saves the most money in the big picture! Doesn't make sense or save money to have a truck that's great on gas but then pay to rent a heavier duty truck every time you need to tow something or haul a heavy load - especially if you do that stuff frequently.

I wish we could have 4 vehicles. 2 Civic/Accord type cars that are AWESOME on MPG and so so easy to slip into any old parking spot - the car basically drives itself it's so freaking easy to maneuver. Then a heavy duty V8 beater truck for hauling shit for home improvement projects. Then a reliable, super stylish, good on MPG, off road type truck to take road trips in. Although, we barely have enough parking space for 2-3 cars as it is. And I suppose paying insurance on 4 vehicles when we are only 2 people is a little excessive. Plus talk about driving yourself crazy with constant care/maintenance! Oh yeah, then there's the whole money part of making the 4 vehicle thing happen.......hmmm. Guess I'll need to come up with a Plan B, I see a few flaws in this 4 vehicle plan.

 

well if you feel you need more power then there are other choices that don't suck up as much gas so look at the fords and even the dodge and you can get close to the same power torque and get 18-19mpg rather then 12-13 mpg. (that's $50-$100 a week less in gas you burn)

it all depends on if you have extra money to waste unnecessarily or not, if money spent at the pump didn't matter, then my choice would be the tundra, but I live on a tight budget so I cant ignore that much difference in cost of driving it so if I were buying a big truck it would be the ford or the dodge

oh by the way GM SUCKS !!!!!

http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/

http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/#ram_1500

 

What about Chevy trucks? Are they any good? I don't like Dodge. I don't even know why, I just don't. I think from hearing my parents bitch about their Dodge vehicle when I was a kid. That's what started me on Hondas and Toyotas - growing up and watching my parents drive American vehicles their whole lives, and constantly dealing with a bunch of miserable repairs. Then when it was time to buy my very own first car, I asked my dad what to look for. He said Hondas and Toyotas are the most reliable/longest life span, and therefore best overall value. And this was coming from someone who always bought American cars. So I took his opinion pretty seriously - like he can't even bring himself to follow his own advice, but he wouldn't dare steer his daughter towards a problem vehicle. So I bought my very first car, a blue Honda Accord, with ~130,000 miles on it, for ~$3K. I LOVED that car. It was purty, stylish, great on gas, and got me around amazingly well on icy/snowy Vermont roads for several winters. Then a few years later, when it needed an expensive repair, I traded it in for the Civic. And that damn thing is still running nearly 20 years after I bought it. Good grief. Then the Taco joined the family, replacing my husband's piece of crap Blazer. We basically killed that Blazer by expecting it to hold up to off road type abuse, back when we were first discovering all the hidden gems of Oregon. It didn't like the abuse, and stuff starting breaking on it left and right. Then it became the good old, "the value of it is less than the cost of repairs" scenario, so Blazer was dumped for the Taco. Then 10 years pure bliss driving Taco - really loving everything about the truck, except maybe the once in a blue moon worry over whether we are stretching it's hauling capacity too much. But 99% of the time, it was just perfect for us in every way. We really thought it would stay like that for many many years into the future, without any major repairs. Still such a shock to me that the damn piston hole happened, even after having this much time to accept it.

Couldn't resist, just called the shop that has it and left a message asking if the donor MAF had been tried yet. Gonna do some errands now and try not to fixate on it too much. I want my Taco back guys!

 

I wouldn't base your decision on old memories like that, so much has changed and bad brands are good now and good brands are bad now such as the case with GM so research it like you did your truck problems and just go by things reported in the last few years and make your decisions based on recent data.

look up recalls and search for websites reporting problems and complaints which every brand has so don't get put off by it too much or you will think they are all bad. in a way they are but your looking for the ones with the least issues and what the issues are.

1 out of 5 of all CHEVY or GMC trucks have a vibration problem that they cannot and will not try to fix. I am in a lawsuit right now to firce them to buy my truck back after GM said nothing was wrong with it and refused to buy my truck back.

this is what a GM truck drives like that their service dept says is "working as designed and has no problem" drives like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppSl0D3AQm8

now not all trucks are like mine, 4 out of five drive smoothly and are great trucks but do you really want to gamble on those odds? plus some trucks ride smooth when you buy them and start having vibrations after a few thousand miles.

I wouldn't even wish these lemons on someone I didn't like.

 

Those are the exact things I will not tolerate.

I use all different brands at work. Some are beat on pretty hard and others are babied. I can find no correlation between abuse and reliability and durability. The only basis I have is my own vehicles. My Toyota trucks seem to never have the small issues that the other brands have. I'm speaking of the little, random shit that just pisses me off. Small stuff like lights burning out on the dash, door hinges wearing out and squeaks and groans. The Toyota's' will way outlast the other brands before the little, irritating stuff occurs.. I absolutely will not tolerate dash or check engine lights. The "big three" trucks may get better mileage, but I'm willing to pay that vs lost time at the dealership.

With that said, The Tundra is not without it's own reliability issues. The Air injection system is know to be problematic, but there is a reliable work around for that, which I have done. I wasn't willing to risk wondering if my truck was going to go into "limp mode" because there was a problem with the AIP system. That story is for another time.

Doing the math, 18 mpg vs 13-14 mpg is not a deal killer. What pisses me off is the small assed fuel tank in the Tundra. Hauling the camper, I can drink all the Big Gulps I want. I will be stopping for fuel in a short time

I do admit that I like driving the Tacoma the best for around the town and everyday driving. it can't be beat. I love them both for different reasons.

Later

KO