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

Grounding problems are really like a little gremlin. No joke. They can cause all SORTS of strange things to happen. Is your issue a grounding problem? Hard to tell really without running a voltage drop test on all the important ground points. COULD it be part of your problem, sadly, it can. The biggest thing I would say is to check and make sure all of your primary grounds are solid and clean. These are the ground cable at the battery, the grounding point on the engine block, and the ground wire to the fender, next to the battery.

 

Our mechanic already checked and cleaned all of the primary grounds, he even took the time to show us where they were when we asked. They looked great (although I never look at grounds, so I suppose I don't really have much to compare to!).

I think the AFR gauge is not grounded correctly - we really won't know until our mechanic looks at it, but that's what it seems like to me, after reading about the funky stuff that happens when you have that issue with this gauge. The engine guys said they grounded it right behind the gauge. Specifically, they said it’s ground to our dash and they didn’t add a ground out to the battery area or anything like that, and they said everything in our truck grounds right in our dash.

I have no clue if that's how shit is supposed to be grounded in our truck, I'm sure they'd know better than me. But I am absolutely confident something about how that gauge is set up is the primary culprit here. Maybe there are other issues stemming from/related to that, but that's the main one....I'd bet my life on it.

 

Well this is the suckiest birthday I can remember. Sounds like our guy isn't going to be back for a while, so we're mechanic shopping again to get the gauge removed. Feels like we are starting all over again from the beginning when we were engine mechanic shopping - I am paralyzed with fear of choosing the wrong place again. I'm really starting to believe this will never end.

 

If it was that easy for guys who swap engines and wiring harnesses all day to f' up the install, I don't really want to take chances with who removes it. Plus we have no idea what kind of wonky set up they may have done in terms of wiring - in the past few days I've learned about fun facts like how you can really f' things up by wiring through a sensor voltage line, etc - and if they did something like that, then it may not be just removing the gauge - it may also be repairing whatever wiring set up they created. Not gonna just pick a mechanic out of the phone book for something like this (especially after what we just went through, getting burned by engine guy!). It may not be quite that simple and straightforward. And I have no doubt that our mechanic could run circles around this problem, but he has personal family stuff that he needs to deal with right now, and I respect him that much more for doing the right thing in his situation.

 

Take a look under the hood, and under the truck, as well as inside the cab. Follow all of the wires. You can remove the gauge yourself really. I am confident in your abilities to do that Jen!

 

HAD TO DO IT JEN!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Wsfi3fB70

 

I'm sorry Jen, I don't know names of good mech's down there. But as Bama just posted, it's not a terribly difficult job to remove that sucker. The console would have to be loosened or carefully removed to wiggle things around so Eric and you can get at the gauge.

Removing that cupholder/shifter boot/ect console is not crazy hard. A step by step is posted on 1st gen TW on how to remove those interior pieces to access the back of that area where the gauge sits.

The gauge is disco'd(disconnected) from it's little black junction box thingy down below, yes?. All you should have now(I think) is the ground wire from the gauge, and the power wire from the gauge connected and with those just connected to there source of ground and power. Just those connected there, should(wince) not create any problems. All things being equal as far as install with the quick start guide that came with the gauge, then they are just connected now making the blue light bulb in the gauge being lit when powered on.

Once the gauge is gone and removed you will be looking at some fabulous holes drilled and sheet metal screw threaded holes in the dash section there. Those can be easily plugged of course,,but still something to think about. Don't know how much aesthetics plays into it for you guys.

Does this help at all?

 

Short term, just do what you did to determine it was contributing to the issue -- just unplug it and leave it unplugged. If it has no power, it doesn't really matter where the wires are connected and it isn't going to hurt anything.

 

I just had a thought, I'll let it out so it doesn't die from solitary confinement.

IIRC the engine guys claimed they powered the gauge from the power outlets right there next to the gauge. You can check this in a minute.
Open the hood, pop open the fuse box behind the battery and pull out the power outlet relay. Marked PWR OUTLET on the box cover (yellow arrow). The relay is shown sitting on the box cover in the pic. It just plugs in. Grab it and pull while giving it just a little wiggle. This will prevent the outlets from getting any power when the key is turned to the on position. If the gauge is powered as they said, it should not light up.
Granted this will not verify any of the other wiring but it will provide a clue.

Honestly you guys should be able to pop off the trim where the gauge is and tell at a glance if it is wired in any way other than stand alone.
Also you need to realize that if it is wired to the ECM and it is disconnected, some codes should be popping up. Remember, I am not at all convinced that it is. I have seen no evidence one way or the other.

 

Glad you did. Tossed away some good ones awhile back.

I agree, pull that relay. Should kill that gauge for all intents.

Now if is pulled,,and it still lights up when keyed on,,we trace wires back. It's the only way to be sure.

 

I am a greedy SOB.... Sooooo....

 

I CLAIM POST 2000!!!!!!

 

Thank you guys. All of you, thank you so much for your continued support, I can't tell ya how much both Eric & I appreciate it.

Last night and this morning were low points for us - finding out that our angel mechanic would be delayed at least another week so he could help his brother's wife with things - how can you fault the guy for it? Just makes me appreciate him as a person even more.

But left us in yet another "stuck" position, faced with a bunch of difficult decisions, which seems its been the theme since day one. So, we narrowed it down among all of our reasonable options, made some calls this morning (one was my husband calling in sick, so I didn't have to deal with the truck nightmare by myself on my bday - shhh, don't tell!), and took it to a mechanic just down the street that we've heard lots of good things about in the community. I'd stopped by there last Friday and talked to the owner for a good 45 min about all that's gone on, and he seemed to really listen and know his stuff - in fact, I think I even posted about that a while back. Anyway, called 'em this morning and again, they seemed to really listen and know their stuff, so we dropped it off there a couple hours ago. Owner came out to the truck with us, popped the hood, and seemed to really listen while we pointed things out, went through our notebook of info, showed him damaged parts, etc. Gave him our camera to take pics should he find anything "off" and he didn't seem the least bit phased by that request - reassured us he'd document whatever their findings are, and would thoroughly inspect. Said the guy they'd have look at it is a former Toyota tech, and an ASE Master Tech. So, once again, fingers crossed.

After we left there, that familiar feeling of slight relief came over me as we drove away, that for the time being, its someone else's worry. Went to our fave saloon/restaurant and filled up on greasy goodness and Maker's and 7's (husband was the DD - and I don't mean daily driver!). Just got back, gonna try my best to think of anything but the truck, at least for the rest of the day. But wanted to pop in and say thank you again to everyone that's hung in there with us, it really means a lot, and based on how things have gone, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if we'll be back asking for advice on things to check at home in no time, so didn't wanna leave you guys wondering where we went!

 

OK, my plan was to make that last post, then log out for the rest of the day...........until I saw who took #2000!!! That's it Bama, BIG TROUBLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep an eye out for your-ass-is-getting-kicked-cookies to arrive!

 

well jen you just have to keep this going to 3000 now, I don't see where you have any other choice

 

I'm game. Just switch to Jens, off topic, anything goes, thread.

 

or better yet, "Jen's online master mechanic training thread", everything you ever needed to know about troubleshooting your truck in one place. but then that's a pretty long title for a thread

 

Jen, did you a favor, deleted three of my posts, YOU NOW OWN the 2000th POSTAGE!

U R welcome...

laterzzzz....