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

Hey jen, if the hood being up really does make a difference you should try taking it off like K(I think mentioned) I'm super curious to know if that really has an effect every time when a hard start would normally occur. I find it so strange that with the hood open for just a few seconds it changes the hard start issue. Another thing I can't wrap my head around is why it won't hard start after only five minutes of being shut down(unless it really is an injector issue). Things would be hotter then than at the 30 minute mark. IDK...I can't believe its now mid April and you guys are still fighting this, it pisses me off! I can't imagine how you feel at this point.

 

Thanks for the support man!! It pisses me off too!!

Yeah, that hood experiment thing is near the top of my to do list also. I want to try to pinpoint how long exactly the hood has to be up. And repeat that many times, to be CERTAIN this is not a changing variable. I think it's the best clue overall......

But you said the fact that it restarts no problem right afterwards indicates injectors to you? Because that I am 100000% certain of throughout - zero problem restarting right after, every time, all the time. Totally bizarre, right? Or is this a clue that we have faulty injectors AGAIN somehow?

 

Jen,

Just a crazy thought but have either of you two REALLY put the truck through it's paces? I mean heavy acceleration, high speeds, bumps, and lots of shifting?

I know this sounds weird but there's an old school train of thought that says when an engine is acting funny but everything checks out fine it's time to bag it to reset the computer and free everything up that could be sticking. I know with my Olds Alero and GMC Sierra any time I bagged them for a few hours they drove much better for a few months after... food for thought anyways.

I'm not saying you should go destroy the truck, but maybe driving it aggressively within the legal limits for a full day might be a not so bad idea.

 

Man, you guys are reading my mind!! Most of your suggestions are things that are right at the top of my Taco to do list, including this one too!

We talked about driving it up on one of our favorite logging roads and getting some firewood, so we could have a rager in the fire pit and invite all the neighbors over to say thanks for helping with lending tools, mechanic referrals, advice, listening to us bitch (A LOT), etc. Kinda a kill two birds with one stone - put the Taco through it's paces, and come back and party. Unless we wind up calling AAA. That might be a buzzkill for the party. But we'll hope for the best and prep for the worse damnit!!

 

One thing I was thinking about the injectors is...when they are pulled out and tested are they tested at the temp they see when in the engine!?!?? I have to think them things operate differently when at room temp vrs crazy hot internal engine temp....

 

Great point! We asked about that when we picked them up from last service.......

Guy said they use a heat gun on them to attempt to simulate engine heat, but ultimately it's not the same, and I think he may have even acted like it's not even in the ballpark, but it's basically the best you can do. I agree, of all the things that could behave differently due to heat, they sure seem like they'd top that list......

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xObSJWIWui0

This is how I feel about the Taco..........

 

well you may have something there, maybe this hard start crap is from older partially clogged cats that only cause issues when overheated?

think about it, when driving your moving air so the cat is a lot cooler then after shutdown and while in motion its air cooled so that "could" explain no sign of problems then as well as it just being a slight restriction so no codes are thrown.

hell jen, you tried everything else so try with the cat disconnected, it will be loud as hell but just to test the heard start thing so you really don't need to leave the yard. or if you just want to eliminate the possibility just replace the cat, with the miles you have on yours it wouldn't be a bad idea to do just that as im sure it has to have a lot of buildup in it.

 

Jen, I feel for ya girl. This is one hell of a roller coaster ride you two are on. If I had more input I would say more, but right now I got nothing to add. lol.

 

Hi, very nice to meet everyone I am "dealer tech's buddy." My name is Jay and I am a full time Toyota mechanic for a living . I have been working at my dealership for 6 years in july.

When I was approached with Taco's symptoms and the temptation of a challenging project I was intrigued. So in the hopes of working on the truck some day I decided to do some interwebs research and found this gigantic thread about the exact truck (I hope)! Neat!

I have to tell you that I am not the oldest or wisest or smartest or number one mechanic in the world but I am very diligent and very much love to find solutions to difficult problems.

Something that I believe may work in our benefit (if you do decide to bring your truck in) is that I have access to the factory scan tool, a known good complete set of 3.4 injectors and my very own 97 4runner with a 3.4 (manual) that parts can be robbed off of for comparison testing.

If this project does come about I would like to post tests and results here on this forum for everyone to see and contribute to. Ultimate transparency and input. I'm concerned that the problem won't be easy to solve and my not be solved but we could positively rule out and or/define many things

I could go on and on about the things I would like to look at and test and rule out but this is supposed to be an introduction, so there ya go bet you were not expecting this also noahpete = noah and pete my dogs

 

Wow. I am more hopeful and excited right now than I have been in quite some time. Could blab on for hours about all the reasons, but I think NoahPete's post pretty much explains it all.........

My only technical question this morning is:

How soon can I bring my Taco to you Jay???

PS: One more very important question - what kind of dogs are Noah & Pete?

EDIT: And where the heck are my "5 guys" right now? Hoping they are getting to witness this exciting moment of hope with me, as well as the many other awesome TW folks that made the "5 guys" group grow to 10, 15, 20, 25.......

 

A clogged cat makes some sense, but it should be easy to test...and opening the hood for additional cooling under just the right condition would help...A clogged cat should cause a rich condition and black plugs.

 

That and REALLY crappy gas mileage.

 

OK, I'm blabbing.....just too excited to keep these thoughts to myself!!

Jay, the fact that you are being so honest and realistic about how challenging this problem is to diagnose and what your level of experience is......it blows my mind. That is EXACTLY what we need right now more than anything - a realistic, but I'd like to give it my best, attitude. And honesty. So refreshing!!

And to read that you want to share your thoughts/findings about the problem on TW for all these guys to read and give input on???????????? I feel like I struck gold right now. Seriously. That takes all the middle man part out for me that I've struggled with throughout!!! Often my TW guys will ask me excellent questions about my mechanic's findings, or the method they performed a test in, etc, and I do my very best to communicate between, but often parts of the message are lost in translation I think, since I'm not a mechanic (just pretending to be on TW!). To think that the communication could be this transparent and clear........I can't think of any better chance we'd have at finding the diagnosis/fix than having this set up.......

......and especially that you have a 97 4 Runner, complete with 6 good injectors??????? Definitely struck gold here guys. I am celebrating this moment, whether it leads to a fix or not. Because even if it doesn't, I can't think of any better way to possibly try to find it.

Best day I've had in a while guys

Can't wait to get this going!!!

 

Howdy, Jay.

Nice to meet you and thanks for that wonderful introduction.

Really looking forward to you tackling Jens truck problems.

I'm on my phone so I can't type a long intro on my end.

Welcome and Thank you for your desire to fix this truck. I want to know what the issue is as bad as Jen does.

I'm pulling for you.

Kirk

 

In addition, Jay, I hope you can post up some screen shots or cell phone pics when you start graphing this motor. I really hope the problem jumps out at you when you see some odd graphs.

Later
Kirk

 

Thank you for supporting us and our awesome new mechanic K!!

 

Wow, this is great! Welcome, Jay! It's pretty tough diagnosing stuff without the vehicle in front of you, but we continue to try to help however we can. Or maybe some people just want cookies. My hope continues to be that it is something simple that just continues to be overlooked.

 

Hello!

I am glad Noahpete (Jay) has found his way here. We are both excited about the oppurtunity to attempt to fix this one.

We just need to pry this Tacoma out from under her tightly gripped fingers. Where is this mystery truck? Huh?

Jason

 

Jason!! Hello and welcome to our long sad thread!! Thank you for finding us here on TW!!!

Just emailed you not even 5 minutes ago, asking when and where to deliver it. We can't wait to let you guys take a crack at this stubborn princess of a Taco we have!!