Hi all, I'm new to this forum and would greatly appreciate any thoughts/opinions on our situation.
We have a 1998 Tacoma 3.4L V6 4wd TRD Off Road Automatic with 195,000 miles.
On 11/30/14, we burned a hole in piston #3. The cause was thought to be failing fuel injectors.
After ~2-3 weeks of researching all options, we decided to have a reman'd engine put in, and also asked the mechanic who did the swap labor and built the engine to diagnose the cause of the piston hole, and repair whatever that cause was.
The new engine was installed in late December, along with a new timing belt, water pump, fuel filter, power steering pump & drive belts, and an AFR gauge (in hopes of identifying any potential future lean conditions before it could burn a hole in another piston!). The engine mechanic said all checked out fine on the truck in terms of the cause of the piston hole (no vac leaks found, cat convertor OK, coil packs & plugs fine, etc) EXCEPT that 2 of our injectors came back "bad" from the place he sent them to be cleaned/tested. So he SAID he reinstalled the other 4 with new O Ring seals and filter screens, and replaced the 2 bad ones.
After this, he emailed us and said the engine was running great, and the truck was starting great, EXCEPT hard warm starts, when the truck would sit for ~30 minutes since it had last ran - it would eventually start, but the crank time was excessive. Started great cold, and great if it was only off for a couple of minutes, but if it sat ~30 minutes, excessive crank time to start. He said he would test our fuel system with a fuel pressure check, to determine whether it was the pump or the fuel pressure regulator. A few days later, he told us his tests indicated it was the FPR, so he replaced it.
But. This didn't solve the hard warm start problem. We went back and forth 2 more times, and each time, the engine mechanics assured us they'd checked every possible cause, and didn't know what it could be. They cleaned and tested our IAC valve (Idler Air Control valve), then even swapped it with another just in case; they said they checked for an EVAP issue, checked all sensors, checked for a ground wire issue, checked again for any vac leaks, felt confident it wasn't our fuel pump because of the testing he'd previously done. The last time we were there, they said they blew some dirt out of a line from the charcoal canister. I asked if they thought that could have been the cause of the issue. The look on their faces made it clear the answer was no.
So, since they told us they were out of ideas and seemed to be sort of done with us, we took it to a new mechanic. And based on the info we gave him about what we were told was already done by the engine mechanics, plus our description of the problem, his thought was fuel pump. He did fuel pressure testing, and those results coupled with all other factors led him to replacing the pump.
But. This didn't solve the hard warm start issue. So our new mechanic then said he thought he saw a leaky injector. So he sent all 6 out for cleaning/testing, and 2 were found to be bad. Today, we should be hearing from our mechanic as to whether replacing those 2 and reinstalling the other 4 that were just rebuilt AGAIN has solved the problem.
So, aside from the obvious frustration of the money pit we've dug ourselves into, the frustration of being without our beloved truck for nearly 2 months now, and the frustration of realizing something shady and dishonest likely went on with the work the engine mechanics performed, our main concern now is what if the injectors wind up not being the cause of the hard warm starts either. And that's why I'm joining this forum - to seek suggestions from folks as to what to look at next if we find that the injectors are not the culprit. Even this super nice, dedicated mechanic is now saying he'll be scratching his head if the injectors aren't the culprit.
We did have the truck home for a few days in between trips back and forth to the engine mechanics. We bought a Scan Gauge II, hoping the info it offered might provide some clues. The only factor we've noticed that is consistent with the hard warm starts every time is that the IAT (Intake Air Temperature) HAS to be at least 60+ for the problem to occur, and the higher that number is, the longer the crank time. If that number is up in the 80s or 90s, the truck will barely start, and even takes 2 attempts sometimes.
I've been researching this issue just about 24/7 for going on a month now, and have found many other 1st gen Taco owners have the same issue. Unfortunately, often there is no final conclusion post as to what solved the issue on a lot of the threads I've found. I promise, I will post the conclusion, assuming we don't throw in the towel and cut our losses before we reach one.
Thank you very much if you've actually read this far, apologies for the novel. Tough to condense much more than this, it's been a loooooooong road.
One other thing I should mention - the hard warm start issue WAS NOT present prior to the engine swap and work associated with it.
We have a 1998 Tacoma 3.4L V6 4wd TRD Off Road Automatic with 195,000 miles.
On 11/30/14, we burned a hole in piston #3. The cause was thought to be failing fuel injectors.
After ~2-3 weeks of researching all options, we decided to have a reman'd engine put in, and also asked the mechanic who did the swap labor and built the engine to diagnose the cause of the piston hole, and repair whatever that cause was.
The new engine was installed in late December, along with a new timing belt, water pump, fuel filter, power steering pump & drive belts, and an AFR gauge (in hopes of identifying any potential future lean conditions before it could burn a hole in another piston!). The engine mechanic said all checked out fine on the truck in terms of the cause of the piston hole (no vac leaks found, cat convertor OK, coil packs & plugs fine, etc) EXCEPT that 2 of our injectors came back "bad" from the place he sent them to be cleaned/tested. So he SAID he reinstalled the other 4 with new O Ring seals and filter screens, and replaced the 2 bad ones.
After this, he emailed us and said the engine was running great, and the truck was starting great, EXCEPT hard warm starts, when the truck would sit for ~30 minutes since it had last ran - it would eventually start, but the crank time was excessive. Started great cold, and great if it was only off for a couple of minutes, but if it sat ~30 minutes, excessive crank time to start. He said he would test our fuel system with a fuel pressure check, to determine whether it was the pump or the fuel pressure regulator. A few days later, he told us his tests indicated it was the FPR, so he replaced it.
But. This didn't solve the hard warm start problem. We went back and forth 2 more times, and each time, the engine mechanics assured us they'd checked every possible cause, and didn't know what it could be. They cleaned and tested our IAC valve (Idler Air Control valve), then even swapped it with another just in case; they said they checked for an EVAP issue, checked all sensors, checked for a ground wire issue, checked again for any vac leaks, felt confident it wasn't our fuel pump because of the testing he'd previously done. The last time we were there, they said they blew some dirt out of a line from the charcoal canister. I asked if they thought that could have been the cause of the issue. The look on their faces made it clear the answer was no.
So, since they told us they were out of ideas and seemed to be sort of done with us, we took it to a new mechanic. And based on the info we gave him about what we were told was already done by the engine mechanics, plus our description of the problem, his thought was fuel pump. He did fuel pressure testing, and those results coupled with all other factors led him to replacing the pump.
But. This didn't solve the hard warm start issue. So our new mechanic then said he thought he saw a leaky injector. So he sent all 6 out for cleaning/testing, and 2 were found to be bad. Today, we should be hearing from our mechanic as to whether replacing those 2 and reinstalling the other 4 that were just rebuilt AGAIN has solved the problem.
So, aside from the obvious frustration of the money pit we've dug ourselves into, the frustration of being without our beloved truck for nearly 2 months now, and the frustration of realizing something shady and dishonest likely went on with the work the engine mechanics performed, our main concern now is what if the injectors wind up not being the cause of the hard warm starts either. And that's why I'm joining this forum - to seek suggestions from folks as to what to look at next if we find that the injectors are not the culprit. Even this super nice, dedicated mechanic is now saying he'll be scratching his head if the injectors aren't the culprit.
We did have the truck home for a few days in between trips back and forth to the engine mechanics. We bought a Scan Gauge II, hoping the info it offered might provide some clues. The only factor we've noticed that is consistent with the hard warm starts every time is that the IAT (Intake Air Temperature) HAS to be at least 60+ for the problem to occur, and the higher that number is, the longer the crank time. If that number is up in the 80s or 90s, the truck will barely start, and even takes 2 attempts sometimes.
I've been researching this issue just about 24/7 for going on a month now, and have found many other 1st gen Taco owners have the same issue. Unfortunately, often there is no final conclusion post as to what solved the issue on a lot of the threads I've found. I promise, I will post the conclusion, assuming we don't throw in the towel and cut our losses before we reach one.
Thank you very much if you've actually read this far, apologies for the novel. Tough to condense much more than this, it's been a loooooooong road.
One other thing I should mention - the hard warm start issue WAS NOT present prior to the engine swap and work associated with it.
