150k Maintenance and Most Common Leaks Saga

[Jbuckley21]

Well I am in the thick of it (2011 156k miles only owner and in the salt belt). Quick run down of events.

Alternator went day before we had to move our son up to school. Had to drop at local shop, ran it there on new battery before the battery died. Noticed radiator fluid in engine bay when I was diagnosing the Alternator and mentioned to shop but they came up blank. Also forgot to ask about pulleys etc while they were in there. Truck came back with a bolt laying on top of skid guards and a new alternator and non Toyota belt. And so it began…

Radiator failed in the common spot. So given the pulleys were not replaced I did a deep dive into 150k maintenance items and replace radiator. Ordered up Radiator (came damaged and replaced from dealer) and parts to address 150k PM items (Tensioner and Idler pulleys, Fan bracket and clutch along with water pump). In digging through the forum and came upon the common leaks, which lead to engine leaks and spark plugs and wells (spark plug tubes are almost all full of oil).

So here is where I am at…

I wouldn’t be here without a lot of your alls valuable input on these threads. TBF I am 1 banana mechanic and a bean counter by trade, so will see how this goes. Day three and I have radiator out along with the dreaded fan bracket, AC compressor pulley (couldn’t figure out bolt and it was locked on) tensioner/idler/thermo/water pump/ Passenger side wiring harness, Heater Ts, Manifold, PVC, Secondary Air and Fuel injectors.

On fan bracket and the 2 metal coolant tubes that are bracketed over; I didnt see this in any of the YT videos or posts, but what worked best for me was to remove the thermostats housing, which allows the coolant pipe with the small hose to come off easily. You can then move those pipes out of the way no problem.

I could use some input on a few things as I move through, any input greatly appreciated even if a link to a thread I haven’t seen and think I have read most of them.

1. First being best way to clean fuel injector ports into block. Also carb cleaner on the fuel injectors them selves to clean gunk? I am going to try and plug and clean around but a ton of gunk (infestation and grim) and trying to not allow stuff to fall into the top of the heads. Anyone had to do this in the past and any suggestions?

2. Should I really replace heat exchanger as Carcarenut suggests, as seen in pics I had very sizeable leak? I saw a lot of folks elect not to do that in the threads.
3. Pulleys for water pump and AC are bit rough some minimal rusts, just clean up. Maybe treat rusted area or replace?
4. This one is a bit nuts because I suspect its out of my league, but given where I am and that I am going into replace Spark plug tube and other gaskets ( I know Taco mentions could be bottom of block which is out of my league so will try this), do I even think about going for cam tower and head leak (again likely out of my league)? I don’t burn much oil if any and could spray degreaser as Bloc and Linux and others suggest. Leaning this way, as I don’t have all the specs from the FSM on bolt torqs or sequences although I am sure it can be obtained. Should I start to use the 5w 30 and go with the valvoline R&R?

This is definitely going to bleed into next week, waiting on parts and chasing kids, but hoping to button all up by next weekend.

Other current mods and upgrades or maintenance complete:
1. Wheels and suspension - need to add to the database but Dobinsons lift and springs AT4s on Methods
2. Gamviviti rack
3. Front brake mod to 16+
4. All diffs and fluids done at 100k, except power steering which I need to figure out and will try and do now.
5. I read and watched CCN view of Starter. Seeing how I have had fails at 150k I am worried I may not get much more out of mine. Exhausted mani bolts are rusty as F, should I go for it now, or wait for it to go in its own time? I don’t tow, but do still load up the family and go skiing or on other trips with the cruiser.
6. Just had entire underneath applied with Rust preventative and painted. Paint was still wet as I dripped coolant on it

Hope this is somewhat informative for others and appreciate any input from the collective in advance as I limp my way through this.

 

[Jbuckley21]

Adding pics of water pump pulley and AC compressor pulley, couldn’t fit in other. My AC compressor pulley came with 2 washers, not 3. From what I read here in the forums these come with either 1,2 or 3 depending on what was required on install to line it all up.

 

[Jbuckley21]

Last pulley pics. Bit concerned about rust or no??

 

[linuxgod]

If you've gotten this far, do the valley plate/heat exchanger. The leak ain't getting better, so otherwise prepare to pull the intake off again in the future to do the job.

Starter isn't really a "while you're in there" kind of thing in this case. Not saying don't do it, just that you can plan to do it at another time.

PCV valve while you're in there because it's <$10.

I'm assuming at 150k miles the plugs were done once. I'd do them though again I don't think there's much labor savings for what you're working on.

If your timing cover is leaking, now could be the time to replace it, since most of the cost is the labor to get everything off the front of the engine, and apparently you've done 90% of that. If yours is leaking and you decide to go for it, the driver's side timing chain tensioner is like $50 and is worth doing.

 

[Jbuckley21]

If you've gotten this far, do the valley plate/heat exchanger. The leak ain't getting better, so otherwise prepare to pull the intake off again in the future to do the job.

Starter isn't really a "while you're in there" kind of thing in this case. Not saying don't do it, just that you can plan to do it at another time.

PCV valve while you're in there because it's <$10.

I'm assuming at 150k miles the plugs were done once. I'd do them though again I don't think there's much labor savings for what you're working on.

If your timing cover is leaking, now could be the time to replace it, since most of the cost is the labor to get everything off the front of the engine, and apparently you've done 90% of that. If yours is leaking and you decide to go for it, the driver's side timing chain tensioner is like $50 and is worth doing.

Thanks for the input Linux.

I have the sparks gapped and ready. I have the PCV valve and will replace. Still a bit of rattle with a shake so not fully clogged.

WRT engine leaks pics below are where I can see them, and need to check under wheel wells. Clearly coming down on oil cooler/Ac compressor, but also looks like a leak in the left valve cover in the back which would sit behind the fuel rail on the passenger side. Hopefully new gaskets fix that.

Any good source for info on the timing cover section? Still a bit nervous about taking that part on.

 

[Jbuckley21]

Update: Got it all back together following in summary [will document later]

1. Cam cover gaskets with spark plug gaskets (main reason for doing - oil in spark plug tubes) and little gaskets for oil lines inside cam cover
2. Spark plugs were replaced ~5k miles ago
3. New coolant valley with correct FIPG
4. New gaskets on air oil separator
5. New gaskets on 2nd air system
6. Carb cleaner through all injectors and new o rings, filters, plugs and Pintel caps on all injectors
7. New Plenum gasket and PCV Valve
8. New water pump and temp valve
9. New fan pulley and clutch
10. New coolant tubes leading to heater core
11. Cleaned throttle-body

May need to edit above but believe that captures it.

Upon disassembly MAF sensor connector housing disconnect on one side of connector. Visually appears fine as did not come fully apart. Everyone was assembled and torq to spec.

So here is where I am. Fired her up and no bueno.

Initial smoke coming up from passenger side, but could be coolant from pipes being disconnected burning off and gone after first couple of starts. trying to also burp the vehicle but did a suction based coolant replaced meant to almost 16L and tested coolant system which help pressure before filling.

Rough idle and dashboard has “Check VSC system”, 4Lo flashing, Trac off light.

Bot an OBD reader [OBDLink MX+ - added Toyota PIDS] and passenger side cylinders are misfiring. Was hoping to be in this for a Hockey and school visit to Buffalo this morning, but that ain’t happening

Have not had to diagnose a car like this before, but in it now. Using ChatGPT through the process and have it scouring the 200 series posts. Pointing to:
1. Air leak
2. MAF sensor
3. Leaking fuel injectors

Heading back out this morning to pop spark plugs and see if wet or smell of fuel.

Trying to learn how to use the OBD for diagnosing. Would greatly appreciate input from the Hive on pointer on where to start and to break down diagnose!!

 

[linuxgod]

Update: Got it all back together following in summary [will document later]

1. Cam cover gaskets with spark plug gaskets (main reason for doing - oil in spark plug tubes) and little gaskets for oil lines inside cam cover
2. Spark plugs were replaced ~5k miles ago
3. New coolant valley with correct FIPG
4. New gaskets on air oil separator
5. New gaskets on 2nd air system
6. Carb cleaner through all injectors and new o rings, filters, plugs and Pintel caps on all injectors
7. New Plenum gasket and PCV Valve
8. New water pump and temp valve
9. New fan pulley and clutch
10. New coolant tubes leading to heater core
11. Cleaned throttle-body

May need to edit above but believe that captures it.

Upon disassembly MAF sensor connector housing disconnect on one side of connector. Visually appears fine as did not come fully apart. Everyone was assembled and torq to spec.

So here is where I am. Fired her up and no bueno.

Initial smoke coming up from passenger side, but could be coolant from pipes being disconnected burning off and gone after first couple of starts. trying to also burp the vehicle but did a suction based coolant replaced meant to almost 16L and tested coolant system which help pressure before filling.

Rough idle and dashboard has “Check VSC system”, 4Lo flashing, Trac off light.

Bot an OBD reader [OBDLink MX+ - added Toyota PIDS] and passenger side cylinders are misfiring. Was hoping to be in this for a Hockey and school visit to Buffalo this morning, but that ain’t happening

Have not had to diagnose a car like this before, but in it now. Using ChatGPT through the process and have it scouring the 200 series posts. Pointing to:
1. Air leak
2. MAF sensor
3. Leaking fuel injectors

Heading back out this morning to pop spark plugs and see if wet or smell of fuel.

Trying to learn how to use the OBD for diagnosing. Would greatly appreciate input from the Hive on pointer on where to start and to break down diagnose!!

If you run diagnostics for all systems, the OBD reader should provide some specific P-codes as to the issue. Posting those may help as we can check those against the FSM to see what Toyota’s troubleshooting procedure is.

 

[Jbuckley21]

If you run diagnostics for all systems, the OBD reader should provide some specific P-codes as to the issue. Posting those may help as we can check those against the FSM to see what Toyota’s troubleshooting procedure is.

Fresh run of the codes below. Pulled Passenger bank 3 and 5 Spark plugs to check if wet with fuel they were not. Sadly a trace amount of oil in the cylinder hoping the new gaskets prevent any meaningful build up or if I may have an issue that Taco referenced with leak being at the bottom of the tubes.

Still smell heavyish fuel smell. Should I try and drive it and run a datalog?

Thanks for support all, first run through doing this so no practical experience

 

[Jbuckley21]

Pulled MAF sensor bracket and wires are securely in place, replaced and adding electric tape to keep together, dont think an issue with the connection there.

 

[Sandroad]

Quite the saga! As I look at the list of things done in post 6, I thought about which ones might cause smoke and misfire on only the passenger side. With that, I would focus trouble-shooting on actions 1 and 6. It seems something went wrong with what you did on the passenger side with those? I do think it was something you did during the work, since you didn’t have misfires before doing all this. And, with multiple cylinders misfiring, running it will be hard on the catalytic converter, so I would not drive it far if at all.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

If this were me, I'd be going over the wiring on the passenger side with a fine toothed comb. Maybe a ground wire was left loose.

 

[bloc]

Same. Something is common to the passenger side, and the most logical thing would be a ground involving the coils. If it were injector wiring related I don't think you'd be getting the fuel smell. I can't get into my wiring diagram resource right now to do a little digging but will check again later.

Agreed on not driving it to save cats.

Elbow bracket on the MAF connector is only there for strain relief, shouldn't impact function of connector unless it's not there for a long, long time.

If I ever find oil in my spark plug wells I'm just cleaning it periodically and moving on. Getting those things out and re-sealed is bordering on machine-shop level work. Juice isn't worth the squeeze, IMO.

 

[Jbuckley21]

Thanks guys. Rookie mistake so forgive me. The misfires per the OBDLink were mainly coming from Cyclinders 3,5,7, which based on this post means it’s the drivers side. https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/1626616891286-webp.2734370/. Given that clear up, I dug in on that side looking at connections and Hoosier was right! The ground wire from the top of the cam cover over to a bracket seated to the top of the wheel well panel next to the electrical box was on, but was not tightened down to the cam cover. I tightened that up, cleared codes, fired up the LC then ran the OBD and only cylinder 7 was reporting a misfire!! No check VSC system, no 4LO, no Trac control!! But…

Here is a pick of the ground wire.

I then moved on to look at the spark plugs. I pulled 3,5,7 and only 7 smelled like gas and was a bit wet. I read that is the spark plug has white residue on the ground portion it means too much gas, not sure how true it is. I also pulled 2,4,6 (easiest to get to) and swapped plugs and coil packs with 3,5,7. Here is a pic, but a few looks like they have a white coating.

Put it all back together and fired up the LC and it ran much better! Took a video doesn’t look like I can load that file. I then took it for a drive. I set up the OBDLink MX+ [still learning how to use] to monitor each cylinder for Misfire Count. I also set up a monitor to watch MAF levels [I read between 1-7 under load is what you want?] During the 10 min ~3 mile drive [25mph to 60mph] I did get recurring cylinder 7 misfire counts. A few times it was 1, but a couple times if went to 5/7. On the MAF it generally stayed below 7 under load, but occasionally went into the low teens.

No lights have come back on, but the permanent misfires have not cleared. I read that the LC ECU needs to complete at least 3 trips with no misfire before it will clear that code, anyone know if that is correct?

So now just wondering if I need to replace the injector on cylinder 7 or if there is some other diagnostic I can try? The LC still smells like it is running rich. Any good way with the OBD to check if the injectors are functioning correctly? The MAF seemed normal but did exceed the range I read on the forums by occasionally going into the mid teens. Could this be due to cleaning Throttlebody and MAF sensor?

I plan to drive a bit more today, seems like more monitoring of certain sensors on the engine under load is the best way to figure out the remaining issue? Again appreciate any suggestions!!

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Some thoughts and questions -

If I'm understanding correctly, the current situation is a light misfire on cylinder 7 only. To me, that says this has nothing to do with the MAF or throttle body, but rather it is something located at that single cylinder. Plug and coil have been ruled out, leaving injector, wiring to that injector/coil, and the cylinder itself.

When you said you ran carb cleaner through the injectors, do you mean while activating the injector with 12v current?

Did you happen to run any of this ODB data before starting the work? We can't be 100% sure the cyl 7 misfire wasn't already present, right?

Any white smoke, smell of coolant in the exhaust, or milky residue under the oil cap? A small head gasket leak in cylinder 7 could potentially cause a misfire.

How do your long and short term fuel trims look for bank 1, with engine warmed up?

BTW, this is meant as commiseration not criticism, but this is why I try to limit myself when it comes to "while you're in there" projects. The more things I mess with at once, the more things I have to troubleshoot when something's amiss at the end.

 

[Jbuckley21]

Some thoughts and questions -

If I'm understanding correctly, the current situation is a light misfire on cylinder 7 only. To me, that says this has nothing to do with the MAF or throttle body, but rather it is something located at that single cylinder. Plug and coil have been ruled out, leaving injector, wiring to that injector/coil, and the cylinder itself.

When you said you ran carb cleaner through the injectors, do you mean while activating the injector with 12v current?

Did you happen to run any of this ODB data before starting the work? We can't be 100% sure the cyl 7 misfire wasn't already present, right?

Any white smoke, smell of coolant in the exhaust, or milky residue under the oil cap? A small head gasket leak in cylinder 7 could potentially cause a misfire.

How do your long and short term fuel trims look for bank 1, with engine warmed up?

BTW, this is meant as commiseration not criticism, but this is why I try to limit myself when it comes to "while you're in there" projects. The more things I mess with at once, the more things I have to troubleshoot when something's amiss at the end.

Thanks for the input HD!! Going to respond in order, and getting ready to take for a drive and will log a few things.

Correct following fixing the ground and swapping the coil packs and plugs the only code I got was for Cylinder 7 misfire which was occasional the test drive. I do have a new injector and could pull that side and replace that one, but read to check the ST and LT, just need to sort out how to set up and interpret.

I did use the 12v set up and the can of carb cleaner and ran through all injectors until clean spray patter, after replacing all parts with new ones the injectors. All ran normally there.

Just did an oil change with all of this, to your last point, which I wholeheartedly now agree with and will treat as the only way until I am more experienced. So white smoke was bad before clear up of ground now not really any white smoke but exhaust smells more of gas than normal.

Need to check on the ST and LT will come back on that.

Sound advice!

Will give above a go and come back.

 

[Jbuckley21]

I got good news yesterday after documenting this and then going out for the day and using the LC. When I checked codes before any driving I went from pic 1 to pic 2:

Took the LC out last night on a few drives. Specifically focusing on the Short FT and Long FT for Bank 1 and bank 2. 2 different options came up in the OBDLink so did the Toyota specific for Short on 1 bank and maybe the generic on the bank 2 [just noting for completeness].

Doing a little research sounds like in a perfect world or new engine you want banks to be in balance with bank 1 and 2 and close to 0? I recorded the monitor on my phone as I couldn’t sort out how to log the data. For the most part both Short and Long bank1 to 2 were did not equal and would say I saw upwards of 5-7% variance between bank 1 and 2 for both a short and long. Bank 1 seems on most part to consistently be higher when deviating, than Bank 2.

I snapped some screen shots from different points in the drive, each drive was 10-15 minutes, here is a few choice shots of the largest deviations at various points in the drive.

Any suggestions on how to interpret the numbers or guidance. From what I read as long as deviation isnt larger than 5 and your numbers are below +- 10% then that is an acceptable range?

Again appreciate input here!

 

[Jbuckley21]

Forgot to mention, I only got the OBD following to diagnose codes, so no data before. I also wonder how much if any of this is, the battery coming in and out along with cleaning the MAF and Throttlebody, which I found discussions around this cause the 3UR-FE to run funky until it relearns. Anyone have experience with that?

 

[NikP]

Misfire won't come from MAF or Throttleboy cleaning otherwise you'd see issues with all cylinders. A particular cylinder issue is most like attributed to a few things: plug, coil, injector wiring, injector, or moisture in a cylinder (via head gasket or other).

When I repaired my valley pan leak, I had misfire codes when I started up afterward. I attributed mine to the fact that I likely had coolant seep down into the cylinders via the intake when I pulled everything apart. I didn't drain coolant at the block so that likely contributed to more coolant there. Once the engine warmed up, it dried out and returned to normal and I haven't had any issues.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Checking fuel trims was suggested in the context of your concerns that you had a bad fuel injector and/or that your exhaust smelled like fuel. Fuel trims tell you whether your engine computer thinks the engine is getting too much or too little fuel. If the cylinder 7 misfire has resolved and your fuel trims are less than 10% positive or negative, then I think you're solid. Drive the LC and enjoy it, knowing you successfully completed a pile of maintenance that would have scared most people off.

 

[Jbuckley21]

Thanks gents, makes sense. Appreciate the support on this one!! LC is driving well so nothing of note. My first fill up suggested 50 more total miles in distance which was interesting so will watch and see if I get improved MPG.

I still have the leak over the AC presumably timing chain area, difficult to see exactly, but as others have stated, dont think I am touching that one with out serious cause.

Thinking the starter is next but going to take a few off…