2L shaking at idle (1 Viewer)

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Sep 15, 2009
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The Netherlands
A few months ago I have bought unseen a Toyota Hiace as it looked great on the pictures and it was cheap.

It is equipped with the Toyota 2.4L diesel engine (non turbo), engine code 2L.

After arriving back in Netherlands and picking up the car I found out that the engine was shaking really bad at idle (at the point its almost hitting the sidewalls). However as soon as I rev the engine it runs just fine. It smokes continuesly white smoke (in puffs), and it also lacks power although I can still reach high speed (>130km/h) it only takes a while.

Since then I have replaced the thermostat, waterpump, new air & fuel filter, timing belt and correctly set the fuel pump. There is no bubbling in the cooling system and coolant pipes don't get hard so it's not the headgasket. It does have a high oil consumption, around 2-3 liters per 1000km.

I have brought the car to several mechanics and they say it's either the injectors, a burnt exhaust valve or a hole in the piston.

- If it's a hole in the piston, there should be diesel in the oil right?

- If it's a burnt exhaust valve, would it be possible to drive a 1000-2000km with it to another country here in Europe where labor costs are lower? As for here in the Netherlands this car is basically economically total loss (with an hourly rate of 120 euro per hour at most car services).

- How easy is it to work on these engines? Would I be able to take the cilinder head off by myself with basic hand tools?
 
I bet it's an injector WAY out of spec. You can check blow-by (for piston hole) by removing the oil filler cap and setting it in the hole while the motor is running. If it sit there and rattles a bit, things are ok. If it blows right off and you get puffs of smoke, there is a bad blow-by problem.

I would not drive it how is. If the injector is out of spec, it can run super rich possibly and will damage the piston. It's not worth the risk.
 
I'm just reading back through your post and see that the motor consumes a lot of engine oil. This is a bad sign, and could be cylinder bore problems. May show up with the oil filler cap test, but a compression test would be ideal.

Yes, these motors are easy to work on. If you are mechanically inclined and have a basic metric tool set, you can do a lot.
 
I bet it's an injector WAY out of spec. You can check blow-by (for piston hole) by removing the oil filler cap and setting it in the hole while the motor is running. If it sit there and rattles a bit, things are ok. If it blows right off and you get puffs of smoke, there is a bad blow-by problem.

Thanks @GTSSportCoupe for the quick reply. I have ordered a complete new set of injectors but I wasn't sure anymore that this was the issue as the symptoms were more like a burnt valve, and with that its driveable I think. So I will try replacing the injectors first, it looks like a simple process as they are outside the block, not inside the cilinderhead like common rail injectors.

If I remove the oil cap while running the engine it does have some blow by, but nothing out of the ordinairy, it does have 350.000km on the clock. I had a mechanic look at it with me while doing this and he also said it's "fine".

I'm just reading back through your post and see that the motor consumes a lot of engine oil. This is a bad sign, and could be cylinder bore problems. May show up with the oil filler cap test, but a compression test would be ideal.

Yes, these motors are easy to work on. If you are mechanically inclined and have a basic metric tool set, you can do a lot.

I do have to say that it did start using a lot of oil directly after I changed the oil and used a can of "oil system cleaner", as I realized that the last owner didn't change the oil too often, and maybe the inside of the block had so much sludge that it would cause problems. Also I might have used an oil that is too thin (10w40), I will try switching to 15w40 or even 20w50 to see if this makes a difference. Before I changed the oil and used the cleaner, the oil consumption wasn't that bad (1L on 1000km max).

Compression test is something that I will look into, but that will require me buying the tool for it.
 
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If the process is similar to the injector replacement on the 1KZ engine, it looks like a simple take-out of the old part and a screw-in of the new part?

 
I would do a compression test and check the valve clearances to get a proper diagnoses before ordering more parts. If the exhaust valve clearances are too tight you could have burnt one. An oil analysis can also be helpful if you have access to one.
 
If the process is similar to the injector replacement on the 1KZ engine, it looks like a simple take-out of the old part and a screw-in of the new part?



You need to buy a new crush washer for the injector nozzle to seal properly against the head. Usually it's also a good idea to replace the washers at the fuel return line also. Make sure you follow the proper torque specs when you install the injectors and fuel rail.

@John in Utah 's suggestion of checking valve clearances is a good one. Has this been done?

Also, I've never seen a burnt valve in any L series engine. Not saying it isn't possible, but I think the chance is slim.
 
@John in Utah 's suggestion of checking valve clearances is a good one. Has this been done?

Also, I've never seen a burnt valve in any L series engine. Not saying it isn't possible, but I think the chance is slim.

I haven’t heard of it either, but it’s easy enough to check. I have known a few Toyota gassers of the same shim in bucket valve design that never got an adjustment and burnt the exhaust valves due to tightening clearances

@Sparky34 not sure if your 2L has this type of cam and shims?
 
You need to buy a new crush washer for the injector nozzle to seal properly against the head. Usually it's also a good idea to replace the washers at the fuel return line also. Make sure you follow the proper torque specs when you install the injectors and fuel rail.

@John in Utah 's suggestion of checking valve clearances is a good one. Has this been done?

Also, I've never seen a burnt valve in any L series engine. Not saying it isn't possible, but I think the chance is slim.

Thank you GTSSportCoupe and John in Utah for your replies

I'm currently not anymore in the Netherlands (as I'm forever traveling) but soon I will be, so I will order some parts and will try these things in the following order:

1. Replace injectors with new crush washers
2. Check and set valve clearances (this is not done yet, I've not done this before, but after watching a YT video I think it shouldn't be that difficult to do).
3. When I have the rocker cover off how can I check for a burnt valve? Also I will look into buying tools for the compression test.

Thanks all for the replies, I will reopen the topic once I have done these steps above, let's hope it bring the engine back to good health.
 
Thank you GTSSportCoupe and John in Utah for your replies

I'm currently not anymore in the Netherlands (as I'm forever traveling) but soon I will be, so I will order some parts and will try these things in the following order:

1. Replace injectors with new crush washers
2. Check and set valve clearances (this is not done yet, I've not done this before, but after watching a YT video I think it shouldn't be that difficult to do).
3. When I have the rocker cover off how can I check for a burnt valve? Also I will look into buying tools for the compression test.

Thanks all for the replies, I will reopen the topic once I have done these steps above, let's hope it bring the engine back to good health.

That sounds like a great plan. You might want to change step 1 to step 3 so that you don't waste money on new injectors if there is a different problem.

Also, setting valve clearances is easy on the pre 1988 2L, because it uses a simple rocker system. However the post 1989 2L-II is more difficult, as they changed to a shim over bucket system. The shims need to be swapped out, which requires a special tool and selection of shims. In either case, measuring the clearances is the first step, and will identify if there is even a problem....
 
Probably won't be able to see a valve problem with just the cover off, but if you have one you can't get your smallest feeler gauge in - it will point to a problem. A compression test kit is cheaper than just one new injector, might as well do that first.

FWIW you can change out shims with a couple old screwdrivers, a magnet, and a shot of compressed air to help break the oil surface tension.
 
It wont be hole in the piston, you would really know about it if that had happened. My guess is it will be low compression on at least one cyl, the puffing white smoke is likely from the bad cylinder. I would do a compression test before you spend any money on injectors etc
 
An update; Yesterday after returning back to Netherlands I have tried two things, before changing any parts or opening up anything:

- Clean our the valves using an additive "Wynns Diesel EGR Extreme Cleaner", by spraying this into the air intake while running the engine stationary.
- Added a can of "Wynns Oil Stop Leak" the the engine oil to hopefully reduce the oil consumption

After these two things I drove a few miles with the van. The engine power is a lot better, but there is another issue now, which is that as soon as I press the clutch pedal, the engine starts running very high in RPM and smoking like a smoke machine, it seems it's running on engine oil, it does go back to stationary after running high in RPM for a few seconds. After this happens 2-3 times I have lost about 1 liter of engine oil (in a 3 kilometers drive).

It doesn't happen every time I press the clutch pedal, but mostly when the engine RPM is high while in gear and I press the clutch.

I think... maybe it's the end of the engine? Probably the piston rings are so much worn out that they allow engine oil to enter into the combustion chamber?
 
Did you do the compression test as suggested? This takes all the guessing out of it so you can make a firm decision.
Its not uncommon for these small naturally aspirated diesel to have broken rings etc. They are not fast and being 20-30 years old some one will probably have driven it hard trying to get more speed out of it. You need patience driving these, but if they are cared for they will go beyond 400000klms

Adding engine cleansers to old engines often dislodges the last of the sludge that was keeping the compression in the chamber. That has probably now dissolved and thats why you are you using a litre of oil in 3 klms.

Cleansers should only be used on good engines and if it has clean oil and filter changes it shouldnt need it because the engine will clean it self with clean combustion.

An engine rebuilder told me he gets a large % of his work from people using engine cleansers.
 
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