This thread is further to the one I posted earlier asking for an engine rebuild shop in the Orlando area.
I have a 97 FZJ80, 4.5 l, IFZ-FE 138,000 miles, its in great shape, no rust, not abused. I bought it last fall.
OK, so here is what happened.
I was driving at 70 mph on cruise control on IH-10. Then the engine started to drop a gear and rev to around 4,000 rpm to try to maintain the 70 mph, it couldn't do it. I first thought there was something wrong with my transmission. I turned off the cruise control, tried to get up to speed manually with the accelerator, couldn't get above around 64 mph. I didn't hear any unusual noise above the sound of the engine revving at 4,000 rpm. This went on for maybe 2-3 miles, less than 5 minutes (I just filled up with gas at mile 31, was pulled over at mile 26). It was at this point I noticed my oil pressure gauge was at zero. HOLY S**T! I pulled over immediately and shut off the engine, I have not turned it over since. I loaded it on a trailer and brought it back to the house.
The oil was changed the week before, it had maybe 400 miles driven since the oil change. Checking the dip stick it still looked good, oil was clean and full.
After looking things over I noticed that the idler pulley on the dual fan belts was sitting at a slight angle, the 2 belts were twisted 90 degrees and pieces of rubber where broken off. The belts were still under tension. So I am assuming that the bearings failed on the idler pulley and this is likely the original cause of the problem. Could that be the reason the oil pump wasn't working? Or maybe the pump always was working but the oil sending unit wasn't working? But then why did the engine not be able to maintain 70 mph? Is it maybe a transmission issue after all? I don't know enough about Toyota's to know how or what is the cause and effect of what happened.
So what I am going to do now is replace the idler pulley, replace all the belts, replace the oil pressure sending unit, remove the current oil filter and cut it open to check for metal shavings. If the filter is clean I'll put a new one on and then bump the starter and see if the engine turns over (the logic being if I blew the engine bumping the starter isn't gong to make it worse). IF the fan turns and the engine advances, then I'll try to start it and see if everything works.
Does this makes sense? Am I missing something that following the above procedure would be a really bad idea?
I have a 97 FZJ80, 4.5 l, IFZ-FE 138,000 miles, its in great shape, no rust, not abused. I bought it last fall.
OK, so here is what happened.
I was driving at 70 mph on cruise control on IH-10. Then the engine started to drop a gear and rev to around 4,000 rpm to try to maintain the 70 mph, it couldn't do it. I first thought there was something wrong with my transmission. I turned off the cruise control, tried to get up to speed manually with the accelerator, couldn't get above around 64 mph. I didn't hear any unusual noise above the sound of the engine revving at 4,000 rpm. This went on for maybe 2-3 miles, less than 5 minutes (I just filled up with gas at mile 31, was pulled over at mile 26). It was at this point I noticed my oil pressure gauge was at zero. HOLY S**T! I pulled over immediately and shut off the engine, I have not turned it over since. I loaded it on a trailer and brought it back to the house.
The oil was changed the week before, it had maybe 400 miles driven since the oil change. Checking the dip stick it still looked good, oil was clean and full.
After looking things over I noticed that the idler pulley on the dual fan belts was sitting at a slight angle, the 2 belts were twisted 90 degrees and pieces of rubber where broken off. The belts were still under tension. So I am assuming that the bearings failed on the idler pulley and this is likely the original cause of the problem. Could that be the reason the oil pump wasn't working? Or maybe the pump always was working but the oil sending unit wasn't working? But then why did the engine not be able to maintain 70 mph? Is it maybe a transmission issue after all? I don't know enough about Toyota's to know how or what is the cause and effect of what happened.
So what I am going to do now is replace the idler pulley, replace all the belts, replace the oil pressure sending unit, remove the current oil filter and cut it open to check for metal shavings. If the filter is clean I'll put a new one on and then bump the starter and see if the engine turns over (the logic being if I blew the engine bumping the starter isn't gong to make it worse). IF the fan turns and the engine advances, then I'll try to start it and see if everything works.
Does this makes sense? Am I missing something that following the above procedure would be a really bad idea?
