Dirty Smoky Rough Idle

[VanBC2LTE1990]

Hello from Prado Hell,
Since I bought my Prado I have been having horrible starts. Black, blue, white smoke. I've tried so many things and too much money and still have the issue, time and again. What am I missing here!? My mechanic says that I should add fuel cleaner, but I'm not convinced that this is going to make much of a difference.

Since October I have:
- Replaced tested and replaced the glows and relay and apparently everything is good on that end.
- Fuel injectors completely over hauled. I've fixed oil leaks from all over.
- Replaced the fuel filter
- Replaced the oil filter
- Done a compression test: GOOD
- Deleted the EGR
- Installed and oil catch can

Things that still need to be done:
-Replace exhaust. There is a hole in the flex pipe from the manifold.

 

[Rigster]

Hey bud,

Sorry to hear of your woes with the 2LTE...

I have to ask since it was not mentioned, but has the fuel timing been checked? Also, have you pulled the ECU and checked the condition of the capacitors inside? They are known to start leaking and causing anomalous issues like this.

@GTSSportCoupe may have some helpful advice as well as he is probably the most knowledgeable 2LTE owner on the forums that I am aware of.

Good luck with the troubleshooting... hang in there, once it is running as it should, it will be a joy to drive and own!

 

[VanBC2LTE1990]

Hey bud,

Sorry to hear of your woes with the 2LTE...

I have to ask since it was not mentioned, but has the fuel timing been checked? Also, have you pulled the ECU and checked the condition of the capacitors inside? They are known to start leaking and causing anomalous issues like this.

@GTSSportCoupe may have some helpful advice as well as he is probably the most knowledgeable 2LTE owner on the forums that I am aware of.

Good luck with the troubleshooting... hang in there, once it is running as it should, it will be a joy to drive and own!

I haven't! I'll see if I can get in there soon

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

I haven't! I'll see if I can get in there soon

It's more the 1KZTE (KZJ78) that has this problem. I replaced caps in my 2LTE one and they were fine still.

If there are vacuum leaks or issues, your EGR emissions system won't work right, and will choke your motor of air at start-up and idle. I HIGHLY recommend removing the whole system and removing the throttle plates in the throttle body (they're only there to create vacuum at idle and draw in exhaust gasses).

There are primarily two other things that can be causing your problems:

1. Bad compression. Sometimes when the heads go on these motors people let water sit in the engine for a long time before repairing. This can cause the cylinder walls to get rusted/pitted/damaged. You can get a decent feel for this by checking blow-by. Remove oil filler cap while engine is running and let it sit in the filler hole. If it bounces off you have too much blow-by. If it settles back into the hole, things are ok. (edit, I see you've checked compression already, sorry)

2. Air leaks into the fuel lines. This can be at the primer/filter assembly (replace it), or any of the soft hoses, or even at the injectors if the right washers were not used in past. Look for diesel seeps/leaks for clues.

These motors can be ok when the EGR systems are removed, and they've had the newer cylinder head put on (yours probably already has). A bit of tuning helps too. Most issues I see coming up like this one are related to incorrect maintenance in the past, or lack of knowledge by mechanics and owerns. Download the manuals and learn about the motor. Sell the truck if you're not rich or not interested in fixing it yourself, lol!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

In addition to that ^^, one more thing is you need to wait 7-8 seconds with key 'on' before starting for the glow to happen right. The little glow indicator light is useless. The main glow takes 7 seconds, and after the motor starts, the after glow goes for about 30 seconds or more.

You could also try a different mechanic like: EBI SERVICE : Extremebends.com | Landcruiser Toyota Parts and EBI 4x4 Accessories - http://www.extremebends.com/ebi-service-page-17?zenid=jak6j6dv91v2o31vgv3sqf2lo7

 

[Rigster]

In addition to that ^^, one more thing is you need to wait 7-8 seconds with key 'on' before starting for the glow to happen right. The little glow indicator light is useless. The main glow takes 7 seconds, and after the motor starts, the after glow goes for about 30 seconds or more.

You could also try a different mechanic like: EBI SERVICE : Extremebends.com | Landcruiser Toyota Parts and EBI 4x4 Accessories - http://www.extremebends.com/ebi-service-page-17?zenid=jak6j6dv91v2o31vgv3sqf2lo7

I can say this holds true for the 1HZ motors as well... the glow light goes out a little quickly, and on a colder morning, I generally wait a few more seconds after the glow light goes out for a smoother, nearly smokeless start.

On really cold mornings, you can also tell when the afterglow ends as the engine will occasionally stumble until it warms up a little more.

OP - when you deleted your EGR system, do you have any sensors that are not happy it is gone? (any lights on the dash indicating a problem?) I am not all that familiar with the on board ECU for the 2LTE, but just wondering if the EGR delete (if not done properly) might be feeding the ECU with bad info?? Just thinking out loud here....

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

I can say this holds true for the 1HZ motors as well... the glow light goes out a little quickly, and on a colder morning, I generally wait a few more seconds after the glow light goes out for a smoother, nearly smokeless start.

On really cold mornings, you can also tell when the afterglow ends as the engine will occasionally stumble until it warms up a little more.

OP - when you deleted your EGR system, do you have any sensors that are not happy it is gone? (any lights on the dash indicating a problem?) I am not all that familiar with the on board ECU for the 2LTE, but just wondering if the EGR delete (if not done properly) might be feeding the ECU with bad info?? Just thinking out loud here....

Fortunately on the 2LTE, the ECU has no idea if the EGR is there or not. The ECU only has outputs to the system, there is no feedback.

I read the OP's post too fast yesterday and didn't think about everything they'd done already. I do wonder if they removed the plates in the throttle body when they removed the EGR system. If not, they could be choking the engine of air still. (the ECU controls a little bypass valve that it opens at start-up to give the motor air).

OP, if you want to bring it to Victoria sometime I can have a look and help you troubleshoot it. I bet we could figure out what's up in an hour or so. I know these little motors inside out.

 

[VanBC2LTE1990]

Fortunately on the 2LTE, the ECU has no idea if the EGR is there or not. The ECU only has outputs to the system, there is no feedback.

I read the OP's post too fast yesterday and didn't think about everything they'd done already. I do wonder if they removed the plates in the throttle body when they removed the EGR system. If not, they could be choking the engine of air still. (the ECU controls a little bypass valve that it opens at start-up to give the motor air).

OP, if you want to bring it to Victoria sometime I can have a look and help you troubleshoot it. I bet we could figure out what's up in an hour or so. I know these little motors inside out.

We didn't remove the throttle plates when we took of the EGR. It was something we discussed but we were already many hours in and just wanted to get the job done. I might explore that again soon. I just had knee surgery so I'm off my feet at the moment and just working on internet recon for now.

Now there's another issue! My mechanic worked on the truck and the injectors and it's running a lot stronger. But on my second drive since getting it back, the truck's emergency alarm is going off and all the lights on my dash are on (e0brake, t-belt, battery, and filter light) ! I know he worked on a fuse box issue that was affecting my glow relay, but now it's turned into something else.

As for the starts, I always just listen for the glow click. I also usually glow at least 2-3 times. Now that the injectors have been overhauled it's generally running better. Just disappointed that it's still smoking. I've honestly put so much work and money into this truck since October that I won't get back anything near what I put into it so I'm planning on working on what I can myself and enjoying it. Truthfully, I've already learned so much from having this lemon that I want to stick with it and learn more.

I'd love to take you up on your offer @GTSSportCoupe ! Hopefully I can make it to the island by the end of the summer.

 

[VanBC2LTE1990]

We didn't remove the throttle plates when we took of the EGR. It was something we discussed but we were already many hours in and just wanted to get the job done. I might explore that again soon. I just had knee surgery so I'm off my feet at the moment and just working on internet recon for now.

Now there's another issue! My mechanic worked on the truck and the injectors and it's running a lot stronger. But on my second drive since getting it back, the truck's emergency alarm is going off and all the lights on my dash are on (e0brake, t-belt, battery, and filter light) ! I know he worked on a fuse box issue that was affecting my glow relay, but now it's turned into something else.

As for the starts, I always just listen for the glow click. I also usually glow at least 2-3 times. Now that the injectors have been overhauled it's generally running better. Just disappointed that it's still smoking. I've honestly put so much work and money into this truck since October that I won't get back anything near what I put into it so I'm planning on working on what I can myself and enjoying it. Truthfully, I've already learned so much from having this lemon that I want to stick with it and learn more.

I'd love to take you up on your offer @GTSSportCoupe ! Hopefully I can make it to the island by the end of the summer.

So a quick update on the glow buzzer and dash lights. There were some loose bolts around the alternator. At least that part is solved.

 

[Waikato Willy]

id start by dumping the fusible links and put a manual control on the glow plugs , i used all the factory relay stuff and just bypassed the ecu with a simple push button , I've got cheapish bosch glowplugs and they have not failed yet for over a year with full 12 volts going to them all the time , i had intermittent electrical dash stuff ages ago and it was the fusible links - dodgy connections

 

[Felde]

id start by dumping the fusible links ...

Not recommended. Fusible links are fuses and are there for safety purposes. If the link connectors are bad: fix or replace.
And: No; if a major powerline like to the glowplugs ever causes a short circuit, and there is no fuse, no fire extinguisher will be big enough...
My 2cents
Cheers Ralf

 

[Waikato Willy]

should have clarified, I used a fuse box from a R34 skyline wreck that bolts straight to the battery , giving a nice update to the fusible lengths , plenty of 20A and 30A fuses to use in place of the fusible links
no straight power feed to the glow plugs through a switch , all factory stuff retained - relays, fuses and wiring , I'm just switching the relay the ecu would normally switch but also I used a straight fused 12v feed through my new fuse "box" to the relay that feeds the glow plugs - no chance of fires , no crappy fusible links no reliance on the ecu