No start after clipping crank sensor wires during TB service.

[nnnnnate]

2007 LX470 106k miles.

So last weekend I decided to tackle the timing belt, which has turned out to be a very bad decision for a number of reasons. One of which was when I was putting everything back together I managed to pinch (till they broke in half) the crank sensor wire and the oil pressure sender wire. Fate would have it that I needed to take everything back apart and I saw they broken wires and soldered them back together with heat shrink and whatnot.

When it was back together my LX wouldn't start, it cranks but won't actually fire over. Won't even run poorly. I had a friend offer to come help with some things and we know the belt is installed correctly and the crank and cams are lined up right. It gets spark, has compression and fuel pressure, and the injectors pulse. The spark plugs were likely from the factory (106k miles) and were also replaced.

So knowing all this I keep going back to the crank sensor wires. I did a continuity test on them (and the oil pressure wire) and know the wires go from plug to plug but I didn't check resistance or anything else on them. This is a shielded wire and I used normal heat shrink and electrical tape to wrap them back up.

What I'm wondering is if any of you know what kind of shielding are on these wires. I guess there are "active" and "passive" shielding and am wondering if this might be the case here. Maybe since the wires have a break in the shield or there is enough extra resistance on them the signal is getting through but just at a slower rate which is throwing off the timing of the spark or something else.

I can't be the first fool to have broken these wires, is this what is causing my no start? What is the solution to get my rig back up and going?

Thoughts?

(I am currently downloading the 2007 FSM to use as a reference. Its a tedious process but I'm getting there.)

 

[Julian Stead]

Any fault codes?

 

[BillZ260]

Wondering if you blew or threw a fuse/circuit breaker when trying to start with the pinched wire, and now you get no spark. I'd check any fuses or relays in that system.

Just trying to think of things that KILL spark. My old explorer had a fuel pump kill if you jacked it too high up on one side. I'm still fairly new to this LC/LX but there maybe something similar.

Also, similar issue on this thread.
100 series cranks but won't turn over / start

 

[nnnnnate]

All the fuses are okay. I discovered the broken wires and "fixed" them before I tried to crank it.

We check all fuses in the engine bay and under the dash.

I can't get any fault codes to display. I think it at least wants it to fire before they'll show. We've check with torque and tech stream

 

[2001LC]

Make sure the ground wire on back side of engine is connected. It's near your heater T's. Not normal to disconnect in belt job, but check easiest thing first.

Crank sensor were cheap last I looked $20.

Oh, and some of the guy's here showed me these, work great. Love them and who showed me.

 

[2001LC]

Make sure your MAF sensor harness is seat too.

 

[duggy]

For what it's worth, I had the same issue and resoldered the broken connections and haven't had an issue since. I agree that this might be a different issue if the original problem was remedied properly

 

[benc]

Not sure if it's the same on the Vvti but have you checked out you camshaft sensor? There is not much room for the wires and they are very close to the cerp belt. The no vvti it is located on the botom of the drivers side cam.
Go through everything and check all connections and sensors, if all looks good you may have to pull the timing cover and inspect the sensors.
You may many to make sure nothing is stuck on the sensors as well as the are magnetic. Good luck!

 

[nnnnnate]

Right now the cam covers are off but everything else is installed. I have checked that sensor and have jiggled all the other connectors and they all seem okay. The VVT cam sensor is in the same place.

 

[Julian Stead]

Have you got a fault code reader?

 

[Mudder]

Asking the same question twice without reading the first answer doesn't help. He checked for codes and couldn't get any.

I would suspect it's something simple, I would start first by wrapping tin foil around the wire where it isn't covered anymore and see if that changes it. If not I'd check the sensors to make sure they didn't get damaged in any way.

 

[Julian Stead]

If your fault code reader(techstream) reads live data you can watch the sensor information with ignition on and cranking over. Did you change the spark plugs before or after the issue? Remove a spark plug and see if it wet or dry after it doesn't start. It won't take long to flood if there is fuel entering the cylinder and weak spark. Does it smell of fuel?

 

[nnnnnate]

I figured I'd come back here to give an update on my rig. I ended up dropping it off at an independent shop my dad has used for about 20 years on Monday. I knew they weren't going to be able to get to it until Wednesday but I needed it out of my driveway so I'd stop thinking about it.

I got a call yesterday around noon with the report that it was running and when I picked it up the mechanic looked at me and said "it was your fault." I was like, dammit, I know it was my fault it was running before I started the work. lol. Turns out I had installed the "crankshaft trigger induction ring" backwards so the notches were further away from the crank sensor than they should have been. He said he was seeing a signal from the sensor on the computer but apparently because of the distance it was corrupt or bad or whatever.

I asked the mechanic if the ring had damaged the new TB and he said he did check it and he could see a few marks on it but there wasn't any significant damage to it. He said he thought if the motor HAD fired it might be worse but since it had just been cranking it hadn't affected it.

The stupid this is that when I pulled it off I wrote on the ring which orientation it needed to be. I guess when I put it back on (the second time) and my buddy was over I wasn't paying attention and flipped it.

So the conclusion here is that 1- pay attention when you're messing around with your motor so you don't install things backwards, and 2- if you clip your shielded engine wires you can repair them and you don't necessarily need to replace your whole engine harness.

Finally, I feel like I should say something about the time and money aspect here. I'm no competent wrench and I freely admit that. I'm a hack and in my opinion have gotten lucky up to this point. I decided to do the TB/WP job to save myself what would have been $350 in labor to a friend of a friend that is a former Toyota tech but now works in a diesel shop. In all I spent over 20 hours hands on working on this over ten days and had probably had close to ten hours worth of friends hands helping as well. I managed to break an ear off the first water pump tightening it too much ($120, hooray for aluminum!) and dumped about a gallon of coolant ($17) on the ground which helped me realize that ear was broken. I paid $520 to the shop to figure out I had installed the ring backwards. Having been into the engine bay this far and knowing what it will be like in another 90k miles one might think I'd be more comfortable doing the job and pounding it out on my own. It was too much of a hassle, unless things change dramatically, I'll happily pay that $350 and have it done in a few hours by someone else.

 

[2001LC]

We learn from our mistake, more so than our successes.

 

[BillZ260]

We learn from our mistake, more so than our successes.

I agree ^^^

But I also understand the frustration. This is my perspective, you've documented a potential ah ha for someone in the future, learned more about your truck, and yourself in the process. It cost you a bit more in the short run, and you'll make mistakes in the future, but the more you try, the better you get.

My truck has been apart for almost a full week because of a mistake I made, but I'm working through the pain, sometimes only an hour at a time, but I can see the light, ready to get her back on the road My excuse is $ save on labor goes to better (cooler) parts!

 

[2001LC]

I agree ^^^

But I also understand the frustration. This is my perspective, you've documented a potential ah ha for someone in the future, learned more about your truck, and yourself in the process. It cost you a bit more in the short run, and you'll make mistakes in the future, but the more you try, the better you get.

My truck has been apart for almost a full week because of a mistake I made, but I'm working through the pain, sometimes only an hour at a time, but I can see the light, ready to get her back on the road My excuse is $ save on labor goes to better (cooler) parts!

And get more tools... Toys

 

[BlueWeim]

very frustrating. glad it didnt start and cause more damage though. I have been in the same boat. putting my steering rack in, I cussed it up and down for several nights and ended up taking the whole thing back apart and the last bolt i took out, i realized I forgot to put a washer on top of the rubber bushing and that was my problem the whole time. live and learn. then drink beer and laugh at yourself.

 

[OG 91 LC]

Glad it all worked out. Great for you for attempting it yourself. I haven't wrenched much. In fact I don't have many tools. The things that have needed fixing on my truck I've tackled myself even with my weak and lame wrench and socket set. TB is next on the to do list. And I'll be tackling that myself. Thanks for documenting and I'll def keep the orientation of that induction ring in mind.
Enjoy your truck!

 

[2001LC]

First tool to buy is FSM for your year. Follow it to the letter, it means what it says. Then buy wrenches as you go.

Tip: I've found unbelievable deals on CL for tools.

@nnnnnate . Thanks for posting the fix