Ozrunner66

G'day All from Oz

Well the Ol' 3VZE is giving me grief

Only just purchased this 1991 SR5 Limited Manual with the 3.0.

Been running rough so I thought I would begin the process of elimination...

Went to check the Timing as I now have a light..and the strangest thing occured.

I freshened up the marks on the cover...all purdy and white, the nick on the pulley was sitting there as well so I put a dob of white on that too ( so far so good)

Pin in E1 & TE1, warm etc so hooked up the light and away I went....

No matter how hard I blinked or looked the timing mark from the pulley was gone, like Mandrake the Magician was at it...

I had several thoughts....
A/. Going Blind
B/. Fault with the light
C/. Drugs of my Youth re-visiting
D/. Murphy s Law.

Turns out the Crank Pulley was in the process of separating. It had crept 5 mm back toward the crank and therefore the "cut" for the timing was hidden under the Cover's "gauge" ( 5-10-15 etc.)


Will put Piccys up tomorrow as camera is charging, but thought it notable as I've never come across this on mine, or friends Cars.

I did put it into the search and not much mention at all came up.

Naturally ( with the excellent advice here on the Forum) I have now cleared the "front" of my motor.

So, I get in and as all advise, the Timing Belt, Water Pump tensioner etc etc are all getting done at the same time.

For a "first-timer" on the 3VZE, I was put off even trying to do these jobs, my father in law took one look said good luck and took off fast, but for those thinking about it, don't be...It's a pretty logical sequence and isn't that bad at all once the Radiator, Shroud and fan are gone, plenty of room to play in.

So yeah, apart from all my ranting, it's just a friendly "heads up to keep an eye on that edge between pulley and timing marks on the cover, if it ever changes size get the pulley on the crank done pronto.

As I said I'll put pics up tomorrow, but has anyone else here experienced this on the Runner? Mines a 1991 but just curious if it's a common failure.

Can't imagine many "MacGyver" fixes out in the middle of nowhere to fix that one

Anyway that's my two cents

Love the Runner and what a great Forum, Cheers all

Ozrunner66

P.S. Woodruff key is spot on....It is the crank pulley separating from itself....the outer decided to divorce the inner ring...

OK got some quick pics for you all...You can see the lip that formed in the pics of the crank pulley, and just to be scary I was able to push the entire inner ring out with very little effort...The other pic is me waiting for parts...good time to get busy cleaning and seeing where the PS Leak is

MudHippy

It's pretty uncommon. But certainly not unheard of. There are quite a few threads here discussing it. But I'd still have to say the odds of it happening on any given 3VZ-E during its lifetime are fairly low.

Punchy

Replace the pulley, If its used make sure the there are no cracks in the metal or the binder holding it together.

90 percent of PS leaks are the little O-ring under the reservoir, Get new Oring, Remove 3 12mm bolts holding reservoir on replace Oring, Spray well with WD40 or dab motor oil. gently put back to gether not to bind Oring, Bolt it down.

Wash engine.

Ozrunner66

Awesome thanks for that Punchy....Much Appreciated

Ozrunner66

Well it's now week 3 of not having the Truck on the road.
It all went back together well and ran well, but the fuel smell gave away the o ring I pinched on the Injector ( #6) the PO had left one union bolt barely tight and 3 injectors were leaking. So ordered the Injector service kit(btw the filters are very easy to change and a set of crush washers ( which are copper from OEM now and no longer the aluminum ones... reassembled and BAM! pinched the O ring on that Injector.Bugger! Sooooo pulled the fuel rails off again, only to be told by Toyota here in Oz that there were only two crush washers left in Australia and it would take 5 weeks to get more in from OS. Sheesh anyway sourced some more from elsewhere and should have time to re-assemble in a couple of days. Bought a brand new Distributor from the USA and that arrived as well. Did all the usual in the meantime PVC Valve and grommet, pigtails on the Knock Sensor, etc etc. Did notice that the PO had the vac hoses backassward so they got re-newed and re-sorted as well. Looking forward to getting it back in action. It has been very satisfying to DIY and couldn't be done easier without the help and advice here on the Forums, so a big thanks to all who posted and shared their experience

Few more pics of the ongoing saga and the AUS version of the Vac Hoses chart from under the bonnet..

Will let you all know how it goes..............................

rworegon

Oz, are you trying to seat the injector dry? If so, that may be why you are pinching the o-rings. I apply a tiny bit of dielectric grease to them before seating (the FSM calls for lubing them with gasoline, I believe) and have had no issues.

Ozrunner66

Hey RWO
lol ironically I did use the Die Grease....trouble is I did not want to undo the fuel damper on the end as I didn't have spare crush gaskets and by undoing that bolt that holds the fuel line down thought I had enough room to successfully install the injector.....I was wrong Cheers tho. I simply rushed that last injector instead of doing a Job properly.. Toyota said they have 28 pairs of those gaskets in stock in Oz so I have ordered them and will be doing it right this time...lesson learned

rworegon

Hate it when something like that happens.

Ozrunner66

Actually to expand a bit on parts available in Oz, and how scarce they are starting to get here, was talking to a guy here that just finished his 3.8 conversion. ( Buick ECOTEC ) and he is in love with it. I am posting up a couple of pics to show how clean and tidy the engine bay comes up and everything is accessible is without removing that ol' plenum. There are a couple of companies here in Oz that do a complete kit inc. wiring and R150 bolt up. But.I've put a lot of coin and time into this motor, so I believe I'll keep it factory till it's time has come..But Man they stack some dollars on parts here. Just a head gasket kit is over $500:00!! I bought 8 crush washers at Toyota here and that came to $30 bucks...( the ones for the fuel line union bolts ) Had to go to U.S. for the Dizzy otherwise I was fresh outa luck...It's a shame...it's a great truck and having spent some close time with the 3 Veezy...I'm kinda attached to it now...It's like a mad auntie...You love her, but it drives ya bonkers now and then. I guess once you learn the ways of the Veezy, it's pretty easy to work on