ohio

So I messed with too many things at once. I had a check engine light that was preventing me from smogging the vehicle, so I started to fiddle. It WAS running just fine before... but it showed a CEL. Now it dies immediately after a strong startup. It's a 22RE in a '92 pickup (federal/non-CA) I just picked up a week ago. Please help me get it running again.
Here's what I did:
1. I swapped the O2 sensor, and unplugged the battery to reset the ECU. Afterwords it ran exactly the same, and still showed the light about a minute after startup. I drove around town running errands with no problems.

2. I put the old 02 sensor back in.

3. I tried to clean the MAF. It did not look like what I expected from other pictures I'd seen. I thought it would be some contacts recessed down in the plastic. It was instead an exposed long flat spring with its own contact, and 6 other exposed contacts, 3 of which connected to wire leads and 3 of which contacted the bottom of the recess I pulled it from. I had a hard time pulling it out of the bracket/recess on top of the intake. I didn't notice bending anything, but removal and re-installation required a lot of jiggling. I cleaned it with electric contact cleaner before reinstall.

4. I thought I would check the PCV valve, as I've been thinking about using SeaFoam... I tried to pull the valve but could only pull the hose from the valve. The valve would pop up maybe 1/4" but wouldn't budge any further. It did not seem to have a tight fit in the runner grommet on the valve cover. I put the hose back on.

Then I tried to start it. It starts right up and then dies immediately. If I try a few times in a row, it will not die, but try desperately to idle at around 100RPM, choking and gagging. Any attempt to give it gas kills it. I'm guessing I screwed something up with the PCV valve and there's a vacuum leak, but I don't know. And I can't seem to fix. Pushing on the valve and squeezing on the hose seems to have no effect.

Help. Please.


The other thing I noticed was when I took the cap of the diagnostic terminal by the fuse box, the terminal was covered in white grease... it's down in the contacts even. Is that normal? Why would someone do that? Is that the original culprit for my check engine light?

FingerMan20

Well i know that the white grease in your diagnostics terminal is dielectric grease, and it's there to stopp water from shorting it or preventing any sort of condensation.

Sounds like a fuel system problem... I think (and someone tell me if I am wrong, PLEASE)that if it was REALLY a vaccuum problem, then it would only affect the idle, and you could rev it up, and the engine would instantaneously smooth out. At even 5% throttle, the vaccuum system isn't PULLING, it just flows.

Donny

superjoe83

have you retrieved the codes yet, that would help out allot, the grease in the connector is there from the factory, it helps stop corrosion

FingerMan20

Too bad it's not OBDII...

ohio

No, I haven't retrieved the codes. I don't have a reader.

Really I just want to get it back to where it was earlier today: running fine, with a check engine light.

Upon further thought, there's a good chance I bent something inside the MAF (underneath the black plastic piece siliconed into place on top of the MAF bracket). Would that cause the problem? Is there any way to get in there and fix it?

Is there any way to get it running well enough to just get it to a garage so I don't have to pay for a tow?

ohio

I think you're right.

I did a little more research, and think I've figured out that I have an AFM (which would explain why it didn't look the way I expected and why I screwed things up by yanking parts of it out), not an MAF, and that I most likely bent something in removal and re-installation of the spring. So I think cutting open the plastic cover and fixing it from above might be the only option... unfortunately, I don't know what it's supposed to look like. Below is the best picture I can find on the web.

Any additional advice before I go ahead and wing it?

jimbo74

sounds like the maf was damaged upon reinstallation... the maf can make it die right after starting..... well, the maf did on my explorer when is was really dirty after a rollover

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Bypass the AFM fuel pump contact:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...shtml#FuelPump

ohio

Okay, I think you just pointed me in the right direction. I pulled the plastic top and reassembled the AFM. With the truck on, but not started up, if I pushed the rotary "feeler" into the spring and forced it to contact, I could hear a sound that I'm pretty sure was the fuel pump. But for some reason, on startup with the "feeler" pushing the spring, the feeler rotated so far it bent the spring... so then I tried it with the spring outside the feeler. All of the above gave the same strong start followed by immediately dying.

Anyone have a good picture of the inside of an AFM? I'm pretty sure I didn't break anything, I bent the appropriate parts back into place. Just need to know what it's supposed to look like.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Some here:

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/minutemods/afm/

Did you try the fuel pump test jumper? It'll bypass the AFM and run the fuel pump any time the ignition is on.

ohio

Except I can hear the fuel pump running (a "shhhh" sound) when I press the contacts in the AFM together... so that's actually functioning. Even if I run to the engine bay and press them together after a startup, it still dies.

I think if I just reassemble the AFM correctly, it should work. The two configurations that seem to make sense don't work.
1. If I put the feeler to the outside of the contact/spring it does push the contacts together, but then I don't think it opens up far enough to allow air flow.
2. If I put the feeler to the inside of the spring/contact, it can rotate fully, but I don't see how the contacts will ever be pushed together...

I tried both, and neither works. Both fire right up, and then die in about 3 seconds or so. I don't know how many more starts I can get out of the battery.

I'm going to have to have the truck towed in the morning, because it can't be parked in it's current spot during the day... I didn't do the work in my garage because I was messing with solvents. I'm an idiot.

edit: in the picture from 4x4wire it looks like the feeler is to the outside of the spring, but I can't quite tell. If that's the case, how does the thing rotate?

ohio

Okay, so this is what I've learned:
1. 22RE's don't have an MAF (mass air flow sensor), they have an AFM (air flow meter)
2. Don't mess with the inside of an AFM. When assembled, they're bombproof, but if you take them apart they are very fragile. You will not get any performance gain from cleaning an AFM. They're sealed and clean inside (mine was clean even with a K&N filter and 180k). They also cost about $1000 new from toyota, ~$250 from a junkyard, or ~$200 for a non-OEM reman.
3. The ECU on 92 pickup has hardcodes that don't clear with a pulled fuse or battery cable. So even if you've fixed the problem that was causing a CEL, the CEL may still appear until you've hooked up a reader and cleared the ECU. So my truck was probably just fine, until I started messing.

So it was an expensive lesson (~$300 plus most of my day off). On the bright side, I was debating whether to join AAA... well, the free towing made it worth it.

2ToyGuy

Something I've noticed on my '87 'Runner: If you pull the plug from the AFM you have to pull the EFI fuse or the battery cable (neg, of course!) before you put the plug back on or it'll do just what you're describing. It'll start, run a few seconds, then die. I got very frustrated by this before I found out about having to reset the ECU. I don't know WHY this is, but it sure IS on my truck. Prolly a quirk of the ECU.
A little late, I realize, but better late than never...?

Dezertoyota

Okay heres the deal...You most likely screwed up the VAFM (vane air flow meter) when you took the cover off. Did you undo the 2 small screws holding the cable into the VAFM? If you did you for sure messed it up. No big deal this is what I would do.

If you have someone with the same part # on top of the VAFM then swap yours out with there and see if thats solves the problem. If it does, which it should, then buy a used one from a junkyard ($100 no more) or look on ebay for one there cheap. If you started messing with it you wont be able to get it back to spec trust me.

Good luck.

ohio

Bingo.

Unfortunately, because I needed to get to work and the fact that it was parked on the street in the city, I had to it towed to a garage and fixed. It'll run me ~$300.... ouch.

Lesson learned.