red 59

My v6 is dieing now that the weather is warming up. It started last fall but then stopped during the winter. The temp that it dies is 50 and above. It only dies certain times, like if I have the engine up to normal temp, cut it off and wait 5 minutes, when I start it itbarely runs for 10 secs and cuts off. When I start it, the engine temp is hoter than when I cut it off. If I press the accelerator, the engine cools and I can drive. This is only weather in the 50-60 renge, once it gets up to 90-100, it willdie if I stop at red lights. I have checked for vacuum leaks,replaced spark plugs,wires, cap, and rotor. I have also cleaned the throttle body and this did not help. Any ideas would be helpful.

Yoter

How many miles do you have on it? Does it idle smoothly or rough?

red 59

I have 148,000miles on it. The hotter the weather id the rougher it idles.

Yoter

Water pump? I had 174,000 on my 91's 3.0 when it went out. The fins on it were gone. The coolant got dirty I assume and ate away at them. Can you hear the waterpump groaning at all? That would be my guess.

red 59

No, the water pump is not groaning.

Yoter

When was your headgasket recall done?

red 59

I have no idea on that one.

Yoter

Go down to toyota and have them run your vin number. They might have open recalls on your rig. there is a 1-800 # but I forget what it is. Do a quick search online for toyota recalls and try to find a 1-800#.

red 59

I sure hope thats not what it is.

Yoter

Me to. But I can only assume that its within the waterpump or headgasket being its overheating. I was going to assume it was the temp sending unit giving false info at first until it all the sudden jumps in temp. I would just start with the easy part of checking that head gasket recall. If it qulifies its paid for by Toyota. If it were to be the waterpump that is paid for umm by you. sorry. lol The water pump job cost me like $300 to $400 when I got it done.

red 59

Sorry for being so late, I called the number and they said the head gasket was done in sep. 98. I can imagine it had about 70-80 thousand miles on it then. I have 148k now.

AgRunner06

Just because the HG recall has been done doesn't mean that it won't blow again. I would check for the usual symptoms: disappearing coolant, sweet smell in exhaust, rough idle, and a white substance under the cap.

This seems really strange. If I were you, here's what I would do in this order:
1. Compression test
2. Fuel pressure (temp can cause problems with a fuel pump but it seems unlikely that this is the problem)
3. Cold Start Injector (really easy, just two 10 mm nuts on the side of the intake. takes 5 mins)

How well does it start when the motor is cold? This can't explain the temp problem but I would imagine that if the cold start injector is leaky a large amount it would cause the rough idle and definitely a hard start. But I've never heard of a leaky CSI causing a motor to die.

Good Luck

red 59

It starts fine when the engine is cold. It is not giving me any signs of the head gasket except for a rough idle, but it has always had a little bit of a idle problem.

Yoter

I mistook this line for a heating issue.
"When I start it, the engine temp is hoter than when I cut it off. "

This is wierd, really frikkin wierd.

Yoter

AG said: 3. Cold Start Injector (really easy, just two 10 mm nuts on the side of the intake. takes 5 mins)

Guess I will tag along with his idea.

red 59

I have not done the compression test or the cold start injector yet but I was going to replace the thermostat and it had disappeared. The only time the thermostat was apart was last winter when the timing belt was changed and the idiot who did it did not put it back. I know there was one in there before he did it because I put it there. I dont know if that could have something to do with it. It will be next weekend before I can do the compression test.

AgRunner06

Hmmmm

Do you have any codes?

I'm going to say that it's not your CSI anymore because that would definitely cause a hard initial start-up because it would have had a sufficient amount of time to leak. Since it's so easy to check, it couldn't hurt.

Also, think about the coolant temperature sensor. That's going to be what controls your mixture based on the temp of the engine. Now that I think about it, this seems like it could be a pretty good shot because your engine will run richer at colder temps. If for some reason it isn't working right, it may be running either way too rich or way too lean when it's warm outside and thus giving you the idle problems.

I'm going to refine my list:
1. Fuel Pump
2. Coolant Temperature Sensor

I would still do the compression test.

Definitely put a thermostat in there if there isn't one. That could also correspond with my theory about the CTS because when it's cold outside the vehicle would always be running rich because it isn't getting up to operating temperature. Then when it warms up, it leans out and you have problems.

Anyone else have any input on my reasoning?

CTB

Just curious, where exactly is the coolant temp sensor located on our 3.0's?

red 59

Im not sure what you mean by codes.

AgRunner06

A check engine light will give diagnostic codes for the problem.

I'm pretty sure the CTS is located on the back of the motor behind the intake manifold.