mileage: 216,xxx

wow, where to start. I’ve had a clunk in the front end. Under hard braking, I would get a clunk in the front and sometime it would be accompanied with a jerk to the side.

I would normally attribute the shift and clunk to a bad control arm brushing to maybe a caliper bolt. All those checked out when I had it aligned after the tires.

I also knew the steering rack was leaking and my valve covers were getting bad leaking oil fast enough that it would smoke and smolder on the manifolds.

I brought out the parts cannon. New lower control arms and bushings, new LBJs (they were due), and a new steering rack (which was on sale at McGeorge). Oh and outer tie rods since the inners came with the new rack.

Now this is where I did something I rarely do. It had been single digits here for a while. And while I have access to a heated garage thru work, I’m always worried of something going wrong and leaving me stranded. So the LCAs and LBJs I did at work. The steering rack I started to remove but the pressure line started twisting the fitting. I looked around for a shop to do the steering rack. I was quoted $1000 for labor on the steering rack and replacing the lines from the rack up to the pump. Some hiccups and my bill was $1200.

and I finally got to my valve covers. The passenger side one wasn’t much of an issue. I followed Timmy’s video. The drivers side gave my guff as the injector harness plastic disintegrated. Oh well.

Now I have a new front end and I’m not leaking oil any more. I still have to do an oil change, but that’s a driveway issue.

 

Nice! Glad you were able to get this stuff done indoors. If it matters to you, rescue tape is what I used to replace the injector harness confetti.
Bet it feels great to get all that stuff out of the way.

 

mileage: 222,xxx

oil and filter change. I noticed 2 chips in my windshield, I ordered a repair kit and will address when it arrives. Also I have a pretty significant shimmy above 75mph. My guess is it’s tire balance. I didn’t spin balance them when I mounted them, I just tossed in 4 Oz. of beads.

 

mileage: 225,xxx

well I’ve missed some updates and it shows.

The pitfalls of ignoring my leaking valve covers meant everything below them and behind the motor has slowly been bathing in oily grease and grime for several years. And anyone that has been around vehicles knows oil and rubber don’t get along. So while driving to the dump one day, I hear a clatter from the front end that is speed dependent. I crawl underneath to find the two vacuum lines for the front diff have swelled, popped off their nipples, and wound themselves around the drivers side CV and front driveshaft. No worries, I cut them and yanked as much out as I could and everything went back to normal… except now I have the dreaded blinking 4wd lights.

Additionally one day while driving to trivia, I stepped on the brake to find the pedal ROCK hard and barely able to stop even from 10mph. I nursed it home and bought a replacement brake booster. I had been seeing failures rise on different 3rd Gen FB and Reddit groups so I figured I was due anyways. Sadly I couldn’t justify the high OE cost and hope that my rockauto alternative doesn’t immediately fail. Swapping was fairly simple. The hardest part is wedging your body into the pedal well to get the 4 bolts that hold it to the firewall. Besides that, you don’t have to open any brakes lines and so don’t need to bleed the system afterwards. Start to finish was probably an hour. Brakes immediately felt normal if not a little on the soft side.

 

Mileage: 225,xxx

The other big issue is a CEL. 😡

I had a CEL for P0300 and P0306. Starting with the easy things I changed spark plugs and wires since they were due anyhow. That didn’t fix it. Next I changed the injectors because I had NOS in the garage from the last injector failure. That didn’t help. Still P0306. I then ordered a new injector in case my old stock was bad (although the coincidence of it failing at the same cylinder number is unlikely). Still P0306.

Then it got cold. Too cold for me to comfortably work in my truck in the driveway. So I took it to the shop that replaced my steering rack last winter when it was cold. I explained what my symptoms were, what I had replaced, and provided a link to this thread so they could see the work done over the years.

To start they asked for authorization to do a compression test because of vehicle age and mileage to make sure it wasn’t internal motor failure. I asked if everything checks out (because I don’t think it is a motor issue) would that diagnostic time get reduced as a fools errand? No. Of course not. All 6 cylinders were between 155-165psi while not super tight, well within the acceptable numbers. Additionally it passed a leak down test. So that ship had my truck for 2 weeks, fumbled around, found nothing, complained that there must be a leak in my brake system because I had a quart of brake fluid stuffed under my hood, and then informed me that not only was the P0306 code still there but now also a P1130 code. I less than kindly asked them to finalize the bill and I would be taking my truck.

I then went to a recommended mechanic that takes on side work. He replaced the upstream O2 sensor because he said it was all carboned up and wasn’t returning signal from the scanner. That took care of the P1130.

I still have the P0306 and a miss at idle. It runs well under load, suggesting it isn’t an ignition issue. Although I swapped out the 3 coils (with OE Toyota) due to age and having them on hand. It starts right up.

I’m at a loss now. The only thing I can think is remaining is a harness issue. If it wasn’t going to be an absolute nightmare to swap over, I ‘d replace the harness.

Thoughts?

 

Assuming code returns after being cleared from memory. P0300 not in pending status on scan tool? Possible cyl 6 is the first to go down but others may follow suit eventually. Could try a good cleaning of the intake/throttle body. Maybe the one that leads to the back cylinders is getting carb'd up. Wiring to plugs, air fuel sensor, or injectors...either accidental from past services or rodent looking for a bite. Definite possibilities. Wiggle test accessible connections. Look for questionable grounds if involved in wiring circuits. And lastly, some new parts can be d.o.a. Can swap cylinders to see if code follows part in question.

 

Mileage: 227,xxx

oil change - 5qts high mileage valvoline and a Y3 filter.

ran new vacuum lines from the front diff to the VSVs fixing my blinking 4wd lights and restoring functionality

ran a bottle of Red Line fuel system cleaner thru. I seriously doubted the misfire was related to fuel system deposits, but I couldn’t leave a stone unturned. Shocking to no one, it did not correct my issue.

 

Additionally I picked up a set of noid lights and when I get a chance at work to pull the intake I’m going to attempt to verify signal to the injectors and measure the spark discharge.