1990 4runner 3vze

Basically I parked the truck after work, went to start it the next morning, and the starter was just winding out with a high-speed whining sound. After wasting time and money taking the starter out and replacing it, I noticed that the fan/steeringpump/alternator belt is in fact turning over, just offering zero resistance to the starter.

I'm just wondering if there are any other possible causes here. The t-belt and water pump are only 3 months old, purchased from Toyota and installed by a reputable shop, so it seems unlikely ...

 

it just sounds like your starter isn't in-gauging with the flywheel, even if your tbelt was broke the motor would still turn over because the starter turns the crank shaft and you would able to tell if motor turning over or not.

 

That's my point, though, if I look inside the hood while cranking the ( whining ) starter, the belts and pulleys all turn...just no compression it seems like

 

yeah sorry i never read anyone's entire post hardly, but yeah you might have a broke tbelt, the top tbelt cover should be pretty easy to remove, i don't have a 3.0, but i know i can take it off on my 3.4 pretty easy in like 5min, u should probably just go ahead and do that so you can visually see if its broke or not, did you happen to put a new tbelt tensioner and pulley on it when you got it all done?

 

New tensioners were put it in, and all other parts were checked, so that's why I'm surprised. I'm resigned to this being the end of the line for this truck I'm afraid, but thanks for your replies!

 

OMG, what? Please tell me a belt was put in it at the same time?

You don't visually inspect a belt, you replace it when Toyota says to replace it...

 

yep... truck's totally worthless now b/c all it needs is a belt, and it's broke down b/c somebody didn't PM it to specs to start with...

poor 4Runner... damn clunkers... always breaking down...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIdV4...eature=related

 

nah man its still worth fixing, i mean if you weren't driving it when it broke it should be ok, i would just tear into it fix it your self man, its really not that hard, there's tons of write ups on here how to do it, maybe you could go talk to the shop an complain to them that they did a crappy job and it broke because of them an they might hook you up with a new one

 

appreciate the sentiments firefighter but I've NOT done mid level stuff like this for probably over 15 years. Adding that to the general condition of the rest of the vehicle ( rear glass regulator broken, ball joints worn, small rear seal leak, nasty rust / dents, bad fuel consumption ) means I just don't have the time to bail out a sinking ship.

The belt and its supporting pieces were done at the same time, actually right on schedule with a failing water pump @ 85k since the last time. I'm taking it as a warning sign that the belt failed after 3 months.

Don't get me wrong 4x2, I've been diligent about maintenance, and this has been by far the best vehicle I've ever owned. I'm not happy about losing her but another $700 + repair bill is just over the line, seeing as that brings the total spent on her in the last year alone to well over what she's worth

 

Addendum

Had a couple free hours today, did a bit of socket spinning and exposed the timing belt. Lo and behold it is intact with no signs of tears or missing teeth.

Now I'm stumped, why would the motor spin as if there was no compression like it did? Only thing I can imagine is one or both camshafts are broken where they connect to the belt? seems far fetched to me.

Any ideas are welcome

 

does the timing belt spin when you crank the starter????

try turning the motor over by hand and see how easy it is to turn over..

it could just have zero compression across the board....however VERY unlikely that NO cylinder has any compression.

 

even if the belt broke..it still shouldn't just turn over EASILY..the cylinders would still have compression..not all of them..but some would.

 

[youtube]7stlQOupQaI[/youtube]

you can hear the odd spinning-out sound there. Top belt wheels are moving so the problem must lie farther in I'm guessing.

 

Any ideas out there? I'm kinda out of my league here I think