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Help with trouble shooting a 95 3.0vz-e crank and no start
Hello everyone. First time poster.
I am hoping to get some help trouble shooting and issue with my 1995 4 runner 3.0vz-e.
I was driving the car and it died suddenly. I was able to roll home, and in the way, I tried to roll start the vehicle. It coughed a few times but never started. Since it has been sitting it will crank but not turn over. At most it coughs once if it's been sitting long enough.
I confirmed that the air filter isn't clogged and I have proper fuel pressure on the fuel rail at the fuel bolt. I also checked the plugs and they looked alright. One had a bit of carbon build up, but none were wet or anything. I checked both fuel relays, with the fuel pump relay having 2.3 ohms of resistance and the EFI sitting at 0 ohms. I have also tried using some starter fluid into the air intake past the filter which did nothing. When I jump the Te1 and E1 terminals, I get a steady blinking on the check engine light, which I have read means it hasn't thrown any codes. The coolant looks fine and there isn't any mayonnaise on the dipstick when I pull that. I poor man's checked that there was spark, and holding the exposed wire terminal up to a chasis bolt resulted in an arc when I cranked the engine.
Today I pulled the timing cover off and noticed that when I rotate the crank to TDC, the left side cam mark is not lined up at the top, but the right side is. Not sure if this is a problem, but the Haynes manual says the timing marks should both align at the top when the crank is at TDC. Could this be the issue? The car ran fine for the 5k or so miles that I put on it which is what would confuse me if this was the issue.
Could this be a cam or crankshaft position sensor issue, and if so, do you know where those are located? I haven't been able to find anything on teh interwbs that has helped me find them. If these could be the issue, is there an easy way to test them?
I'm pretty stumped at this point and figured I'd check here to see if anyone has any advice before I tear into things any more. I know I asked a ton of questions, but any help is greatly appreciated as I am currently without working transportation. Thank you all!
Last edited by ndndndnd; Jun 10, 2021 at 01:50 PM.
Wow! It's hard to believe that truck ever ran with the valve timing off that far. Yes, the cam marks should always be together. At TDC, they marks should both be pointing straight up (or straight down; there are two TDCs). One sometimes hears of "jumping a tooth," which I believe should be impossible. Unless ... your tensioner has failed. Either way, you'll need to get that straightened away. Now would be a good time to replace the timing belt. (Removing and reinstalling the crank bolt (161 ft-lbs) is an issue for some. You could re-time the cams (and check the tensioner) without removing the crank bolt if you keep the same belt. Not what I would recommend.)
When you checked the fuel pressure, did you use a gauge? (Don't forget to replace any crush washers that were removed -- one time use only.) Was the fuel pump running? How?
On vocabulary, most of us think of "crank" and "turn over" to be the same. I think you meant that your truck would turn over but would not fire, and therefore would not run.
Recently replaced timing belt and found a few very helpful U-Tube video's on the subject. Very important to follow spec's on tightening bolts securing timing belt shroud. Video also explained how to test belt tensioner.
Last edited by lastcall; Jun 11, 2021 at 06:13 AM.
It's 100% not good to have the cams that far off. Word of advice, make sure after the belt is on that you tighten the bolt going through the tensioner, the spring alone isn't enough to hold it on and the tensioner does not float like some newer engines. Also, these engines don't have cam/crank position sensors as they don't have any sort of VVT and their form of fuel injection is fairly primitive.
So I am definitely having some trouble getting the crank bolt off and I am thinking about going and buying a breaker bar and using a method I've seen a few people do in youtube videos where they use the starter to break the bolt loose. Question about this though, it IS possible to set the timing marks after removing the bolt, correct? It seems like lining things up and trying to keep them in the same place will be near impossible with the amount that I am going to need to crank on things.
When I checked the fuel pressure, I checked it at the fuel rail with a gauge and definitely replaced the crush was on the fuel bolt. I just assumed that the fuel pump was working because pressure had been released from the rail when I pulled the bolt. I also replaced the inline fuel filter, so I think that would have dropped the pressure too.
This vehicle doesn't have the spring tensioner, but instead has the tensioner that is attached to the outside of the fan pulley bracket. It's good to know that there aren't these sensors, as I was going to try to trouble shoot and find those first this morning, haha. Thanks!
So I am definitely having some trouble getting the crank bolt off and I am thinking about going and buying a breaker bar and using a method I've seen a few people do in youtube videos where they use the starter to break the bolt loose. Question about this though, it IS possible to set the timing marks after removing the bolt, correct? It seems like lining things up and trying to keep them in the same place will be near impossible with the amount that I am going to need to crank on
Thanks for your help!
You can set the timing with the crank bolt broken loose. I would just thread it back in by hand to hold that crank sprocket in place and use a big ratchet to turn the assembly. Be sure to check the dowels in the cam sprockets. In my truck my driver side one went MIA and I found it melted into the bottom of my timing cover.
The spring tensioners are on older (around 1990?) vehicles; yours is the "hydraulic" tensioner. The "cam position sensor" is in the distributor, but it's not the kind of sensor you're thinking of.
Using the starter to loosen the crank bolt is only if you are Desperate with a capital D. It might work, but then where are you? You still have to get the bolt back in, and keep the crank from turning against 161 ft-lbs. The better way is to fabricate a tool to hold the crank while you use your "breaker bar" to loosen the bolt (and later tighten it). There are plenty of good shop-made tools described in this forum. I, of course, am partial to this one: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...h-3vze-137934/
Once you get the covers off, installing the belt just isn't that difficult. The cam sprockets will try to turn under valve spring tension, but just turn them with a wrench until you get the belt cogs lined up with the sprockets. Once everything is together, give the crank two turns to see if the cams come back to the right place.
The "dowels" mentioned by maxvp01 are called "knock pins." The cam sprockets aren't keyed onto the cams; the knock pins/dowels keep the cams from turning against the end of the cam. On mine, the two knock pins were bent and were replaced.
Jun 10, 2021 | 01:36 PM
