Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

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Fred
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Re: Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

Post by Fred »

complete dying could be ignition, fuel, or crank/cam signal, anything else should leave it running like shit

fuel pump dies, it'll die softly as the pressure falls (quite quickly), relay cuts power to injectors, instant death, ditto crank/cam signal or coil power, instant. same for ECU loses power, instant.

Ignitors and coils can both get warm and die on you. wiring can vibrate and die on you. Hard to say without being there to poke at stuff. I'd say driving it was the wrong approach? Poking at shit while it's idling is likely best. wiggle all looms, bend plugs, shake things, etc.

Good luck, and good to hear from you! :-)
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Re: Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

Post by ehb »

Hey Fred,

yeah, good to hear from me. :D Good to see you making progress on all kinds of fronts, good stuff. :)

Today I had the time to dive deeper into the dead Hiace and discovered a cracked and burnt through ignition coil. I could've seen that when I replaced the distributor cap/finger, but the coil itself is covered by another piece of plastic, which I hadn't removed... So that's the most likely culprit. The resistance measurements showed up ok, but those are worth nothing if the isolation is fucked. :)

Anyways, I now ordered an ignition coil, spark plugs, leads, gaskets for distributor (pretty oily around there) and valve cover, vacuum hose (red silicone :lol: ), exhaust gaskets and a piece of hose (which currently airates the hydraulic clutch system).

Parts already here and waiting for installation are a set of new front brake discs and pads, oil pressure switch (current one is leaking) and rear axle bearings...
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Fred
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Re: Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

Post by Fred »

Good find! Sounds like you have your work cut out for you! :-D
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Re: Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

Post by ehb »

Had I known before how much this would get out of hand, I probably would've sold the Hiace.

After replacing the ignition coil, plugs, leads, distributor O-Ring, vacuum hoses, clutch hydraulic line, front discs and pads and probably more... it didn't pass inspection because of rusty brake lines and rust holes in the frame rails ( :( ). I was a bit embarrassed about the brake lines, because I checked them and missed a spot beneath some plastic protection.

So I proceeded to replace 60% of brake lines (5 pieces, total ~5 m, replaced with self-bent CuNiFer lines), a few new pieces of 1,5 mm sheet metal in the framerails, all remaining rust-holes on the outside of the body (0,8 mm steel) (except for around front and rear window seams, those are really bad still).
I had three angle grinders in parallel in use to derust the shit out of it, but I had to remove the fuel tank to really get to places.
After doing that, I discovered the fuel lines going through the fuel pump mount would maybe hold up for the next 6-12 months. So I got some more CuNiFer lines in proper diameters. I needed 8 mm, 6,35 mm and 10 mm as sleeve to hard-solder new end pieces onto the last good pieces of steel pipes.
A replacement mount wasn't to be found. It has become a rare car over her.
The upside of the tank, formerly completely hidden, was in bad shape too. Lots of rust. None on the inside though. One thing just kept leading to another...

Soo again, a few hours of grinder action and a total of 1,5 litres of paint for underbelly and tank made me sufficently confident to go for another run at the inspection. At the time, four months overdue..

Returned to the shop - didn't pass because of defective catalytic converter. /&"§%"&!. OEM part: Something like 600€. Ordered the cheapest cat I could find (and a flex piece, while I'm at it...) and welded it in. Of course beforehand I ripped a stud from the header-to-downpipe flange, but luckily was able to weld a nut onto it (stretching halfway into the car from beneath with TIG, so both arms) and get it removed, woohoo. Possibly the most joyous moment for me in the past few years, not kidding (sadly). :)

So, finally - it passed inspection (in june or july already though). Still the insides of the framerails are rusted as hell, so I won't be able to keep this car forever. :( I did some inside-protection with "Owatrol" and "Fluid Film" but will put something even denser in it some time, maybe this Mike Sanders stuff.

It's a semi-win, because it shall live on the street for another two years, but I'm not too optimistic for later-on. I did put in probably 100+ work hours for that though, which is the semi-fail part of it. Oh and it still has its sounds-like-rod-knock-sound at idle. Coolant pipes also look close to death too. I'll stop thinking now, I starting to realize how stupid I am... :)
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Re: Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

Post by ehb »

Back to topic on this thread: The head gasket blew again (it did once before, probably around 150.000 km - now it's at 202k), but that has been 2 months ago already.
When removing the head, there were actually cracks between the valves, cylinder 4 most prominently.

I took the risk and bought a Chinese made, Australian assembled cylinder head, complete with valves, camshaft and everything. Complete gasket set included as well. In total, with shipping and import tax, I paid something less than 700 €. Totally worth it, the quality of the casting and machining were top notch. We'll see how long it takes to fail. Maybe I should re-work the original head meanwhile...

Anyhow, I finished assembly and started it up today and it ran nicer than it has for a long time!

Hopefully I can sell my interim solution (2007 Dacia Logan MCV 1.4) soon again. :roll:

Also I found the ECU (driver+middle seats have to be removed) and probably found a pin-compatible one on eBay I could butcher for FreeEMS use. :D Maybe after a dozen years on the forum at last, some day...
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Re: Diagnosing Toyota 2RZ-E engine problems

Post by Fred »

China head! Scary. But they're not rocket science, to be fair. Should be fine if the metal is okay and casting process good.
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
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n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
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