Friday, April 19, 2013 - 11:01 am, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
Hey guys and girls, I'm new to the forum and have purchased a toyota soarer (lexus sc400) with overheating issues (welch plugs shot!) and it has some strange issues.
car is a 1992 1uz fe v8 4.0 with an automatic trans, no traction control and is right hand drive.
car ran fine when we picked it up (i think it ran fine, my first v8)
I've fixed the welch plugs and got it all sealed but it runs really bad.
with the engine running (poorly) you can remove all the HT leads from the passenger side and it doesn't change rpm or seem to have any affect. yet you can hear it sparking from the lead to the block. same if you then put a spark plug into it and touch the block it sparks.
both coils are working and both ignitors are also working (unplug 1 and it stalls)
you can also unplug all the injectors from the passenger side with no affect. i have tested all the injectors and none are stuck open or leaking, and are all getting signal.
so basically i have a 2 liter 4 cylinder
things I've done:
new rotors and distributor caps cleaned and gapped plugs (tested ok) tested injectors new timing belt (timing spot on) no missing plugs or wires
the car also smokes thick white smoke after idling for a few minutes, it has a strange smell, not much like oil but unsure about fuel. There is some browny liquid that comes out of the exhausts but it doesn't smell like oil or fuel, but also doesn't look or feel like rusty water. Head gaskets seem ok as coolant doesn't drop or change and theres no milkshake oil.
however with the ignition on and fuel pump going i can hear the sound of rushing fluid on the drivers side fuel rail, but not on the passengers, yet no injectors are stuck open/closed and all the fuel rail piping is clean and free flowing.
Could it be an ecu problem? I've tested the signal to each injector and they seem all ok, unless the passenger bank isn't getting a signal to inject...?
theres no warning messages on the dash so what is it?! its driving me nuts!
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 11:53 am, by: Scott Vim(1uz1jz)
Did you try unplugging the other coil? It shouldn't stall if you disconnect one coil I had a coil die and it started running rough sounded like a tractor and had no power. The cat light came on as well because fuel was passing through it.
Mike Beck Goo Roo New Zealand BMW E36 Coupe 1UZFE V8 340i
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 02:08 pm, by: Tom Richards(Tomr)
the coils do not "do" all one side of the engine. Each coil does 2 cylinders each side. As suggested above try running the car on a single coil. Each coil with the other disconnected should run the car.
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 03:47 pm, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
Thanks for the quick replies guys! scott vim- i did try both coils just to make sure, it stalls with either one disconnected because as Tom Richard said it takes out 2 cylinders from each side, as i currently only have only 4 firing on one side it reduces it to 2 cylinders, thus stalling
Mike Beck- so to do the ECU do i just replace all the capacitors i can see ? and how do i go about testing the TPS? and yeah my fathers an electrical engineer and so far we've brought the dash and EMV back to life ;)
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 03:59 pm, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
does it help that the white smoke smells sort of like burning rubber/plastic? and is as thick as tyre smoke it didn't smoke at all when i bought the car! only after the engine was removed/installed.
also my alarm goes off 24/7 (crazy japanese alarm) so while fixing the car the battery was being put on/off alot, could this have caused a voltage spike in the ecu or damaged something?
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 05:11 pm, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
Dave rose- i have the engine at TDC and cylinder 1 it at the top. how would i determine if its on its compression stroke?
i just had the spark plugs out and they're black, and stink of fuel. the cylinders are bone dry so no coolant is getting in. my coolant level hasn't changed and my oil is still crystal clear (only replaced a day ago)
i think ill be trying new leads and spark plugs when i finally have some money (uni student=poor) and see if it helps.... im just really concerned about the thick white smoke!
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 06:08 pm, by: Tom Richards(Tomr)
the ignitors and coil do not control 1 bank, but 2 cylinders each side. The rotor and timing is the same, 2 cylinders each side.
not sure how the ecu operates. But you are saying above that all injectors are getting the correct signal , and there is spark. have you done a compression test on the faulty side. Mechanical on that bank appears to be the fault to me as other things controls 2 cylinders each side,
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 08:50 pm, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
When I bought the car it had a compression results sheet in the glovebox from a few weeks prior to my purchase. The results were really consistent of about 205psi +/- 5psi. Which I thought was very high especially for 200,000+ Kms! Unless its a replacment engine....
When I checked the injectors I had the EFI relay removed to stop the fuel pump going (fuel rails removed) and there was ~12v on 1 wire of every injector, and 0v on the other wire.
I assume the other wire was the signal wire and would only have voltage when the engine is turning and trying to inject/fire. But with the engine assembled and running (on only the drivers bank) the passenger side spark plugs were black and stank of fuel. Yet when I pulled the spark plug leads while it was running it didn't slow the engine at all but could be heard sparking to the block.
The reason it's so confusing is that this means that both coils, igniters, caps+rotors are working as I have a whole working bank, with both coils, caps+rotors and igniters running 2 each. As opposed to 4 each on alternating sides. So if its all working then why is my whole left bank not firing ? clearly if the other side is then there's spark, fuell and air..... I shall not be beaten!!!
Friday, April 19, 2013 - 09:03 pm, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
Jack ..its the camshafts on the dead bank ,it got petrol,a spark, but the valves are out, simple test ...turn the engine and see if there is any compression ,if none its the cams out.
Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 10:04 am, by: Tom Richards(Tomr)
hi dave,got you now. I was never thinking that far out, as normally nothing is rotated and any mistake is only a tooth or 2. He should remember if he rotated the cams as it takes a bit of effort.
Looking at the symptoms again, your idea is the only one that is valid as fuel and spark have all been confirmed
Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 12:11 pm, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
Its the only thing i can think of Tom, as you say hard to turn the cams, but good time to check valve clearances (up to 96/8 )with the belt off ,as long as you end up TDC with the 4 valves closed. Come on Jack put Tom + myself out of our misery
Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 03:22 pm, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
Sorry guys I've been stuck at work itching to get back onto this engine! Dave rose- I'm not 100% sure but i vaguely remember the cam flicking in a direction (unsure of which) when i removed the belt, it must have been under pressure from some of the valves or something. but it did rotate. i always assumed you just lined up the timing marks and it was all okay.... I've timed a heap of cars this way with no ill affects.
Also i had to remove the whole inlet cam+gear as i couldn't get the nut off to remove the pulley to gain access to a welch plug. so tonight i will be taking the rocker cover off and checking if the inlet and exhaust cams are lined up correctly and that at TDC cylinder 1's valves are closed (compression stroke)
all i can hope is that in my hour of noobish activity i may has misaligned the inlet+exhaust cam gears and messed everything up, that way its an easy fix! i will keep you guys up to date and try re assemble the engine tonight!
Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 09:23 pm, by: Jack David(Sneekycheese)
Okay guys, a small victory today!
Dave rose, you were 100% correct, the cam timing was off. When we removed the cam we marked where the teeth were positioned so we could reassemble it correctly in time. However it appears someone had already removed this cam and had it way out of time! this means that our mark was just making us put it back together out of time! It wasn't until i researched how to time the two cams that i found the small drill holes that are required to line up... well heres ours...
Picture 1
So we fixed that issue and she run! on all 8! so much smoother and quieter!
But it isnt all good news sadly theres no power at all, and she smokes like crazy! still thick white smoke. while driving (and after bleeding the cooling system) it got to just under half on the temp guage and stayed there. then i got a warning about check 'engine elekt' and it stayed there. there was ALOT of smoke coming from this car.... alot. doesnt smell like oil, just smells really bad.
after a drive of about 60 seconds i drove it back into the garage to hear/see it steaming like crazy under the bonnet, and it was from the overflow tube, just spewing out steam. turned the engine off and it still did it for a bit, all in a cloud of white smoke still.
im so confused, is my head gasket dead? i saw this in both exhausts (was alot wetter before i took the pictures)
picture 2
Picture 3
And to try get a good look at its colour i mopped a bit of it up with a piece of paper and it looked slightly golden/ unfortunately green
picture 4
I dont get how my head gasket has failed, with the plugs out the cylinders are bone dry, it smokes even with the rad cap off (no pressure) yet has what appears to be watery liquid in the exhaust and boils over its coolant
have i actually found a 1UZFE with a broken head gasket??
thanks guys!
Picture 1:
Picture 2:
Picture 3:
Picture 4:
Peter Nitschke Junk Filterer South Australia UZZ30 UZZ31
Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 02:46 am, by: Peter Nitschke(Pen)
It's possible to have a head gasket leak exhaust gas into the cooling channels but not pull coolant in.
Start with the engine cool and let it idle while watching for bubbles in the radiator. Most garages will have a test kit they use to detect exhaust gas in the radiator.
Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 05:49 am, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
Sorry to hear your next problem Jack, White is coolant ,check as Peter says , exhausts are joined after extractors and then split back to two tails ,so both will steam even though one bank is faulty. let us know how you go.
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