[N10S]

Just wanted to check siignals with some toyota experts regarding a situation I have with our 2001 Sequoia. We had our first timing belt replacement at 97K and now have 146k on the vehicle/engine so right around 49k on this new belt. This morning during start-up the engine turned-over like it was going to start and then made some weird noises (sort of like a high-speed fluttering. My wife tried to re-start it again and its dead as a door-nail. Serpentine belt is in place, the starter turns the crank but the engine will not fire. Being a wrench most of my life since age 15, I think the timing belt broke. I can check my compression to see if indeed this is the case I suppose, but there aren't many other logical causes. Better to happen at rest during start-up I suppose, but I am still concerned about possible damage due to piston valve collision. What really ticks me off is that I don't even have 50k on this timing belt replaced at the high-dollar toyota dealer, and these are a 90k item iirc. At any rate, just wondered if anyone else has had a timing belt go like this, especially within the service interval. If it is the timing belt, I may try and pursue resolution through the dealer although I am sure they will try to snake out of any accountability.

The worst thing is that I am not sure that if I have to pay the cost for the new belt, water pump, potential valves/headwork and labor that it will be worth sinking those kinds of dollars and effort into an engine with 146k miles on it. I know you can buy a "new" crate engine from Toyota for around $13-14k, but thats way north of what a crate engine should cost considering what domestic crate engines cost. Maybe theres a conversion kit to install a chevy v8 into a Sequioia? Obviously a lot of room so thats not an issue. I know those used to be very popular back in the day when I was an FJ40 owner.

Arghh...I told the wife repeatedly over the past 2 years that we should get rid of the vehicle as it gains mileage and she wouldn't have it. Now here we go.....$$$$

 

[Johnny_5]

That sounds like what happened to this one:
http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/1gen-tundra/186297-my-2005-tundras-engine-dead-v8/

 

[N10S]

Thanks for the link to that other thread. My engine still turns over and isn't locked-up like it sounds the other one might have been. Still, I would guess that it is the timing belt, and that if so the valve train has probably incurred some damage of some sort as the result. I will discuss with the dealership tomorrow, but I don't hold any confidence that there is any magic low-cost resolution available. The best part of that link you provided is that there is a reference to a used 4.7 l engine at a small salvage yard and unbelievably its located only about 45 miles from my house, so thats the path I am going to go down at this point. I will make darned sure I have a new belt in that engine before its installed though thats for certain.


Jeff

 

[DJ]

Believe it or not, it is possible to flood an IForce V8. Been there, done that.

I had the same thing happen to my '00 Tundra, not long after I bought it in '00. I called the dealership service department and asked for advice. I was told three things:

1) It is not a broken timing belt. This is an interference engine, so if the timing belt breaks, then the engine seizes due to the pistons hitting the valves. It turns freely, and actually sounds like there is no compression, thus the timing belt is not broken.

2) It is possible to flood the IForce V8, and my description is what it sounds like when that happens.

3) The cure is to treat like you would a flooded engine that had a carburetor. Just hold the gas pedal all the way to the floor and crank it until it starts.

It worked like magic. Go thou and give it a try.

 

[N10S]

Believe it or not, it is possible to flood an IForce V8. Been there, done that.

I had the same thing happen to my '00 Tundra, not long after I bought it in '00. I called the dealership service department and asked for advice. I was told three things:

1) It is not a broken timing belt. This is an interference engine, so if the timing belt breaks, then the engine seizes due to the pistons hitting the valves. It turns freely, and actually sounds like there is no compression, thus the timing belt is not broken.

2) It is possible to flood the IForce V8, and my description is what it sounds like when that happens.

3) The cure is to treat like you would a flooded engine that had a carburetor. Just hold the gas pedal all the way to the floor and crank it until it starts.


It worked like magic. Go thou and give it a try.

When I talked with the service manager today he asked me if I had any very short duration periods where I started the vehicle and then immediately shut it off. I initially said no, but then realized that on Saturday, while replacing the rear hatch latch handle, I asked my wife to start the vehicle and move it forward about a foot so I could pop the hatch open in the garage to work on it inside. He said the same thing about flooding the engine, and asked me to treat it like a good old carb engine tonight as you mentioned and just hold the pedal to the floor while cranking. The fact that the engine is not locked-up hopefully is a good sign that this might indeed be the issue. I used to have to be very careful with my Mazda R* rotary to always make sure it was fully wrmed-up before shutting off the car, otherwise it would flood. Well if this is indeed the case its the first time I have run across it since buying the vehicle new in 2001. I hope thats it, and will report back to let you guys know.

Thanks again for the confirming info.

Jeff

 

[N10S]

When I got home tonight I tried the pedal to the floor approach. It tried tried to start but wouldnt. After a couple of tries and totally filling my open garage with gas smoke I had to stop. I went and purchased a new set of plugs and installed them. The others were gas soaked. After that I tried again without the pedal down. I could tell it really wanted to start now but wouldnt until I held the pedal down. Once I finally got it running it took a bit to clear the engine and then all was good.

Man...what a relief! Thinking I was headed for a major cost and down time, to driving the vehicle tonight was a huge relief. As far as the flooding, I have had this vehicle for almost 9 years and never had anything happen like this. Actually I cant recall ever having a vehicle flood like this so easily, but I guess the circumstances were right and i broke the cardinal rule of not letting the vehicle warm up correctly. Thanks again for all of the helpful info folks!

 

[thumbster]

Glad to hear you got it running again!

If your spark plugs were already on the edge, they were likely the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[DJ]

That's great news, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than a new engine!

 

[Lunas]

If you ever get into that situation again timing belt is easy to get eyes on just remove the cover from the crank pully then you can see it if it broke...