engine won't start after Timing belt install

audiness

audiness

Senior Member
So I watched several tutorials on the timing belt job, and also had the Toyota factory service manual by my side during the job. I bought the "aircabman" ebay kit which supposedly had all OEM parts. I did the job and everything seemed to go well. I was extremely careful not to allow the cam gears to move during the belt installation. The timing marks on the new belt lined up perfectly with the marks on my gears. I spun the motor by hand clockwise several times before reassembling everything to ensure all looked good, and it did.

When I went to start it up, it fired up right away, then slowing dropped RPMs and died after 5-7 seconds. I cannot get it to start again, it just cranks. It could be just my imagination, but it sounds like it's struggling to crank/harder to crank. I took everything back apart again (without actually removing the T-belt) to check the timing marks, and all still looks correct and like it did before. When I spin the motor by hand w/ a 19mm ratchet, it seems to turn freely and smoothly.

I cannot figure out for the life of me what could be wrong!? Could my timing be off? The marks seem to line up exactly like they did before.

I am at my wits end, I have combed over the motor for hours looking for any missed connectors, hoses, etc - but I cannot find anything. What are the symptoms of timing being off ?
 

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Nice and clean. I am with [MENTION=44978]kball[/MENTION] on this one, though if the crank was unplugged, it wouldn't have started (don't ask how I know this).

I'd first start with asking if you are getting spark? It sounds like you aren't getting any fuel pressure though...
 
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Thanks for the replies guys. It seems like the engine is not getting spark. I pulled a plug and did smell fuel on it. I did check the Crank and cam sensor- I even did the FSM test on them for cold esistance, and they both passed. I the MAF is plugged in, but I did not test it. I will do that.

One thing that i am thinking it might be - I did pressure wash my engine bay once everything was all apart - i am wondering if I got the igniter or some other thing wet? That was several days ago - maybe a week ago, and everything has since dried out. I will try to test as many ignition system components as i can. I really don't feel like taking the timing belt off again.
 
From your pics it looks to me like your timing should be fine. Even if it was off a tooth it should still run. Make sure the wiring on those sensors is okay and nothing got pulled out or is frayed.

You didn't unbolt that ground on the diag port for anything did you?
 
I had the same problem. Everything would look totally lined up and it wouldn’t start. I spent two days trying to figure it out. As soon as I would crank it, everything would move and not be aligned anymore. I finally had to pay a mechanic we know $100 to look at it. I don’t know what he did except realign it. But it started first thing
 
The timing looks correct to me as well.

But the symptoms sound eerily similar to something I did with my old VR6 Jetta. I took the head off to replace the headgasket. Then put it back together using a small window in the bellhousing to locate TDC via rotating it until an indicator on the pressure plate lined up. Then installed the chain and tensioner, buttoned everything else back up.

And on the very first try, it cranked about 1 second and fired right up, running smoothly. And then within about 5 seconds it began to lose power, faded, slowly died even with the pedal down.

And that was the last sign of life it showed for about a week. It would, at times, *almost* start, you could hear it racing slightly ahead of the starter, but it would die again. This happened with the first round of 'diagnosing' I'd do each evening. then nothing. Tried starter fluid, verified spark, fuel, etc.

I took the valve cover off again (which is a PITA on a VR6 since the intake wraps over it) and re-verified the cam timing, found the pointer in the bellhousing window, checked the cams, spot on.

Finally, I pulled a bunch of plastic stuff off the passenger side footwell so I could verify TDC using a second set of marks on the pulley. Lined up those marks to TDC, looked in the window, there's the indicator. No dice? Well, I checked the cam timing again, and they were OFF! WTF?? I turned the engine to line the cams up, and to my abject horror/shame/facepalm, I saw one indicator rotate away and another one rotate into view. OMG, I'm such an idiot.

In retrosopect, the 'real' indicator was *slightly* pointier than the 'fake' indicator. But it was close enough that the motor, with flat, empty hydraulic lifters, could start and run. But once the lifters pumped up it stopped moving air and stopped running. Occasionally, I'd let it sit long enough for the lifters to leak down a little, and it would almost start again until they pumped up again. And that brief period of perfectly fine running had left me hamstrung in my troubleshooting, since I assumed too much was correct for it to run like that, when it wasn't.

I think a compression test would have shown severe issues right off the bat, but because it ran I assumed there wasn't a problem.
 
If you spray ether in the intake and it runs its a fuel delivery. But you saying you have no spark and pressure washed everything. Pressure washing usually puts water where it shouldn't be. The highest pressure I use in the engine bay is the shower setting and use a squirt bottle to soak and soap up a warm engine. Then use shower setting to rinse it off.


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audiness said:
One thing that i am thinking it might be - I did pressure wash my engine bay once everything was all apart - i am wondering if I got the igniter or some other thing wet? That was several days ago - maybe a week ago, and everything has since dried out. I will try to test as many ignition system components as i can. I really don't feel like taking the timing belt off again.
Click to expand...

I've done this before, did you get water in the spark plug tubes (yep did that after power washing)?

-J
 
where is the reference mark on the crank gear?

it looks like its at the 3:00 position, but the timing mark is more like 12:00.

I see the white mark on the tone ring, is that covering a dimple? if so, what is the white mark on the crank gear itself?
 
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Pull the connectors off the cam, crank, ICM, MAF, and the PCM's engine temp sensor and dry them with compressed air, or a electrical parts cleaner etc.....and make sure the spark plug tubes are not full of water.

When you crank it in a no start condition does your tach needle bounce up and down? On the Grand Cherokee no needle bounce on a crank and no start points to a crank sensor or dead PCM.....


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On the 22REs, you had to prop open the door on the MAF to fool the computer into thinking air was moving and thus energize the fuel pump if you had the snorkel off.

I'm not 100% sure on the 5VZ, and I just did my own TB like a week ago, but it sounds like the fuel pump/ignition isn't getting the signal to energize.
 
Should be able to jumper fuel pump at Diag box FP to B+
How about ground wires (brown) on drivers side of intake??
 
Thank you, thank you for the replies everyone. I think i found out what I needed to find out.

1. I don't think my timing is off, and even if it somehow was off by 1 tooth, the truck would probably still start. All the marks still line up, and i was extremely careful to make sure nothing moved doing the install.

2. I have performed the FSM tests on the MAF, Cam sensor, and Crank sensor. All have passed tests.

3. I have combed all over looking for any missing connectors, grounds, etc. I don't think i have missed anything.

4. I still think its ignition, so I have ordered a new (used) igniter , should be here soon. I think water must have gotten into it during the pressure washing.

5. If the igniter still doesn't resolve the problem, I will then start troubleshooting the fuel system.
 
audiness said:
Thank you, thank you for the replies everyone. I think i found out what I needed to find out.


5. If the igniter still doesn't resolve the problem, I will then start troubleshooting the fuel system.
Click to expand...


You said you don't have spark. So it's got to be ICM or what tells it to spark. Unless there is a main relay that energizes fuel and ICM together.


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