Diagnosed At Another Shop, Then Towed To Me. What's this Toyota's Problem?

hey good morning everyone how's it going today so what am I working on now well I got a Toyota RAV4 got towed into me at the end of last week we're just getting to it now customer says need to fuel pump won't start okay well my question is how do you know it needs a fuel pump don't tell me that just say it won't start I don't care what you think it is I want to know I want to diagnose it myself so I've always been because anytime I listen to somebody it could be another technician I I want to know for sure it has to be somebody that I really trust in order to go with what they say and there's a few of them out there that I know that I absolutely trust what they have to tell me but not for nothing I want to know for sure myself before I put my name on fixing a vehicle anyway so here's the car here I'm just getting into it now I haven't done anything yet I just I'm sitting in it I put the key in the ignition and as you can see windows are all messed it up and whatnot so let's start up see what we got [Music] oh there it started hold on [Music] okay it's not a fuel pump I know exactly what that is the car has 173 000 370. and I've seen this before on Toyotas more prevalent on Toyotas than anything else and I don't know why it is the it's got a check engine lights I'm going to scan that what I found every time when I got a situation like that the smoke you saw it on a tailpipe is because it was flooded why did it flood okay every time I've seen this for some reason we've had these temperature swings where it's nice and warm in the afternoon and then it's not cold but it's cool enough to where you need a jacket you know like mid 30s I'd say overnight and then you go to start the car cold and if the people didn't leave the car running long enough to warm up like let's say they just got in it drove across the street came back and parked it this that seems to be the ideal time when this happens the engine will actually flood on the next startup now usually what I found in situations like that is really it just needs a tune-up that's it that's all it needs uh usually spark plugs are a bit worn out air filter might be a bit dirty mass air sensor might be a bit dirty throttle body could be a bit dirty so I think this is going to be an ideal time to show you how to clean a mass air meter and how to clean a throttle body because I'm pretty confident that's what it's going to be so let me actually parking lot is absolutely jammed up with cars so I'm going to pull this thing around and I'm going to back it into the shop and what we're gonna do is because I want to give this thing a once over what we're going to do is we're going to give this thing a tune-up most likely but I want to pull a plug out and stuff like that I want to just look at it and see what it looks like but that smoke that you saw there that's because it was flooded out but I want to check the check engine light too because we've got a check engine light we have a VSC light we have a traction control light all that could be because of the check engine light and depending on the code certain engine codes can throw trash control and VSC light on on Toyotas and other makes too so just so you're aware it can actually on certain Vehicles could throw ABS it's it's amazing all the different codes it can throw or different lights it could throw just because of one engine code it depends on what the failure code is deemed as um it's it's not I don't say importance level it's a wrong word um it's basically how how important is the code how detrimental is it to the car that this code is set you know how much uh how much of an issue can this be if it's high on the scale like whoa we got to fix this now it could throw you know a whole bunch of lights on you know for for that one thing so let's get this in Let's scan it for codes and we're going to be doing a tune-up all right so it's an 08 and I got the scanner hooked up now I haven't done anything yet let's go ahead and scan it and see what we got on so we're gonna do a code scanner we're just gonna see what we got cylinders one and two misfire random misfire I I knew that much and that's usually what the problem is see how it kicks back so it's kind of not even worth I'm just going to wait until it's finished you can see the green line up there showing me progress we're 36 percent so let me pause this for right now while we're going through this all right so it finished up so we got random misfire one two random one two random one two that's pretty much what everything's seen all right so what we're gonna do I'm not concerned about any of that all right so what I'm going to do is I'm going to pull the it's got a cover going over the engine let me show you that because what we're going to do is we're going to pull that actually I got people out here talking so I don't know if I want to show you that just yet but it's just a plastic cover two screws it comes off and that's where you can see the coil packs and everything else so I'm going to start taking that stuff apart and go from there I want to take a look at the air cleaner but we're going to clean the mass air meter the throttle body we're going to change the plugs and if it needs an air filter we're going to put an air filter in it um maybe put a PCV in it also so let's take a look and see what we got so here we go underneath the hood here's the mass air meter it's held in with two Phillips head screws on this and the throttle body's down there we're going to take this air hose off one thing you also want to check too is when you take this off be sure the Bellows here aren't cracked if you have a vehicle with mass air you got to worry about that if this thing's cracked you need to replace it because it can affect the reading if you don't have a Mass Air car it's really not going to affect anything other than you're going to have unfiltered air going in so let's go ahead and let's get this upper cover off and let's take a look at the air filter on that so there I got the cover off and as you can see those are actually Four replacement coils I don't think I got a coil issue because once it started it ran fine it just blew smoke out the tailpipe so I'm going to pull the coils out and we're going to clean up I know pull the coils out pull the plugs out I'm going to clean the mass air meter I already did the clamp here I undid the clamp I should have said and here the air box comes out look at that somebody did change the air filter so somebody must have tuned this up so now at some point I mean it hasn't been that recent look at all the leaves and debris in there so we're going to clean this out I'm going to take this hose off and as you see it's got a clamp down there and let's look at that throttle body all right so we pop the coils out it's gonna sit in there here's the plugs these things weren't changed all that recently they have been changed but see the uh the carbon marking down there could be from combustion uh compression whatever blowing past just slightly over time because really all this is is a pressed and fit and crimped down but yeah the plug the plug is a bit worn as you can see I don't know if these heat if the heat range is correct on these two I'd have to find out so I'm going to ask when I call for the parts but we're going to do plugs we're going to do a PCV and we're going to do a throttle body cleaning and a mass air cleaning too and I'm just going to get the leaves out of the air box we're gonna leave that air filter alone so let's get that going and once I get the parts here I'll show you everything all right so here's the mass air meter and it's an original denzo I took the screws out now this thing should just pop straight up like that I could have probably sprayed it in there because you know it's sticking down right here but I'd rather do it in my hand here now there's the filaments never ever ever take a Q-tip a rag a brush or anything like that to this that should be the temperature sensor if I'm not mistaken I can't even focus on it yeah and those should be the actual mass air sensors inside there but basically all you're going to do is take cutie electric cleaner electronic cleaner you can even take um they sell mass air flow sensor cleaner you can even take that but let me come over here because I got to do this one-handed and what we're going to do so I'm just going to lay this down on the back of this wrecked pickup truck and you're just going to liberally spray everything like I said don't touch it with anything that's it what you're gonna do so now set this off to the side you can even reinstall it I like to let it dry as you can see that stuff dries pretty darn quick so what we're going to do is we're going to get this back in place and then we're going to clean the throttle body now on the throttle body what you're going to do is you're going to take something like this I prefer carbon choke cleaner I think it works better and what you're going to do is you're just going to liberally spray it now yes this will flood the motor out a little bit now you're going to spray that and then usually what I do is I either take an old toothbrush I keep these in my toolbox whenever I I'm done using them when they're worn out and you're going to go in there and you're going to scrub it it's kind of hard I don't have a way to actually show you this now you can pop the blade open with your finger like so you can get wide open too now if you're going to prop it open you're going to want to use a piece of wood or a piece of plastic don't use a steel like screwdriver or something like that use something like this and prop it open because you're going to want to get in there and you're going to want to scrub around the butterfly and around the body basically you're going to take the brush and you're going to go like this all the way around and then you're going to go along the blade itself so let's see if I can't do this there's no way for me to prop this up though unfortunately he said I can think of so this is the best angle I can get on that I have my tripod propped up so now what I'm gonna do I'm actually going to pop the throttle blade open like this and I think this thing has a heater element down below or it might just have a diverter I'm going to just do this to hold the blade open like such now I'm going to spray the head of the toothbrush or the bristles of the toothbrush rally I'm going to try to get some down in there and you're just going to do like such you can see getting the varnish off or the carbon buildup or the cook whatever you want to call it and basically this is what you're going to do it's a little tricky too because I got the camera in my way but I just wanted to show you that so now you got the general idea and there you go throttle body is nice and clean so we're gonna leave it at that now the motor will be flooded slightly when I go to start it that's from the carburetor cleaner going down in a hole there so that's to be expected so now we are going to replace the PCV valve and then we have some Oe Denso plugs the ngks are not the OES although it is the right part number I did check on that I always like to use an OE style plug if I can these are the OE Replacements so that's what we're going with the I've seen it in the past where you use like um I think oh okay well in my Chevy I'm going to use a set of ngks or in my Dodge I'm gonna use a set of ngks and then all of a sudden you wind up with a it doesn't run quite right you wind up with some kind of a misfire or something like that and it's because of the plug believe it or not couldn't tell you why the first time I ever found this was back in the 80s when I was really just starting out we had a newer Corvette at the time that came in that the guy wanted to tune up we tuned up and ran terribly when we were done the guy I didn't do it another guy he had put us at a Champion spark plugs in it and one of the guys there said no no you need to put AC delcos in there so you put AC delcos in there and then around fine it ran great when it was done it was just like it like lost performance and stuff like that it's like it just wasn't right and it was because of the spark plugs couldn't tell you why you would just think that it would work but it doesn't so we're going to change this PCB valve we're going to put these plugs in and then we're going to start this up PCB is super simple basically you just take this little squeezy clamp and you want to push it back and get this hose off of there I can't do it one-handed but you get the general idea basically you're going to move this clamp and then you're going to get that hose off of there as you can see the hose is moving with the hose out of the way I'm gonna take a 7 8 or a 22 millimeter and you're gonna crack that free get that out of there as you can see it is a little mugged up with stuff but that's all right I mean I'm just I'm replacing it anyway sometimes I'll clean them out it really depends this one I mean you can shake it you can feel it because it's a spring-loaded valve in there basically it's a basically like a metered um it creates vacuum that pulls into the intake there you can actually see it moving as I there see it creates an internal vacuum leak technically but it's a metered vacuum leak the new one it does the same thing so but you never know that thing might not have been sealing correctly when it wasn't supposed to be doing what it was doing so but let's get this installed and get the hose back on let's get the plugs in there are two schools of thought when it comes to anti-seize yes and no on spark plugs I say yes I use just a light dab a little tiny you don't have to do any more than that it gets into threads that's all you need I've seen people slobber them on there and supposedly I've never seen it but supposedly it can create a misfire Because the actual outside of the spark plug is not grounded because of too much anti-seize I've never seen that I've heard people say it but I actually don't believe it so anyway if you're going to use anti-seize just use a light light amount as you can see there's hardly anything on there but I supposedly new spark plugs or at least since I forgot what year they started putting a coating built into the threads and it supposedly helps keep them from seizing in place you know what I'd rather not take a chance I don't want them seizing in place so let's get these plugs in oh the other thing iridium spark plugs any type of spark plug that has a iridium tip a platinum tip um Palladium tip or whatever do not stick a gapper in there eyeball it you could put a gapper in just to check the Gap like as soon as it touches stop this way you know what the Gap is but look at the Gap if the Gap looks correct then leave it alone putting a gapper in there can actually ruin the spark plug you can actually create a misfire because if you use the gapper to create the gap by rubbing it in between the two between the grounding strap and the actual Center electrode you can actually wipe away the Iridium tip or you know scratch it or whatever and it can create a misfire I've seen it so and if you ever watch Richard holdner I think it is he did a test with spark plug gaps and dyno test actual dyno test and on a naturally aspirated engine like most engines uh it makes next to no difference where you set the Gap I mean obviously once you get too close it makes a difference but once you get too wide it makes a difference but if you're talking if you're going you know 40 to 60 thousands you'll never ever ever ever notice a difference and it made almost no difference on a Dyno now if you're dealing with a turbo car it's a little more uh precise you got to be a little more careful you got to know what you're looking at so if you've got a turbo car or something like that obviously if you have a race car you're going to do something different if you have a race car with nitrous you're never going to use this type of plug you're going to use an old conventional style plug um but yeah so just something to keep in mind don't stick a gapper in there you can create a problem these spark plugs have a crush washer as you can see and here again when it comes to tightening stuff up if you're not going if you're not gonna put a torque wrench on it do it the right way you're going to feel crushed you'll feel this bottom out once you drop the spark plug down in place don't just drop the spark plug in the hole and then put the socket on top that I've seen people do that put this put the spark plug in using the socket spark plugs going in now and now I'm threading it down by hand obviously and then you'll feel it bottom out now the nice thing about using a touch of anti-seize on air too is it makes it smooth going in because sometimes it's not smooth now when I go to tighten this up and of course I put my tripod away I'm gonna go to tighten this up see here it should be about three quarters of a turn of the gasket crushing quarter about a half that's it that's about three well not quite three quarters but now the spark plug just stopped that means the gas gets crushed just go a little bit more you don't have to go bananas you don't have to sit there and tighten it up so let me do the rest of these and that'll be perfectly fine I already bottomed these out so one quarter one half and I could feel the gasket starting to flatten out so there it is it's tight so there tighten up you don't have to go any more than that it's just about three quarters of a turn in total to crush the gasket and get the plug tight if you don't have a gasket it's the type that just fully seats on its own like with a taper fit and you're not going to torque them there again you don't have to be an animal tightening them up just get them tight and just go like a little snug and that's it don't go any more than that you don't think with bananas you don't have to have like a three foot long breaker bar on there to tighten up a spark plug all right so let's get this together let's get everything back together and then let's run this down all right so roll together let's close the hood down and then let's start this thing up I just closed the hood always make sure your Hood's secure so this way you didn't like because sometimes the latch could get partially seized up underneath there and it didn't release fully so this way it doesn't fully or it didn't unrelease fully so this way it doesn't latch you don't want to go down the road have a hood fly open on you so let's come inside here what we're gonna do is we're going to start it up first and like I said this thing will be partially flooded that's normal so now it should calm down you may even have residuals sitting in the belly of the intake manifolds the intake manifold hangs low and it has like a belly in it and what happened to some of the fluid from the carburetor cleaner will sit there and as the RPMs go up as you drive down the road it may get sucked through so you may create a slight misfire then it happens it's kind of rare but it does happen so now just going to shut it down I'm going to come back to here I'm going to clear all codes okay oh I just erased it twice didn't mean to do that but okay so now let's just gonna leave it there so now I don't want the cable to be down around my feet just in case rather have it hanging off over top cycle key off back on [Music] all right so let's dig over for a road test all right guys so I just went on my road test everything's fine runs great I'm confident that's what the problem was not a fuel pump like the customer said it was that's why like I said I just I never go off what somebody else says I want to verify before I start changing parts I got the scanner still on it and I got no pending codes so that means there's no codes anywhere no I'm good with that so so with that you learned how to clean a throttle body the right way you learned how to clean a mass air sensor in the frame filter mass air sensor the right way I'm going to install spark plugs the right way and change PC valve which also learned you know why this thing wouldn't start like I said there's some I've seen it many times and for some reason it seems to be prevalent on Toyotas where like I said you started and it's like the temperatures it's it's always like the temperature between like 32 and like 45 and you start it but you don't leave it running for a very long time and it's like still in like cold run mode and then you shut it down and you let it sit for a while and then like say maybe even the next day you try to start it and it's still in that temperature range and now all of a sudden the darn thing floods out I I've seen it I've seen it many times so anyway but that's about it so hopefully I got something on my video that video my videos all right guys if you're getting something out of them hit that like button if you could please 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Channel: Wrenching With Kenny

Views: 235,751

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Id: vDde78ELYEg

Length: 23min 3sec (1383 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 01 2023