2004 Lexus rx 330 3.3 2wd
So...
last week I was driving down the highway and the engine started to make a strange sound. It made me think the wind was coming against me really hard but corresponded to increase and decrease in throttle. I went to move to the side of the road to check it out when the engine died. I turned off the engine and noticed a bunch of white smoke/steam coming out of the engine. Tried to crank the engine again but would not crank.

Went back and read codes for it and found a few mostly low input on some sensors.

We traced some things and figured the timing belt had gone wrong. We found some spark plugs in the front with oil in the pits. We think the gasket seals there had gone bad. So we replaced those and the seals. Later jn the process we noticed that the waterpump and ejected all the water and had gone bad. Spent 4 days changing the waterpump and timing belt. Went to crank and nothing. It struggles and struggles but never catches.

So we went back to the notes and codes and saw the mass airflow sensor listed. Tracked one down and put it in. Still no start.

We are not sure where to go from here. Anyone ever had any of this?
Crazy to think all these things were going wrong at the same time


HELP PLEASE!

 

well i do know if the timing belt went bad; then that could mean stuff like bent heads, bent valves etc which unfortunately sounds like it could emphasis on could; be the end for this engine. Whenever a timing belt snaps or goes bad like that; it usually means game over and either a complete rebuild of the engine or entire engine replacement. Especially if you have already tried a lot of simpler things.

 

also; if the water pump did go bad like you did mention; it could have overheated the engine which in turn can lead to warped heads and or valves; a trip to a machine shop possibly to have the heads re milled; or entire engine replacement as i mentioned above.

 

Well actually we were lucky. The timing belt actually wasn't broken or off. It was deteriorated a bit so it was good to replace it but not likely to have been the issue

 

well thats good news then. Sounds like you dodged a huge bullet there. However if the water pump did go bad and u did see steam/smoke; that could very well have been a overheat situation in which u still might have to have the heads and valves inspected. That can be bad news if it overheated.

 

Any way you can check compression on the cylinders? Did you end up changing the plugs too alongside the gaskets?

For a MAF sensor code, a trick just to see if the engine will run (it will be rough) is to leave it disconnected completely and let the ECU use a base table. Again this is to test to make sure the engine will crank and run, it is not good to run your car with the MAF sensor disconnected.

 

Honestly were thinking it may be related to the fuel pump but we can't figure out how to test if its getting power. Any recommendations. We've looked around at everything and it doesn't seem to have messed up the valves and heads and things. Its not clunking or locking up. Just won't catch the start

 

Not really, yeah we did replace the plugs too. We did go-ahead and replace the mass airflow last night

 

+1 on compression test, given overheat concern, however to answer fuel pump question:

Fuel pump under rear seats(in the tank itself), remove the rear seats, pull up carpet, then put a voltmeter on the electrical connection there. You can also measure fuel pump resistance, but before you do all that:

1) let car sit for a while
2) Remove gas cap , put your ear to the opening, have someone turn on ignition, which should cause fuel pump to start.

The fuel pump is very quite, and this is only way to hear it if it is working

You can get a fuel pressure sensing kit for $40 or so, and tap into the fuel line under the hood to test pressure, there are quick release connections from frame to engine.

 

Well we looked and realized we weren't getting the fuel pump to turn on. We went and replaced the efi relay and went from there. We tried to hook up a new fuel pump thinking that was it but it won't turn on either.
is there any connections between the efi and the fuel pump I should check like the ecu or anything like that. Or are there any other reasons the fuel pump might not be getting power