Anyone have a diagnosis for me on this?

[rojo412]

So I just recently got an ES250 with mystery mileage and no clue on what exactly was going on in this car's life. I put some love its way, cleaned it up, changed brakes, flushed coolant system, valve cover gasket, tuneup, etc. It was running like a top, like a Toyota should...

Then two days ago, after having basically no issues at all, I am getting hesitation when I shift gears and try to accelerate. I had only had the car on for about 2 minutes, but started just fine. Thought not too much of it, drove to work, no big thing. Afterwards, it was doing it again, 2 minutes fine, then badness...

Yesterday, it stalled out on me. Had to rev the crap out of it to make sure it would go. Checked all plugs, looked for undone vacuum lines, etc... nothing. The gas seemed a bit low, so I filled up, to the top, premium. Thought "maybe it was just needing some gas. Maybe the pump's a little weak. Maybe it has a spot of old gas in there, who knows?!?!"

I'm at a loss. What could cause these symptoms and what can I do to fix it? Help?! PLEASE!

[Doctor J]

check the large hose between air flow meter and throttle body for air leaks [cracks between the bellows]
during gear shift the engine rocks therefore, the cracks may ge t open during this time but close during the idling or crusing

[PaulyJay]

i reckon doc has hit the nail on the head there ol boy, my cam was doing the same thing as yours and after inspection of the intake piping i found that it had a major leak. bit of tape fixed it for the short term til i got a new one from the local wreckers.

[rojo412]

Okay, so here's the curveball, which is new upon my latest inspection...

There is a lot of coolant leaking. What I can see is that it appears at the thermostat, but since it's just a mess of stuff to get out of there, I'm going to do the water pump, timing belt, and thermostat all together.

Would the previous symptoms be indicative of a lack of coolant? Does this engine have some sort of fail safe or something to prevent over revving, in the case of little or no coolant?

And how tough is it to do that? It seems like taking the alternator out would make this a lot easier. I looked up the howto in the search, but it has been removed.

[1883atlantics]

Originally Posted by rojo412

Okay, so here's the curveball, which is new upon my latest inspection...

There is a lot of coolant leaking. What I can see is that it appears at the thermostat, but since it's just a mess of stuff to get out of there, I'm going to do the water pump, timing belt, and thermostat all together.

Would the previous symptoms be indicative of a lack of coolant? Does this engine have some sort of fail safe or something to prevent over revving, in the case of little or no coolant?

And how tough is it to do that? It seems like taking the alternator out would make this a lot easier. I looked up the howto in the search, but it has been removed.

Don't know abut the fail safe measures you asked about. The TB, WP, thermostat is not a quick job on the 2vz-fe unless you are quite handy with the tools (thermostat alone isn't that bad). Speaking of tools, air tools help a lot. And the factory manual. There was a link on here a while back to the factory manuals. Cruise control has to come out that's a given. Alternator as well, if I remember correctly. Also it's much easier if you take out the RH-engine stay. But, like I said, the factory manual will walk you through it.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
1990 Le Sedan, AT, FWD
2vz-fe
141k miles, failed emissions, in for repairs ugh.

[PaulyJay]

i may still have manuals on cd if you want them. email me at pjruse@gmail.com and i'll send em to you. snail mail that is.

[rojo412]

I've got the manual somewhere. Plus, I'm taking the car to my buddy's shop and he's gonna help me with it. We both have Monday off, so that's when it's getting done. The car is just leaking like a siv (civ?). I should try to remember to snap pics, so I can make a DIY thread on here.