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1kz-te shutting down by itself! (engine failure) Help....

MZ_prado

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1kz-te shutting down by itself! (engine failure?) Help....

Hi there.

After running my spouse's KZJ71 M/T 1kz-te 3000cc engine for a couple of minutes, being it in the morning or any other time of the day (as long as it asent been runed any time before of the day), the engine shuts down by itself. All panel light and front lights won't be affected. First the check engine light comes slowly on, till it's fully on, then the engine shuts down. It will start on easily immediately afterwards with a turn of the key. Then it will die again. This will go on for several times, until the engine gets hot. Until then, the check engine light will gradually light up less intensively, and eventually will stop coming on, and the engine will stop shutting down. Also, wille driving, before it stops shutting down, the check engine light will be less or more bright according to higher or lower revs respectively. Even on idle it will die before getting hot.

Check engine diagnosis says there are no stored error codes!

What a mystery. What could it be? Can someone please help me?

Many thanks.
Cheers,
 
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The 1kz-te in my collie has a diagnostic port and if the engine light recognizes the fault so should a diagnostic machine so i would take it to be plugged in to save time .
 
May be fuel related, new filter would be my 1st port of call. Another issue may be immobiliser related if you have one fitted.
 
Thanks for the suggestion Shayne. I've done the diagnosis. It indicates normal; there are no stored error codes. That puzzles me because before the engine shuts down the light comes up! Yet, no error code on the diagnostic machine!
 
May be fuel related, new filter would be my 1st port of call. Another issue may be immobiliser related if you have one fitted.

Hi kamaangir. No immobilizer or alarm installed. I've changed the diesel filter to no vail. If it would be related to the filter, the car would jam/lose power/shriver before shutting down, and would have problems starting up again. Which is not the case. As soon as it dies, I'll turn the key off, that turn to start and it will start immediately...
 
Perhaps check the wiring to the cut off solenoid from the ignition switch?
 
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Hi Julian T. I've sort of done that already. While with the engine running, I've unplugged the terminal that wires the fuel cut solenoid on the injection pump. The engine immediately stopped and I had an error 24 reading code, and while the wire was disconnected, the engine would not start :(
I suppose we can consider the solenoid to be OK!

Also, the symptoms are almost always:
(1) start car at any time of the day without having had it running before during that day,
(2) engine starts promptly and runs (driving or idling) for a couple of minutes
(3) after some time, check engine light will start to glow progressively more intensively, on full brightness engine shuts down, all indicators+light are not afected
(4) turn key of, turn key on, engine starts promptly,
(5) again it will shut down some time afterwards. Time will vary, sometimes will shutdown earlier, sometimes later
(6) after (trying) to drive for a bit, with engine hot, on next cut off leave engine switched off for a while then start again and engine will normally run until the end of the day, even if I turn it off and leave it alone for many hours
(7) wile driving, with acceleration check engine will light up brighter as revs go up till full bright and cut off
(8) no error read by diagnosis machine
(9) on rare occasions there will be no problems whatsoever since first run till the end of the day
 
Perhaps the timing belt is slipping ?

Yet again I've got serious doubts it could be it. According to "http://www.youngsgarage.uk.com/timing_belts_facts_and_myths.htm"

A stretched timing chain (or worn gears) will affect both valve and ignition timing. If the wear is severe and the chain (or a belt) jumps timing, the engine may run rough and/or possibly backfire, or it may not run at all. By the same token, if someone makes a mistake when assembling the engine and gets the timing off a tooth or more, the engine may start but won't run well because of advanced or retarded cam timing. The same can happen with pressed on timing gears that are not properly aligned and OHC timing belts. If the timing is off by more than two teeth (the equivalent of eight or more degrees, depending on the application), the engine may not start or run. A broken chain (or belt) would not allow the engine to start at all, and may result in valve damage if there is not enough clearance between the valves and pistons.

I've got none of those!
 
Do get a hissing sound if you open the fuel filler cap? It may be blocked and it is causing a vacuum. Engine runs till the fuel runs out in the filter. I would also check the fuel pickup if its easy to get to. Mine on my surf is a major faf as it involves dropping the tank.

Another thing to do is undo the fuel hose coming into the filter head and blow down it, you should hear it bubbling in the tank.
Next time when you get your engine running look at the fuel primer hand pump, if its completely pressed flat it shows restriction in the fuel system.

I appreciate it may not be fuel related at all, but when I do fault finding I start at the simple stuff and work methodically. Cranking over with injector lines loosened and checking for fuel at injectors before moving to the next one will also eliminate any fuel issues.

Good luck!
 
Does the engine warning light glow when you run out of fuel ? seems unlikely to me though i could be wrong but if it doesn't then would that not more or less rule out fueling problems ? The chain or belt hasn't broken or the truck wouldn't run at all but if the tensioner is on its way out it would explain intermittent problems because misfiring upsets compression and fueling and god knows what else - the sort of thing that would trigger a warning light . I'm no mechanic but i'm sure theres plenty of folk on here qualified to say if its a possibility or not .
 
Do get a hissing sound if you open the fuel filler cap? It may be blocked and it is causing a vacuum. Engine runs till the fuel runs out in the filter. I would also check the fuel pickup if its easy to get to. Mine on my surf is a major faf as it involves dropping the tank.

Another thing to do is undo the fuel hose coming into the filter head and blow down it, you should hear it bubbling in the tank.
Next time when you get your engine running look at the fuel primer hand pump, if its completely pressed flat it shows restriction in the fuel system.

I appreciate it may not be fuel related at all, but when I do fault finding I start at the simple stuff and work methodically. Cranking over with injector lines loosened and checking for fuel at injectors before moving to the next one will also eliminate any fuel issues.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice kammangir.

Yet, excuse my ignorance. But, if would be pump/filter related, wouldn't there be some choking symptoms? I'll blow the pipe nonetheless. The manual pump has always been up, I've checked it many times. Actually, it was one of the first things I've done. I've also pumped in a couple of occasions. Problem persists :(
 
Does the engine warning light glow when you run out of fuel ? seems unlikely to me though i could be wrong but if it doesn't then would that not more or less rule out fueling problems ? The chain or belt hasn't broken or the truck wouldn't run at all but if the tensioner is on its way out it would explain intermittent problems because misfiring upsets compression and fueling and god knows what else - the sort of thing that would trigger a warning light . I'm no mechanic but i'm sure theres plenty of folk on here qualified to say if its a possibility or not .

No Shayne, the check engine light does not come up when there's no fuel.

I don't think there's a sensor in the tensioner, but I could be wrong. Will check it out 2morrow morning.

Thanks again for trying to help, much appreciated :)
 
How long have you had the problem? Did anything change just before it started ie service, oil change, etc? Or did it just start doing this one day?
 
How long have you had the problem? Did anything change just before it started ie service, oil change, etc? Or did it just start doing this one day?

It started a month ago while traveling on holidays. Nothing had been changed!
 
I wasn't suggesting there is a sensor on your tensioner but if the tensioner is failing to do its job then the timing may occasionally jump out of synch resulting in the warning light coming on . I don't know how these warning lights are programmed or what they detect but i do know they will light up if you have bust an injector and a bust injector causes misfiring same as a slipping chain/belt might .
 
The problem you describe sounds like the spill control valve on the top of the fuel pump. The spill control valve controls start up and shut down, as well as how much fuel goes to the engine. I had the same problem, whilst driving the engine would stall but would start back up instantly, until one day it just wouldn't start at all. Pop me a message if you'd like a fuel pump for one of these, I have a spare!
 
Hi
I know this was a couple of years ago now but did you ever get to the bottom of this problem? I'm having the exact same issue. I'm going to take a look at the ECU to see if there's obvious capacitor damage but it would be nice to know where else to start looking.
Many thanks
 
First thing i would do is pull the throttle body pipe off because it costs nothing but a few minutes and i suspect you will find clogged up with black carbon .
 
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