92 Toyota Previa help

[scdmarx]

I know pretty much nothing that is Toyota specific. However I'm very familiar with the Chrysler 318s. They typically need timing chain and gears at 100k miles and the third timing chain they need a distributer. I'd pull the #1 plug and bring it to TDC verifying with a screwdriver through the plug hole. If the timing marks don't match. It likely has skipped time. If the rest of the vehicle is in decent shape I'd put in new timing chain and gears. Your car. Your call.

Your not wrong, I'm not the smartest guy in the world and I'm certainly not here to question anybody's knowledge, and I know the older v8's would usually go through 2 timing chains to reach 100k. Especially Chevys. And I've done timing chains in a few Toyotas as well. Just trying to help. The car is too far away and I can't see it. So I can't really say if the chain came apart, or some teeth sheered, or maybe had enough slop that it jumped a tooth or two. And as long as he's in there, it makes perfect sense to check it.

I am ass-u-me'ing a lot here. The way I read it, the van was running ok untill he went through a puddle. Then he continued driving it that way for awhile untill he could get to it one day and change some parts. By that time it wouldn't start anymore and the oil level was "way up" on the dipstick. It's just that I've seen this play out so many times. Californians are strange. They will drive their Mercedes through a lake because it's inconvenient to go around. If it comes out the other side running like crap they will keep driving till it quits because it's not convenient to take it to a shop and make other transportation arrangements for a day. I'm not calling Andyb strange. He lives in an area that has been hit by some pretty hefty storms lately and these things can happen.
This was the natural course of thought my mind took off in when I understood the problem to be wet ignition and flooded crankcase. But I'm not there, and can't see the car. In my attempts to get a car started that has been through this scenario it's not uncommon to get unexpected pops and backfires so loud that it sends people ducking for cover. This gets kinda scary with cars that have plastic intake manifolds. I'm really hopeing this Previa will start again, but it is possible there might be something else wrong with it.

 

[slabghost]

agreed.I hope it gets fixed.

 

[AApple]

Runnin ruff after drivin thru a poodle.."clunks" then started..popping thru the intake...
Moisture in the dist could have caused a cross-fire that could have caused a jumped chain, and the popping back thru the intake. I don't think this engine is an interference type, so a bent valve isn't likely, but certainly possible. Even with one dead cylinder, it should run...if all else is right. How have you checked for the coil firing? Sticking yer finger in the wire and crankin ain't the most scientific way to determine how much juice is available. :smilie_happy: A weak coil could jump across a spark plug out of the hole, but not be hot enough to fire under compression.

I'm on the "jumped timing" bandwagon. :read:

 

[Andyb]

Just to let you fine folks know before I hit the road in an hour or so, the van still has not started. But, I have not given up. I ended up having time to go through the cranking process yesterday and a couple of times it gave a promising jump as if it was about to catch, and still no joy. It was enough to give me hope. It continues to pop the intake off.

 

[Andyb]

I know pretty much nothing that is Toyota specific. However I'm very familiar with the Chrysler 318s. They typically need timing chain and gears at 100k miles and the third timing chain they need a distributer. I'd pull the #1 plug and bring it to TDC verifying with a screwdriver through the plug hole. If the timing marks don't match. It likely has skipped time. If the rest of the vehicle is in decent shape I'd put in new timing chain and gears. Your car. Your call.

Your not wrong, I'm not the smartest guy in the world and I'm certainly not here to question anybody's knowledge, and I know the older v8's would usually go through 2 timing chains to reach 100k. Especially Chevys. And I've done timing chains in a few Toyotas as well. Just trying to help. The car is too far away and I can't see it. So I can't really say if the chain came apart, or some teeth sheered, or maybe had enough slop that it jumped a tooth or two. And as long as he's in there, it makes perfect sense to check it.

I am ass-u-me'ing a lot here. The way I read it, the van was running ok untill he went through a puddle. Then he continued driving it that way for awhile untill he could get to it one day and change some parts. By that time it wouldn't start anymore and the oil level was "way up" on the dipstick. It's just that I've seen this play out so many times. Californians are strange. They will drive their Mercedes through a lake because it's inconvenient to go around. If it comes out the other side running like crap they will keep driving till it quits because it's not convenient to take it to a shop and make other transportation arrangements for a day. I'm not calling Andyb strange. He lives in an area that has been hit by some pretty hefty storms lately and these things can happen.
This was the natural course of thought my mind took off in when I understood the problem to be wet ignition and flooded crankcase. But I'm not there, and can't see the car. In my attempts to get a car started that has been through this scenario it's not uncommon to get unexpected pops and backfires so loud that it sends people ducking for cover. This gets kinda scary with cars that have plastic intake manifolds. I'm really hopeing this Previa will start again, but it is possible there might be something else wrong with it.

I absolutely appreciate your help here. I had completely written it off before you got interested. Even if it turns out that there is more wrong with the car, by following the advice you have given here, I have learned some new stuff about how engines work and some of the things that could go wrong. So, here's to you :thanks: :clapping:

A clarification is in order here-It is not that I went through one puddle and it started running rough and then died. It had been generally running fine. But for a while, (not sure how long since we only occasionally drove it) when we would go through even a shallow puddle it would run rough for a few seconds and then run fine. I assumed that it was the distributor since it is under the vehicle. When I removed the distributor, I found the seal had been pulled out of the groove so I am sure that it was the distributor causing the initial problem.

As to whether or not it also jumped time, that will have to wait. I don't have a great garage area. Given the design of the vehicle, it will require me to lay on the ground a lot. I am used to laying on gravel, but I refuse to lay on wet gravel. If it does not quit raining soon the van will sink into the ground before I work on it again.

 

[slabghost]

:smilie_happy: If it does not quit raining soon the van will sink into the ground before I work on it again. :smilie_happy:
I understand that! I bought another junk truck to drive instead of laying in the snow and rain to replace a brake line. Another thing you might try is disconnect the battery a few minutes and clear all the codes in the computers. It's possible that the occasional backfire has put an error code in place.