Help Needed Please - 4.2 Vx Diesel Cuts Out :-(

[cruisermanuk]

Hi Guys, and Gals, but think guys is generic for all these days....

Land Cruiser Amazon 4.2 VX Diesel - 24V intercooler 1998 - 120K miles - fully serviced up to date - new cam belt at 90K etc.

Anyway, I have had this cruiser for about 8 months now with no problems, but today driving happily at 50 mph or so the EMS light comes on and the engine dies. Pulled off the road and tried to re-start, nothing doing, turns over but won't start and the light stays on. Waiting for recovery and try again about 10 minutes later and the engine starts and the light goes off. Drive for about 5 mins and the same thing happens again. As I was about 100 miles form home the recovery people insist that I have it trailered back home and take it to a main dealer.

So; a couple of questions before I give my life savings to Toyota:-

Has anyone else experienced this, and if so what was the cause/cure?

Since the EMS light goes out when it eventually re-starts, will it have stored a fault code that the main dealer guys can extract to give us a clue?

Interestingly the guy from the AA said "we don't have any technical information on these cars as they don't go wrong!" I have heard that before which is why I bought it in the first place - just my luck to get the one that does.....

My pervious cruiser (1992 4.2 VX) did 50K miles with no problems at all, just needed the usual servicing, so I am really dissappointed that this one has failed so early. Any help or advice would be really appreciated....

Thanks..

[Andy]

It's worth trying to get a fault code from the diagnostics port see here http://codes.rennacs.com/

At a rough guess I would think that it could be the fuel cut off valve on the injector pump, or fuel starvation, try taking the fuel filler cap off when it does it, also try pumping the primer on top of the fuel filter.

[PhilGee]

Should have stored a fault code. If you find what it is then post it up. Someone may be able to help.

[cruisermanuk]

Hi All,

The story continues;

Tried to read the fault code, but the diagnostic socket, whilst matching the diagram shown in the link that Andy mentioned, only has some of it's positions populated. There is no pin in either the E1 or Te1 positions! I guessed that this means it may use OBD2 or similar, using three of the other pins in that plug. I was wrong - I called a couple of code reader suppliers and they both told me that this plug is synonymous with Toyota's early propriotory system and that there is no reader on the market that is compatible with it. So the only option was to go to a Toyots dealer.

I have had bad experiences with my local dealer in the past, so I called Abbey Toyota in Redhill. They were very helpful and said they could do a diagnostic test the same afternoon at a cost of £45. - So I took it there and they diagnosed a faulty "diesel spill control valve". Apparantly if the ECU can't communicate with this then it can't calculate the amount of fuel to inject and so it shuts down the engine. They looked at the valve and decided that it was in fact actually a dodgy connection in the plug that connects to the valve. This is apparantly a known fault and Toyota make a "re-wire and repair kit" for it.

They have ordered a repair kit. Of course there aren't any in the UK, so it has to come from Japan. So for the time being the cruiser is off the road until it arrives and they can fit it. I suggested that if it happens again that I might just wiggle the appropriate wire to get going again, but they advised that the valve is an integral part of the injection pump and the internal wires are very delicate. Wiggling the plug could break the wire internally and then I would need a new pump at a cost of £2500 + fitting.

I now have a Peugeot 107 hire car until it's fixed, which is OK, but feels like driving a go kart after the cruiser!

Their estimated cost for all this is around £200 supply and fit of the repair kit.

I will post up the next instalment as it happens...

Summary:- This fault was caused by a bad connection to the "diesel spill control valve" which is inside the injection pump. Toyota make a repair kit for it.

Cheers....

[Ninjaman]

Hi All,

The story continues;

Tried to read the fault code, but the diagnostic socket, whilst matching the diagram shown in the link that Andy mentioned, only has some of it's positions populated. There is no pin in either the E1 or Te1 positions! I guessed that this means it may use OBD2 or similar, using three of the other pins in that plug. I was wrong - I called a couple of code reader suppliers and they both told me that this plug is synonymous with Toyota's early propriotory system and that there is no reader on the market that is compatible with it. So the only option was to go to a Toyots dealer.

I have had bad experiences with my local dealer in the past, so I called Abbey Toyota in Redhill. They were very helpful and said they could do a diagnostic test the same afternoon at a cost of £45. - So I took it there and they diagnosed a faulty "diesel spill control valve". Apparantly if the ECU can't communicate with this then it can't calculate the amount of fuel to inject and so it shuts down the engine. They looked at the valve and decided that it was in fact actually a dodgy connection in the plug that connects to the valve. This is apparantly a known fault and Toyota make a "re-wire and repair kit" for it.

They have ordered a repair kit. Of course there aren't any in the UK, so it has to come from Japan. So for the time being the cruiser is off the road until it arrives and they can fit it. I suggested that if it happens again that I might just wiggle the appropriate wire to get going again, but they advised that the valve is an integral part of the injection pump and the internal wires are very delicate. Wiggling the plug could break the wire internally and then I would need a new pump at a cost of £2500 + fitting.

I now have a Peugeot 107 hire car until it's fixed, which is OK, but feels like driving a go kart after the cruiser!

Their estimated cost for all this is around £200 supply and fit of the repair kit.

I will post up the next instalment as it happens...

Summary:- This fault was caused by a bad connection to the "diesel spill control valve" which is inside the injection pump. Toyota make a repair kit for it.

Cheers....

Hi All

Cruiserman can you tell me is your car an import by any chance, i have a 4.2 Amaozon with exactly the same problem as yours had and infact through reading your post ended up having to order the part from the dealer that you used, as no luck with my Local one.

But the reason i ask if yours is an import is that i wonder if the they would also be able to plug mine in to the diagnostic money eating machine, or whether it may be different (mines a Jap import).

Any way if you could let me know i would very much appreciate it.

Thanks

[sandgroper]

Hi All,

The story continues;

Tried to read the fault code, but the diagnostic socket, whilst matching the diagram shown in the link that Andy mentioned, only has some of it's positions populated. There is no pin in either the E1 or Te1 positions! I guessed that this means it may use OBD2 or similar, using three of the other pins in that plug. I was wrong - I called a couple of code reader suppliers and they both told me that this plug is synonymous with Toyota's early propriotory system and that there is no reader on the market that is compatible with it. So the only option was to go to a Toyots dealer.

I have had bad experiences with my local dealer in the past, so I called Abbey Toyota in Redhill. They were very helpful and said they could do a diagnostic test the same afternoon at a cost of £45. - So I took it there and they diagnosed a faulty "diesel spill control valve". Apparantly if the ECU can't communicate with this then it can't calculate the amount of fuel to inject and so it shuts down the engine. They looked at the valve and decided that it was in fact actually a dodgy connection in the plug that connects to the valve. This is apparantly a known fault and Toyota make a "re-wire and repair kit" for it.

They have ordered a repair kit. Of course there aren't any in the UK, so it has to come from Japan. So for the time being the cruiser is off the road until it arrives and they can fit it. I suggested that if it happens again that I might just wiggle the appropriate wire to get going again, but they advised that the valve is an integral part of the injection pump and the internal wires are very delicate. Wiggling the plug could break the wire internally and then I would need a new pump at a cost of £2500 + fitting.

I now have a Peugeot 107 hire car until it's fixed, which is OK, but feels like driving a go kart after the cruiser!

Their estimated cost for all this is around £200 supply and fit of the repair kit.

I will post up the next instalment as it happens...

Summary:- This fault was caused by a bad connection to the "diesel spill control valve" which is inside the injection pump. Toyota make a repair kit for it.

Cheers....

There was someone else last year who had this exact problem. He was told he needed a new pump even though I suspected loose wires