Engine shut off while driving

Hello, sorry to hear about the trouble. It's odd for a Toyota to seize up. Can you turn the engine over by hand, by putting a socket and long bar on the crankshaft harmonic balancer? Also, what is the code number you have for the crankshaft position sensor?
What is the oil level, and did you hear any odd noises before it stalled out?

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-stalls

I haven't tried to hand crank. I'll get the code and try hand crank later this afternoon. Oil level is good, doesn't show signs of water. I had the radio playing and didn't hear anything. I didn't notice any vibrations, it just lost power then shut off.

Okay, hopefully it's just a loose connection somewhere in the wiring harness. If so, it's possible the Starter is just not getting enough voltage to fully engage and turn the engine over. Hope for the best. If you can turn it over by hand, do it a couple of times and see if you hear any odd noises. If all seems okay, then check the Starter motor connections and battery voltage to see if you have a multimeter available.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-voltmeter

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-fuse

Thank, will do.

Sorry, will not be able to check today. I will right after work tomorrow. I really appreciate all your help!

No worries, Whenever you get the chance.

Sorry for the delay, between work and the rain I've not had much time. I tried to hand crank, but it will not budge. Removed all spark plugs, they all looked normal, and still cannot crank with plugs out. I am pretty sure that the starter Bendix is still engaged on the flywheel. Do you think the starter might be the issue? I do not have the codes yet - battery disconnected. Should I pull the oil pan to inspect as we as check starter?

I would just leave the negative battery cable off and pull the Starter first. But I would find it strange if the engine stalled out due to the crankshaft position sensor and the Starter motor also got jammed into the flywheel. But at least if you can get the Starter out semi easy, and you still can't turn the engine over by hand, you know you have bigger problems. If the engine seized or something happened with the timing chain, the Starter might have just gotten stuck because it couldn't move anything at all. After you get the Starter out, and if it won't spin by hand, you may want to drain the oil and look for any metal particles. It's also possible that something happened to one of the crankshafts, anything that would prevent the crankshaft from rotating. If you put the starter back in, I wouldn't try starting it by the key until you figure out what happened. If it has something to do with the timing chain, you will reduce the chance of more damage.

i will give these things a try next. praying for something non-catastrophic.

I hope so too, I would be surprised if it seized though, but it does happen. Let us know what you find.

will do, thanks again.

Sorry for the long delay, I have been really busy at work, finally got the starter out, it smoked before I took it out. anyway, man what a job, anyway, the engine still would not spin - tears flowing down my face. I removed the oil pan and didn't see any metal, but I did see 2-3 large pieces of plastic like material, I think it is from the runners on the timing chain

I guess the timing chain cover is next, do i have to remove the valve covers to do this? How can I tell if a timing chain issue caused even more damage?

if the timing chain broke or jumped, can the pistons hit the valves?

So sorry to hear about that, I would be crying too. I'm looking up info for you right now, I think you're correct if you have plastic in the oil pan, sounds like chain guides to me, same thing as the bigger Ford engines does, but they all do it. This is a huge job for this timing chains, just by the little information I've seen already. It has four timing chains, two long ones that go to each cam and then two short ones that run from cam to cam. Yeah, the valve covers have to come off, but you have to be careful, in each valve cover there are two VVT sensors, a camshaft position sensor, and two oil control valves. I'll post what I have below, but I'm limited on resources this week, it seems the Mitchell database is down. But I'll do my best to find whatever I can. I was told it is an Interference Engine unfortunately. With the valve covers off you will get a better look at things. Do you have a picture of the plastic pieces that came out? I'd be interested to see if it's guides. Honestly I'm kind of surprised. Toyota in my opinion is one of the best brands, Tundra is my favorite truck actually.
As you can see in the first diagram, it's a crazy chain set up. There is also a TSB on being careful not to damage the baffles inside the valve covers when removing them, I guess they are pretty fragile. Diagram seven shows there are some type of valve cover spacers with a small valve filter.
The bottom (last three diagrams are the timing marks and chain links. Though I'm not sure how this is going to go if you can't turn the engine over by hand. The 10th diagram shows the a view from the back of the valve sprockets and the chain link marks back there.
11 and 12 are the main longer chain tensioners and then the two short cam to cam chains also have tensioners in between the two cam gears. So sorry for all this happening. I understand how frustrating this is.

I've talked to a couple other technicians about this, most are telling if it was a chain failure it will most likely need an engine. I very much hope that is not the case with yours. Since you didn't find any metal particles in the oil, and I would look really close, but maybe something can be saved here. It might not have had time for any particles to reach the oil pan since it shut off so fast. But I really do hope for the best. Keep us updated, we like to get an end result as to what happened. Thanks

Is there any way to determine if I have catastrophic damage without removing the heads?

I truly appreciate all of the help that you have been giving me, without it I would just be shooting in the dark!

God Bless

At this point what I would do, and I'm not sure if you have a borescope, but I would pull the spark plugs and stick a borescope (one if those little cameras that has a little light on the end, hooks to your phone or scan tool or its own little screen) and take a look down in each cylinder. If there is piston to valve contact, you will definitely see it. This is the one I use, costing about $70.00. Most others are very expensive. But it is a must have tool these days for us. This way you don't have to pull anything apart. You can even see a bad head gasket with one of these inside a cylinder. There really is no other way to get a good look down into a cylinder head, you can't take any running measurements with a pressure transducer in cylinder, and of course at this point if you could run the truck, you still wouldn't want to. I can send you the link if you want.

That would be great, thanks.

I know it costs a little, but it's worth it, the time it would take you pulling everything apart, even just getting to the timing chains would take you all day. This way you can inspect each cylinder on both banks in half an hour.
Take some pictures too, you can store them with this camera. I'd like to see what you find.


https://www.amazon.com/Endoscope-Teslong-Inspection-Automotive-Waterproof/dp/B07QCMDJWL/ref=asc_df_B07QCMDJWL/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=416904651034&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9095428266414648231&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9009954&hvtargid=pla-780842289079&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=96633975809&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=416904651034&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9095428266414648231&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9009954&hvtargid=pla-780842289079

i just found out I can get a "loaner" from AutoZone, going to take a look tonight, hopefully pictures in the morning.

Oh, okay, that's great. Good idea. I forgot they rent out tools. Hope for the best.

Well, after using the scope I got on loan from AutoZone, I was not able to see anything that would indicate anything wrong. The scope that I used was not able to be turned to look "up" so all I could see was the top of the piston. They all appeared to be about the same, no major differences in any of them. I was really hoping to see the condition of the valves. After several evenings I was able to get the timing chain cover removed. Since I'm doing all of this outside and I only have a few hours of good light after work, it has taken me forever to get everything dismantled. While I was hoping to see something that had the chain bound, everything looked really good. I did see that one of the timing chain races was missing the "liner" everything else looked okay. I have no idea what happened to those pieces that I found in the oil pan, so I was unable to take a picture. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out what the next reasonable step is. Do I remove the heads to look for something? Do I remove the engine and get it on a stand and begin a complete rebuild? Or do I start looking for a "new" engine? Should I look for a crate engine, an engine from JDM or look for a complete engine with low miles? I could really use your help more than ever at this point.

Okay, I know it takes a lot to get to those timing chains, I very surprised you are not seeing some huge failure. Do you have the oil pan off, can you look up and see the crankshaft and connecting Rods?
I wouldn't be looking for an engine just yet, because we don't know what really happened here. Is it also possible to get a look at the Flex Plate at the rear of the engine? I believe there is a cover that can come off to get to the Flex Plate and Torque Converter bolts. I wonder if the Flex Plate broke off the end of the crankshaft. I was just going over our first comments, so you did find some kind of plastic chunks in the oil when you drained it correct. As of right now I'm kind of just throwing ideas out there. If you were able to get the oil pan off you might be able to see if a Connecting Rod broke, but since you can't turn the engine over by hand even with the spark plugs out, you'd think it would be an obvious failure. Will the engine rotate backwards just a little bit? And I remember a crankshaft position code. Do you remember what the actual code number was? The diagram below shows the Starter Motor removed and you can see the teeth of the Flex Plate. If you pull the Starter maybe, we can get a look at the Flex Plate. Can you take some pictures of the timing chain setup when you get a minute? I just want to see how far into this you are and if I notice anything. I know you're limited with time, so whenever is okay. I'm here every day, I was really thinking you would have seen a valve stuck in the top of one of the pistons, but since everything seems ok in cylinder, I'm thinking lower end or the flex plate issue. It's very difficult to help when not being at the truck with you. But snap a few pictures of the timing chains and anything else you think is relevant,
One last thing, you have both valve covers off, check up top there. Any of the rocker arms fall off or anything jammed into one of the camshafts? Even with the timing cover removed it still won't turn or have you not tried that yet? The thought of the oil pump seizing up just came to mind, I believe it's part of the timing cover assembly.
This engine just has so many components.
I just came across this diagram too, the Crankshaft Position sensor has its own trigger plate attached to the Flex Plate, I've never seen a design like that before.

The only oil pan that I have access to is the small pan on the bottom, about the size of a 1-liter bottle. There is very little that I can see from this vantage. Is the entire oil pan removable with the engine still in the truck?

It doesn't note on All Data and our other database is down for the time being. It doesn't look like it is. I can see the small section you mentioned. Even just getting the Starter out looks like a big job. I think the upper oil pan removal calls for something like 9.9 hours, if I'm reading the warranty information correctly, So, I would say that includes pulling the motor, or at least raising it somewhat with an engine hoist to get at the oil pan. But I would go for the Starter first and see if something happened to the Flex plate or that crankshaft trigger wheel. I don't know if work on the engine has been done in the past, but there was a Bulletin on making sure the Torque Converter bolts were installed correctly if it has been apart in the past. That most likely doesn't apply to your situation though.

I can see the oil pump can seize onto the crankshaft in the front. I found a video of the same engine that won't turn over either. I can link to it if you want.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr1LUnFh8wA

Locked up engine due to piston wrist pins.