ClarkKent

Hey all, so this is a long story. First some background on my 05 GX 212k. January of 2021 @ 196k saw the dreaded pool of antifreeze. So I grabbed all the parts to do the tensioners, timing belt, water pump. While I was taking off the fan bracket (the octopus) I noticed on tentacle above the air conditioner was cracked and chipped. I think it might have been broken by someone trying to get that bolt back in place. Anyway I replaced it from Oreilly auto.

So last weekend I'm driving my daughter to college ( 9 hour trip) and about 70 miles from destination the battery light comes on the dash. I also lose power steering and my air conditioner stops working. So I'm watching the temperature gauge and it stays at the current spot. I'm also watching the battery voltage from my radar and its dropping about 1 volt per 5 miles. I immediately find the nearest auto parts store. There are an Oreilly auto and Autozone side by side down the road about 10 minutes. I pull over in the parking lot of Oreilly auto and pop the hood and find my fan sitting down behind the radiator and my serpentine belt in a wad to one side. As I'm in the parking lot the lights go out in Oreilly and the open sign turns out. I walk inside and tell them my situation, but they leave anyway. I go over to AutoZone and they close and hour later than Oreilly so I order a new fan bracket from them but it won't arrive until the next day.

I get the fan out and realize the bearings must have failed in the fan bracket I purchased 17 months back. It's getting dark now and I realize my battery is too weak to make the final 50 miles with the headlights. My daughter and I go dumpster diving to find any belt to tie the alternator to the crank pulley so I will have lights. We try to tie old window wiper rubber together but it falls off immediately. We also tried to sew a piece of flat nylon band together but it was too wide and falls off. Finally I find a piece of cloth band in the parking lot and tie the alternator to the crank pulley in a knot and it seems to stay on so we take off. I'm driving behind my daughter for the next 50 miles with only my flashers working. At one point I think the car is going to die so I turn off the flashers and now I'm driving 70 miles per hour down an interstate at midnight with no lights. My RPM and Speedometer needles are jumping up and down and the map/infotainment system is flashing the Lexus logo. The map keeps turning on and off. I have several lights on the entire way of course including my CEL.

We make it to the hotel parking lot but I'm not sure what damage I've done to the car. I kept watching the temperature gauge and it never went above normal so I figure I could only have done electrical damage.
The next day my daughter gets moved in to her dorm and I find a fan bracket and a new battery from Oreilly. I spend the day in the back of the hotel tearing down the the front of the engine and installing the new bracket.

After putting it all back together I have a CEL light up but only after I turn the car off. As long as I reset the computer there are no CEL lights on the dash. So I figure I'm OK to make the long drive home.

I make it back home 10 hours later and check the computer for codes and there are a few. I clear the codes however two I can't get to go away, P0016 Crankshaft Position - Camshaft Position Correlation (Bank 1 Sensor A) and P0018 Crankshaft Position - Camshaft Position Correlation (Bank 2 Sensor A)
So I tear it back down to the crank pulley and find that the bearings are sitting on my crankshaft degree angle sensor. Below is a picture of the bearing that was in the part from Oreilly. It is a plastic carrier bearing.
I replaced the crankshaft degree angle sensor after putting it all back together and still getting the P0016 and P0018.

Now I want to get an oscilloscope and back probe the two camshaft pulley sensors and find out if my ECM is fried or the sensors. Does anyone know a good setup for a laptop and using PICO software?
Thanks in advance.

broken fan bracket

broken bracket


Here is the plastic bearing from the fan bracket.

Lexus4321

And there's a coolant leak too?

If you lose the accessory belt, how would that good up the cam or crank sensors?
Most stuff is made in china, some designs bad, some ok, some good.

ClarkKent

No this time there was no coolant leak and the engine was normal operating temperature the entire time. I made sure to keep an eye on it.

The plastic carrier for the bearings broke (see pic). The little metal ***** were all over the crank pulley sensor so I thought it was bad, however, changing out a new sensor didn't fix the problem. I'm not sure why the P0016 and 18 are showing up. The engine is running fine and I triple checked the timing marks and they are in order. Sorry for long story. It is confusing and thanks for the reply.

I agree not really a China fault, more design fault. But whomever designed a plastic bearing for the cooling fan on an engine sure needs to get slapped.

Lexus4321

The back of that bracket shows coolant fluid. Something is leaking?

ClarkKent

You have to take the thermostat housing off in order to get to the covers for the cams. The fluid you see if from the removal of that item just prior to removing the bracket.

chiph9

Check the wiring to the sensors - maybe the belt broke the wire when it was whipping around. Use a scope (best) or digital multimeter on AC to see if there's a signal at the sensor, and again at the ECU connector.

And since it's both sensors, see if there's a common ground for them.

Chip H.

ClarkKent

Thanks for the reply. That's what I'm attempting to do now. I'll let you know how it goes.

ClarkKent

I went back and took everything apart for a third time and found that the timing was off by a couple teeth. I took the timing belt off and adjusted the cams to the crank with the marks and the money light is no longer there. Thanks for the replies.

Lexus4321

Huh?
You installed it off, or the flying parts made the belt jump? If the latter, you installed a new belt, yes? Two teeth off, on a interference engine, and no damage? Must have been real close to bashing the valves.

ClarkKent

I caught the moment that the fan fell down and the serpentine belt wadded up when I stopped at the parts store. I don't think that affected the belt jumping time as the failure didn't cause any exterior damage.
I'm not sure if I installed it off 50k miles ago. No way to verify, however, the codes never popped up. I think the bucking and snorting that happened while I was trying to make it to the hotel caused the crank to jump a couple teeth.
The story is all true and it was amazing that I was able to make it.

I didn't install a new belt at this time as it looked still new. The water pumps on these engines are going to fail before the timing belt.
The crank pulley was showing 10 degrees retarded between the harmonic balancer mark and the lower timing cover. This 3rd and final time I set the mark on the crank gear to the (very) small dot on the engine case. (see image below) Once I made sure they ALL matched up the CEL was gone.

Proper timing marks

I don't think it would "interfere" with the valves with only 10 degrees of timing.
I'm searching threads where someone was driving our car or a 4runner, Tundra, or FJ and the timing belt snapped. I would like to know what damage is caused with a 2UZ-FE engine.
Thanks for the reply.

chiph9

There's talk about how the non-VVT-i motors would be fine but the VVT-i motors are interference and could smash valves.
This teardown from YouTube seems to bear that out (the belt broke on it, but it's not known at what RPMs or engine load)


Chip H.

Lexus4321

VVT-i came in model year 2005, no?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_GX

chiph9

Yes. Also when it got the secondary air injection system. 🙄

Chip H.

Lexus4321

Th OP's vehicle is a 2005, so it should be vvt-i, I am shocked it did not toast valves.

chiph9

What the video is saying is that on a VVT-i you might get lucky and not bend them, because the clearances are much looser than on something like a Honda or Volkswagen.
🤷‍♂️

Chip H.