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tecman: Does your state have a sunset date on emission testing? Up in WA state anything 2009 or newer has never needed a test and all testing will be completely gone by 2020.
Looks like Kentucky & Minnesota have already eliminated emission testing. In WA state just certain areas of urban core counties and with fingers crossed that will be gone by 12/31/2019.
Probably wouldn't mess with it myself if running fine. If I run into issue years ahead beyond the extended warranty I'll just run with air pump disconnected to prevent limp mode and live with the CEL. I realize not everyone will have that option as per emission testing.
Saw some posts in Tundra forums that if you have this extended warranty fix done they will perform a re-flash that won't allow the bypass kits to work. Just some speculation from what I have read but hopefully Toyota removed the limp mode on component failure piece at least. Not seeing the flash piece in TSB though. Perhaps the vendor of bypass product can chime in. I think he has posted here.
Paul-(president)@Hewitt Tech emailed me this and told me to post. He will follow up with additional clarification if needed.
"As far as we are aware the repair and tsb mentioned does not actually reflash the computer. There are a couple of other bulletins that will reflash for valve stuck closed codes from water/moisture in the valves freezing shut but that is a separate instance. On those reflashes it is expected they are making the system run on shutdown which our current units cannot prevent. I will follow up with a post when i am back I the office. Please feel free to share. "
The short answer is no. That tsb does not reflash the computer like the one for valve stuck closed codes because water freezing then shut in the winter. I replied to **** as well and will follow up tomorrow on the thread. Club lexus deleted a lot of my posts with real information in them because i don't pay them advertising to contribute to the site. Just left a bitter taste in my mouth because they hurt the members more than me that way.
I decided to pop the cover off mine last hour and check on condition of foam. It seems to still be in good shape. It didn't feel crumbly in any way but who knows... maybe it would just fall apart if soaked in water as a simulation of water ingestion. Cover gasket did require a little bit of force to get off and it did lift in a small spot. I was able to push back down and get it to stay in place. I assume the lighter coloring is just from dust over the years.
I guess it's not as clear in mind as I thought as to what causes this and workaround.
• If foam was removed entirely and water was ingested this shouldn't cause the issue should it? I guess one would want something on there in case a bunch of pine needles or something got in there but it would seem those would probably pass better than the melted foam.
• For those who took out foam and put on the aftermarket filter yet still had the problem... do you think there was already debris in the system that melted the valves attached to the motor?
It doesn't seem the air pump nor the valves usually fail themselves... it seems to just be caused by debris and this case the melted foam at air valves or disintegrated foam that has jammed up the air pump.
Thoughts?
EDIT: I do see some discussion in Tacoma and Tundra forums that there are two possible failure points. The foam of course and the the valves can malfunction due to moisture buildup and seize. Apparently air pump run time was changed to post operation versus started on some of the Tacomas affected by this around '12 or '13.
If you recall, I put the external filter on and then had bank one go out. I ordered the bypass and then bank 2 went out which put me into limp mode. I disconnected the pump to get out of limp mode and later installed the bypass and reconnected the pump. I then received a pump failure code and Hewitt-Tech said it is a bad pump. This means all 3 components went bad at different times with no filter sucked in. Once one component fails perhaps there is a complete failure soon to come. At least that was my experience.
With the external filter installed it is easier to hear the pump run. It only runs for 30-45 seconds on cold start. I could restart hours later and the pump doesn't run. Unless you wash the engine with the front cover off before cold starting and angle the water pressure into the cap opening I don't see water getting to the filter. My new pump has a cover on it from Lexus now though. I don't think debris got past the original or add on filter either.
I'm still looking for a complete video on work on a 4.6L but this guy shows them to be pretty easy to get at on the 460's 4.6L. Look at around 4 minutes into video.
EDIT: I can see why a bypass kit would be a strong seller for the 4.7L
EDIT2: I have to wonder as easy as the valves are to replace on 4.6L...it may be possible to lubricate a stuck valve that seizes from general corrosion.
Some cheaper refurbs are showing up on eBay. If I had this failure beyond warranty I would likely pick up a refurb... remove the top plastic piece from housing and replaced failed air valve section on motor. This would save a lot of work.
The post warranty repairs costs seem to be reasonable... I just don't want this system failing at real inopportune time or off-road. It is good know that air pump can be unplugged to get around limp mode. Tecman: Thanks again for confirming that when you had the issue.