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2001 1Zzfe No Start Condition After Head Rebuild

By Seeber, June 2, 2016



Hello everyone, I have a 2001 1ZZFE with a no start condition after rebuilding head. Engine ran before rebuild and just had one burned exhaust valve. Head rebuilt at a great pro machine shop specializing in heads. Engine cranks and begins to run but dies right away. Feels like timing is off but I'm pretty positive I got the chain back on correctly... it's not that difficult, double and triple checked it but it is my first attempt performing this repair on this engine. Compression is around 120 psi on all 4. Checked crank position sensor and seems good, puts out signal. Checked connectors and can't see anything obvious. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Actually have another '01 waiting for a timing chain replacement so would like to solve issue to proceed. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

VVT-i actuator is unlocked? Not sure if you sent the whole head in, or took the cams off. The timing gear should not be locked when you reassemble the engine. This could cause the install to become much harder to do + the timing is offset. Same goes with the camshaft position sensor - these can get damaged, causing intermittent output - confuse the PCM.

I'd double check all the simple stuff - vacuum leaks, bad/damaged sensors, pinched wires, corroded connectors (corroded surprising quickly when the engine is apart for rebuilding - depending on where the parts are stored), etc.

Getting good spark on all igniters? Could be bad connections, damaged PCM, pinched wires, etc.

Getting fuel to all plugs - possible bad injector, injector leak, damaged fuel rail, leak at fuel line, fuel pump bad, bad electrical connections. Pull plugs after it cranks and dies a few times - the plugs should be wet or smell heavy of fuel.

These heads are quite unique - they cannot be rebuild in the same was a traditional head. Example: The water jacket is so thin in places, like the valve seats, that they do NOT recommend cutting those seats. That material is powdered metal that is laser clad to the aluminum casting. There is a little bit of meat there, but shouldn't really be cut, as the water jacket was design to expose that area directly to the coolant, faster heat dissipation. Head shouldn't be decked either - if it is warped beyond a certain tolerance, the factory service manual says to scrap it. Don't try and cheat and use a thicker head gasket - that will automatically fail in short time.

Did the shop give you a print out of the measured clearances? There is actually a typo in one of the repair manuals for the valve specs - I can't remember which publication it was, but it was off by something like 10/thousandths?? Could be an issue, depending on how they rebuilt it - some shops like to push the starting clearances looser than spec, so as the parts break-in, they will close up that clearance.

Have made quite a bit of progress and much learning. Second identical car needing timing chain is rebuilt and now up and running perfect. That gives me confidence the first timing chain was right too although I could have made a mistake. Anyway, back to the original car and issue, I replaced the cam position sensor but no luck. Checked again for anything obvious. Plugs are dry after cranking so I'm not getting fuel for some reason. I'll keep trying and post progress. Thanks for the previous reply... good info.

Dry plugs is a start - that sounds like no fuel. These returnless fuel systems are demand actuated. So the fuel pump only runs when it gets a signal from the ECM. Could be a bad wire from the ECM, poor connection to the fuel hardline to the fuel rail, or something simple like the EFI relay and associated fuses got popped.



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