Beloved 2007 Solara 6 cyl 3.3 convertible. Several mechanics conflicting causes. Everything from blown head gasket to fuel delivery. If it’s a head gasket, it’s not worth fixing. No oil in coolant or coolant in oil. Possible oil in coil/plug and cracked coils. No bubbles in coolant or white/heavy black in exhaust. Codes show: misfires all 6 cylinders/coils, oxygen sensors.
I’d really like you to post the actual code numbers. You say misfires and O2 sensor codes and the car runs badly when warm. If the O2 sensors are bad the car would run bad when warm. Cracked coils and oil in the plug wells would cause misfires. This isn’t difficult.
But you didn’t tell how many miles on the car… I’d pay for a compression check before replacing anything. Also test the coolant for a bad head gasket. If compression shows OK and head gaskets OK, replace O2 sensor, replace plugs and coils, new valve cover gaskets and see how it runs.
If the timing belt on this car has not been changed since 2014, or 90,000 miles, it needs to be changed now.
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First, thanks so much for your reply. I didn’t want to overwhelm so I kept this brief and I wasn’t given the codes, but…
I’ve had 5 mechanics look at this including two Toyota dealerships.
- first one cleared all codes, then stopped when the first one came back (didn’t bother to wait for others or do the step on brake & accelerator and look at live readings. He said one bad coil on #2 cylinder and quoted $380 to fix. That’s one “front” coil.
2)Took it elsewhere and replaced the #2 coil & plug. Did not fix the problem. He did a compression test that showed 100 (min 145 - max 180).He suggested Blue Devil additive to fix head gasket without any oil or coolant loss; without any oil in water or coolant in oil or bubbles in radiator or unusual smoke from exhaust.
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next guy re-did compression - 175 all three front cylinders. Codes showed misfires on all 6 cylinders, 2 of 4 oxygen sensors, something in fuel and something in exhaust. He showed me vertical cracks in all three front coils. He quoted $1100 to replace 6 coils, but also wanted to start there.
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first toyota dealer charged me $185 for diagnosis - said replace 6 coils and nothing else ($1,800). I asked will that fix the issues. He said, we’ll do that first and see.
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next Toyota dealer - don’t bother fixing this car - probable head gasket, possible worn cylinder or piston, one or more coils, oil leak back of engine.
1 1/2 years ago at 110k miles, intending the keep this car forever, it was leaking oil (there was oil on the back of the engine that the dealer may have thought was new oil) so I changed the valve cover gasket I also changed all 6 coils, new plugs, and new PCV. Just before that I changed 2 oxygen sensors and cleaned mass air flow, air filter, etc.
Car now has 126k miles and the blue book value is between $3-5k. Obviously, really frustrating to have paid so much for diagnosis with very little agreement and a car that I can’t drive.
The key question seems to be: what can cause a car to idle & run great (really great) until it warms up and then stalls and dies. It sort of makes sense that there’s some expansion in cylinders or gasket that affects air or gas flow. Cracks in the coils seem like maybe a heat issue; maybe oil fouled the oxygen sensors.
I haven’t tried testing the coolant, but that’s a good idea. Still, it’s been more than a month without my car and I’m about at the end of my rope.
I’m not a mechanic and I don’t know much about how to make sense of all this, but I sure would like to drive this car to 200k miles.
Paul
A bad crank sensor can cause an engine to misfire and stall when the engine gets hot.
Tester
thanks. I read the article and called Toyota. The codes reported do not include those for crankshaft sensor, but here they are:
P0351- 0356
P2237 marked pending (?)
P2240 marked pending (?)
This is issue #1, there is no “forever” 2007 car with 110K miles on it.
Issue #2 is you seem to balk at spending money on this car and keep moving it from shop to shop…I’m guessing because you don’t like the estimates they keep giving you.
Issue #3, you didn’t answer my question about the timing belt… which tells me it need changing NOW
Issue # 4, you say you are not a mechanic but you second guess those that are…and come up with a series of incorrect diagnosis like these below…
I gave you one reason for poor performance when warm and @Tester gave another.
You have at least $2000 worth of work you need to do right now on the car and you are taking about Blue Book values…Either accept that you need to spend significant money on the car or sell it as a “mechanic’s special.” Also accept that this will not end your expenditures as old 126K mile cars will require repairs.
If you decide to do the work, hire a well rated independent repair shop. Not the dealer, not Pep Boys, not Firestone, an independent. Expect a long wait for repairs because those shops have a long line of business (for a reason!).
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Ok, thanks. I replaced the timing belt 7 years ago at 80k miles. Your analysis is correct. I reacted to a 5 star mechanic wanting to charge $380 for 30 min work (which I witnessed when the other mechanic changed the coil) and othes. But, you’re right. I want to think it can be fixed for a reasonable price and I keep looking for a way to do that, but it’s time to sell it as you suggested. I did put it on craigslist as a “mechanics special” and got several offers around $3k. It’s time to take one and move on.
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That could have been the difference in an OE quality part vs a cheap junk Auto Zone part… So make sure you are comparing apples to apples…
And as per your post, you took it to mechanic #2 who replaced the coil for much less, then took it to mechanic #3 who you said “He showed me vertical cracks in all three front coils.”, didn’t you just have one of those coils replaced already by #2 mechanic?? But 16K miles before that you had all 6 coils and plugs replaced?? By the dealer??
I tend to think you are buying junk parts online that are knock offs (fakes) and having them installed… 16K miles or less sounds about right for cheap counterfeit spark plugs and or coils…
Check Engine Light
A failing or failed crankshaft position sensor may cause the check engine light on your dashboard to come on. A diagnostic scan tool will show a code between P0335 and P0338. The check engine light doesn’t always come on, though, so you could be experiencing any of the above symptoms for some time before you see the warning light.
Tester
I’ve decided to sell the car, but since you took the time to respond, I’ll comment.
I replaced the 6 coils with Toyota Denso coils and NGK Iridium plugs at 110k miles. Yes, I bought one cheap coil for the #2 cylinder just to see if the 5 star mechanic was right. If the “temporary” cheap coil worked, I would have bought a quality one. It didn’t. When I said that all three front coils showed a vertical crack, I included the original #2 coil that was replaced, along with the #4 & 6.; not the new cheap one. I thought the crack might be a clue to the issue.
The mechanic who quoted $380 included $85 for one Denso (probably not Toyota) coil. That leaves $295 for 1/2 hour work. I think $580/hr labor is a bit high.
Thank you for that… I didn’t read past the other mechanic changed the coil… Oops! lol
From a Toyota dealer? or online??
Guess it does really matter but still curious… The vertical (cracks) lines could have been molding flash that the guy was saying was cracks, but didn’t see them to know either way…
Sorry you had to go through this… Don’t buy a Hyundai or Kia or we will be seeing a lot more of you on here… 
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Many possibilities on a 16 year old car. My most likely guess would be some sort of ignition system fault, which on older cars are commonly engine compartment heat related. Coils and crank/cam position sensors, etc. No idea why the shops you used didn’t report consistent shop-to-shop compression measurements. I can see how that would be frustrating. That sort of experience could motivate a car owner who would otherwise prefer to hire a shop for all their car-repair work to become a diy’er. I presume you sold the car to a diy’er, seems a pretty good compromise given the situation.
fyi, years ago I had a VW Rabbit that behaved like that, caused by a faulty fuel pump relay circuit. That car also developed a problem where it would stall if I drove over a puddle, even a small puddle. That was caused by a crack in the ignition coil.