Check Engine light Flashing and Shaking after Tune up

Hey how's it going guys? So I decided I wanted to do a tune up on my 2007 Tundra double cab 5.7L. I got the job done assembled everything back together and started the engine.

Unfortunately after idling for about 2 or 3 mins the check engine light started blinking and weirdly [which I've never seen] the 4lo light and VSC off lights were blinking also. The truck was in 2wd while this was going on.

I replaced the Coil packs and the spark plugs. I used Iridium IX spark plugs that I got off Ebay and I triple checked with the company and they do fit my truck. Same with the coil packs. I got the OEM denso coil packs with the part number being identical except the second set of numbers after the dash. They look identical to the old ones except that are a tad bit longer. The company assured me these would fit on my truck.

Does anyone know what is going on? I didnt drive the truck I tried to put in it reverse to back it up but It started slightly shaking and didnt feel right. I tightened all the spark plugs snug and then a little extra not breaking or over tightening. I dont understand what is going on.

Thanks for your time!

 

Scan the code, it'll tell you the exact issue and location. Can rent them at parts stores.

 

Lot of crap plugs can be bought off ebay, being sold as OEM quality. Do a quick search on here and you'll find the posts and be able to reference to see if you have a correct plug or a crap knock off.

 

Put the original coil packs back in. If the numbers aren't the same and they're different lengths, they're not correct.

 

Make sure all your stuff is plugged in all the way, if you did the tune up without unplugging the battery you may get a CEL. It happened to me when I unplugged the MAF and got a CEL, I cleared it and it went away, but I learned that lesson. I don't think the coils come in different lengths as this is usually a one size fits most operation. With the shaking sounds like a misfire, you may want to swap 1 coil pack with an old coil pack and check each cylinder at a time with the same coil pack, may be a way to find the culprit, just in case you will have to turn off the truck and restart every time. May take some work, but its the only way. Like stated above check the sparks as well, if all else fails, you may need to purchase new ones out of a shop....

 

This^^^^

 

Blinking or flashing CEL is the ECU trying to tell us something is Seriously wrong and way too much unburnt fuel is making it to the cats, which will ruin them in time.

As others said, check for a stored or pending CEL code, the truth starts there. Luck.

 

Hey guys thanks for all the replies and the help. Long story short we went and bought a code reader, and the code reader brought up a misfire on cylinder 6. We decided to switch the coil pack to cylinder 4. Same error went from 6 to 4. It ended up being the brand new denso coil pack that was brand new just being faulty, which is crazy lol gonna have to make some calls, but I've installed it so idk.
The truck is running great now. Unfortunately I still dont think the tune up fixed my problem which is my MPG. I'm getting like 8 mpg and I've thoroughly cleaned my throttle body l, MAF sensor, air filter, tune up, and bought nee gas cap plus gas treatment. I'm convinced it has to be the fuel pump or the secondary air injection pump. Hell maybe the fuel injectors any ideas guys? I'm shotgunning like crazy haha

PS: Sorry I forgot to mention that those spark plugs were legit NGK iridium that I bought off ebay from a credible source. The coil packs are OEM but I bought them from a 3rd party for a really good deal.

 

At least you were resourceful enough to realize a coil swap was the first step in diagnosing a single cylinder misfire - well done.

 

Hey man I gotta give all the credit to you guys on here. When I first bought my truck I didnt know anything about vehicles. I told myself I'd learn the thing through and through if I was gonna drive it. So I hopped on here and started researching. Thanks for all the info you guys put out I really appreciate it.

 

City driving will always kill your mpg down due to constant stop and go. Highway driving will get you better mpg. You can try to improve mileage by checking your tire pressure, all terrain tires will drop down your mpgs, drop some seafoam in the tank, just make sure you have the minimum required fuel in the tank, can help clean out your fuel system.

 

Havent tried seafoam yet. I will eventually wanna do that as well. I have used heet and fuel injection cleaner. I have friends from work that have the same truck and get 13-14 city 16-18 highway. It hurts when they tell me that and I see that numbers in their truck data. I do have mud terrains on my truck but my mpg were still around 9 mpg city when I have the oem tires and wheels.

My next step is replacing the fuel pump, then I if that doesnt fix my problem I will then go air injection pump, then push come to shove start looking toward the fuel injectors.

I did have papers in the dash from previous owner [from dealership] stating that emission systems failed or something. This truck has 189k on it now and I want to try to get atleast 300k+ out of this truck just dont wanna fork out 8 mpg city kinda $$$ lol

 

Hate to break it to ya, but your friends are full of crap.

also, Tampa bay bolts or chargers?

 

Do you have the paperwork on how it failed??? You can pull it up on their site via maintenance records or something like that, will give you an overview and what was repaired, if it was repaired....

You will need to take a look at your Oxygen sensors O2.. check if they haven't been rewired... If they have been, you may want to replace them, and scan the system. or replace all 4 Oxygen sensors, it may be pricey, but will remove all doubt, only if you have verified that they weren't changed.

I was going to say this in my initial post, but deleted it, lol... it may be your cats. They may be clogged, if they haven't been replaced, you may want to look at them. I'm at 220k, and I haven't had that issue, but my car has, I've recently replaced the cat on it and it idles better and I've seen an increase in mpg, and I was thinking of rewiring the sensors on it to turn off the p0420 code....

I would also agree with the mpg, but 8?? that's crazy.

 

check spark plugs. I got hosed on ebay with faked NGK. hard to tell the difference but the gap gave it away.
If the price is too good to be true, it's probably knock offs.

 

I wouldn’t recommend just throwing money at parts trying to solve a mpg issue. You can test most parts (coils, o2 sensors, injectors - little more involved and need a special tool) to see if they have failed or not. With a multimeter, ob2 port Wifi/Bluetooth dongle, smartphone, and YouTube - you can do some pretty in depth diagnostics. Just my $.02

 

I agree with dittothat.^^^ I use the shit of my obd2 scanner with live view of whats going on, with some youtube ASE certifications I can figure out most, youtube is where its at for now....

I was in denial on my car for like a decade to be honest with a CEL and 25 mpg is still good, but not no CEL and 35 mpg good lol...

 

Yeah I will definitely start doing that asap. A live view of what's going is better than just throwing $$ at it. Yeah I bought the truck with the intent of it being a 13-14 mpg I get that it's a big engine but 8 has been shocking. I have about a 40 minute commute to work. I have read about the oxygen sensors and it is in my notes I'm not familiar with it so I havent really looked into yet.

What tools would I need to check specifically check parts like fuel injectors. What do you recommend?

 

Here is a good start trying to figure out where you need to focus on, searching google and youtube is a great source to replicating your issues and finding a good explanation of items you may need... Watch a few to get a good idea don't just jump on the first one you see... Its the way I found my starter went bad, I found some great info here too which prompted me to sign up..

You may need to rent out tools at your local shop to test this stuff out, or find a decent mechanic or make a mechanic friend that can help you test most of this stuff for you. If a diagnostics check is too steep get a Pre Purchase Inspection which may run you a couple hundred bucks and will get you a good overview on the possibilities of issues you may have. I think AAA does them for free or a reduced rate.

 

100% agree with @blackdemon_tt . Tool loaner programs at your local auto parts store are your friend. No need to spend money on specialty tools you’ll use once. I’ve been watching YouTube videos on diagnostics for a few years now and I’d say that South Main Auto puts things in the easiest layman’s terms. The guy is brilliant. And if your interested in diesels, diesel tech ron is the only way to go.
And something like this can help diagnose a bad fuel injector... but this is after you have reason to suspect a faulty injector.

$28 ALLOSUN Fuel Injector Cleaner Tester & Adapter DIY Cleaning Tool Kit Set (Fuel Injector Tester)

https://www.amazon.com/ALLOSUN-EM276-Fuel-Injector-Tester/dp/B0126MEK3C/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=fuel+injector+tester&qid=1587613576&sprefix=fuel+inject&sr=8-3

 

Agreed with South Main auto watch the ish out his videos.

 

8mpg is not right at all. These trucks get a soild 15 definitely 2wd. I get 20mpg+ hand calculated going 72mph with no headwind.

 

Coil packs

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I have mud terrain tires on it but still with 8 mpg I knew something was up. I just replaced all the coil packs and spark plugs yesterday. I havent put enough driving data to get a good average yet to see if that was the problem.

My next step is to replace the fuel pump and see if that helps. My mechanic told me that the fuel pump could be the issue because when I really wanna accelerate sometimes I get a huge lag kinda like a pull before I actually "go". If the fuel pump doesnt fix the MPG next step is to start working with local shop to start checking if injectors are good etc

 

Any dragging brakes?

I’d look at Air/Fuel ratio sensors (AKA upstream O2 sensors) long before a fuel pump / injectors. A fuel pressure test under driving conditions is much cheaper than replacing the pump on a “maybe” as well.

How did the spark plug insulators on the plugs you removed look? Tan, dark brown, black...?

 

I'll look into that as well. Yeah I dont necessarily wanna change the fuel pump, that was just our next maybe like you said. I just gotta figure out this fuel mileage deal its costing me a lot more than I intended with my commute to work.

The coil packs we just darkish brown tinted I dont think any were black yet. I was set on replacing them anyway though. I figured I got the truck at 190k and the OEM pack were still on it I just wanted to start fresh.

 

I don’t mean the color of the coil pack isolators, I mean the spark plug ceramic isolators and electrodes, if you remember or still have them.

Like this:


Google “Reading spark plugs” for WAY more info / examples.

 

Ahh ok sorry. They were definitely toward the lean ones to the far left. They were darker and more brown than the ones on the far left.

 

This will sound crazy but I had an issue where the front bearing was bad causing the rotor to have wiggle room. Didn't really notice it due to being passenger side but remember my MPG's were crap. Changed it out and gained some back immediately.

So when you finally give up toss it on jack stands and check out bearings/brakes it don't cost nothing but a small amount of time.

 

I will look into the bearing issue, at this point I'll look into anything to try and get as much mpg back as possible. I would be happy with 11-12 mpg at this point. I was riding today and while I was actually pushing the gas pedal the instant mpg was fluctuating between 1.7- 2.6 mpg.

I would consider this being a miss read or something and it being the computer, but I'm actually losing the gas at the rate its reading. I can fill up and be at a 3/4 tank the next afternoon.