You all probably gonna laugh at me........2005 Tundra

I seen this Tundra on FB marketplace. In South Carolina. I'm in Florida. It looked decent and I contacted the guy. He told me that it was working fine and just stopped. He removed the bed and installed a new fuel pump , thinking that was the issue. Fuel pump didn't start the truck and he gave up. Put it for sale. He told me about the truck, said front bumper is messed up, said inside isn't bad, "BACK SEAT LOOKS LIKE NOBODY EVER SAT IN IT", He had it listed for $2500. We talked about it a little. I thought about it for a couple days. He called me back and said he would take $1800 for it. He also told me 2 kids came to look at it, left and came back in the middle of the night to try and steal it-he shot one of them in the leg. Crazy-I know. anyway, i bought the truck for $1800. Had a guy pick it up in SC and deliver it here to me in FLA. Another $600. The truck gets here and OMG. it's covered in mold, Filthy dirty inside and out. Took me an hour to clean all the junk out of the inside. Seats are leather and completely shot. Need new seats. Carpet is moldy and crusty to the touch. No battery in it. I hooked my battery charger to it just to see if it would crank. Nothing, just a click. I climb under it to look for the starter and found out the cats were cut off of it recently. Marks are fresh and not rusted. I didn't see a starter anywhere. Googled tundra starter. Thats when I found out where the starter is located. I called the guy and said this truck is not what he said it was. I told him I was sending it back up to him. He hemed and hawed about not having any money to give me and said he was going to look at his security cameras for the cat thief. He did and he called back and said it was some young kid up the street. I'm not really gonna send it back. I love a good challenge. I pulled the intake off and removed the starter. It's bad. That was a crazy job. I ordered a new Toyota starter, found some decent seats, and gonna try to get this POS going. Once I get the starter in and reassembled. Any idea what I should be checking for the no start issue. Cam/Crank sensors ? what would stop fuel pump from getting power?

 

Get it running then pay the trashy neighbor kids to drive it through his living room?
Profit?

 

Start here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

There were just massive floods in the Carolinas. I think you just bought a flooded-out truck, sadly. I suspect it's probably been underwater for some time.

In light of that, you'll need to go through the entire truck and figure out how deep in the water it was. Did water get in the gas tank? Did water get into the intake, the filter, into the block? You need to pull all the spark plugs and look in the cylinders before trying to turn it over to avoid hydrolocking the motor. You need to check the timing belt to ensure it's intact and not ready to snap, the B8 in these is interference.

You didn't bother to tell us what cab type the truck is, or if it has the V8 or V6. I assume the V8 if you took the intake off to change starter, but ... just sayin'. Knowing if 2WD or 4WD is helpful too.

Once you get that thread I linked read up on, at least the first two replies, then confirm there's no water in the cylinders and the timing belt is intact, but not on the verge of snapping (10mm to loosen a timing cover, then pull back enough to check belt state).

Get some starting fluid (ether, in a spray can) from the store. Spray in the intake, see if it starts. If it doesn't, you have a spark delivery problem or electrical problem. If it does start, you likely have a fuel delivery issue, which may also be electrical, but knowing which of these two paths to explore is crucial.

 

Wow! You were right. I laughed.

 

Fookin' 'ell. You brought out the Irish in me and I ain't Irish.

 

Where in SC did you buy this truck?

 

Great story. Sounds like you'll get it sorted out.

Welcome to the family!

 

I admire your willingness to try to save this thing, but you might as well have soaked $2400 in gasoline and torched it. Sounds like it was in a flood and you'll be chasing electrical gremlins forever. Good luck.

 

That truck is fucked.

 

We like pics

 

Don't tempt me.

 

Also don’t try to start a truck with a battery charger, get a battery

 

I am not the guru on these, matter of fact it seems i'm always learning BUT in the other toyota vehicles i've owned, the fuel pump wont get power until the MAF sees air flowing past it. So you gotta be rolling the engine over, for the MAF (mass air flow) to see air flow, to start the fuel pump.
I read here before that there is a jumper you can do under the hood to get the fuel pump to come on but like Shifty said, check everything multiple times and after you have checked everything, pulled plugs and checked every cylinder, then you can try to start it up and get it to roll over. If it rolls over then spray it with Ether / starting fluid to see if you gotta fuel problem or fire problem. Then we can go from there.

 

It's (almost) never the starter. I'd be willing to bet it's the battery and/or cables. Is there water line marks on the interior? Like @FrenchToasty said, we like pics. Like, a lot.

I'd keep that thing just on principle. "A man shot another man just so I could have this truck".

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! Yep, I laughed.

 

The truck is a 2005 4 door crew cab with the 4.7 engine. I'll take some pics. banged up on almost all sides. inside is trash. It's not a flood vehicle. It came from an island south of Charleston. No floods there. I got screwed. BUT....like I said, I love a challenge. I'm retired and have nothing better to do. I WILL bring it back to life. I pulled the starter and had it checked. The solenoid failed, has no contact. Ordered a new one from Lakeland Toyota, $136, no too bad. And intake gaskets. ALL of you were right in your comments, I agree with you. But stay tuned, I will get it to run. Already got new seats coming. $200. Have a friend that owns a junk yard in Jacksonville. That helps. I need a front bumper and a shifter (shifter is rusty), and a stock radio. That will get me started.

 

There is a guy I constantly see posting Tundra parts on Facebook marketplace for the JAX area, he’s a salvage operation of some sort and he always has half a dozen 1st gen’s he is parting out, so location plays an advantage for you here.

That said, if you haven’t already read the new-owner mega thread I linked in my 1st reply on this thread so you know what pitfalls there are, and what would be your immediate stopping point before continuing, do yourself a favor, read it. I didn’t write that book, I just helped compile it, organize it and post it. It was a community effort to help guys just like you, cutting their teeth.

You said it came from an island. Salt water in the air means rust. The frames on these trucks are known to crumble from rust. They like the blow holes thru and crack in half on the upturn section below the brake master cylinder. They’ll developed holes in and around the area of frame above the spare tires. The frame will delaminate on the inner frame rail where Toyota riveted in additional frame stiffeners. More info in that thread.

And the timing belt is crucial. You MUST verify it’s not cracked up/ready to break AND it is actually properly timed. It WILL NOT run if timing is off, and you wouldn’t be the first dude to buy a truck where the owner fucked up timing trying to save $1,500 in parts and labor doing it himself. Here is how to validate timing. These trucks ONLY USE PINK COOLANT. Do not use universal, it’s a farce. And also note: People often misroute the crank position sensor wire, and it gets nicked. This will stop the ECU from sending power to the fuel pump. More info on proper routing, AND this issue in general is there.

Also in that thread: Rodents love these trucks, and rodents live on islands. There are specific places they like to live and chew, which causes “suddenly wont start” issues, and when they chew, it’s typically in the wiring and plastics, “because soy” and/or “because nesting material”.

Anyway, read the thread. Post here for help. Look brother, we’ve seen some shit over the years here. You have a lot of lifelong mechanics in this community, we’re not a forum of newbies just shooting the shit. There are a bunch of repeat problems we see year in and year out, and have helped folks fix it.

 

Good luck. Have you inspected the timing belt as has been suggested, or tried to turn it over with a breaker or scoped the cylinders? Don’t throw money at it till it’s confirmed a good motor.

 

I really like this. Glad it's not a flood vehicle. If you've got the time and the money this could be a great story. I did a similar thing on a $200 2001 Isuzu Trooper. Ended up taking me 2 years and a new engine, but in the end I had a good, running 4WD vehicle that I was proud of. I second what @KNABORES said about trying to manually turn the engine, and you can buy cheap scopes on Amazon. I made the mistake of not doing that on the Trooper, and that's why it needed a new engine. Broken rod had it locked up. But hey, I learned a lot. Good luck, and keep us up to date with your progress. And yes, we love pictures!

 

Could be a resurrection for the record books. Hopefully it works out for ya.

 

Just gonna leave this here.....

 

I just read the MEGA THREAD, very informative and thanks for the heads up. I will definitely get under it and check it stem to stern. Especially the frame. If it's shot, there's not much I can do with it. Rest of the truck, I can fix. I worked for Kenworth Trucks for 20 years, I can do most anything to anything. Not afraid to tackle the "you can't do that". One question I do have,....when I removed the intake on this 4.7, all the bigger holes in the heads were filled with gassy smelling water. Are the bigger holes the water Jackets? why would they smell like gas ? Anybody??

 

Pics tomorrow, I promise

 

I spun it over with a breaker. It's free. And feels like there's compression. I will definitely check the timing belt before I start it, and thanks

 

It was on an Island south of Charleston.....Wadmalaw Island

 

You worked for Kenworth for 20 years? Did you spend all of them washing trucks?

The big holes? Do you mean the valve intake ports?

I'm thinking you better drain the oil in this flood vehicle.

 

not yet it isn't

 

That's the spirit!

I knew this guy belonged in the 1st gen forums!! He's definitely one of us.

 

Gas in the coolant could be head gasket/cracked head. Could also be from being submerged in oily, gassy flood water though. Id start with a few fluid transfusions
I'm curious what the dipstick looks like

 

You only pulled the intake, correct? There are no water jacket ports visible from the intake. If you pulled the heads, you will see water jackets.