Car question

[glatt]

Nope. Coolant was gushing out of the hole when I pulled the old sensor out, and I didn't notice the old washer until after I got the new sensor in and saw the shiny washer had been flushed away onto the transaxle or something. I had lost roughly a cup or two of coolant, and didn't want to lose even more putting the washer back. I put plumbers tape on the threads of the new sensor, and it's not leaking, even after running the engine for a while.

I mopped up the spilled coolant with a rag the best I could, and hosed the rest away with plenty of water.

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

But after considerable research, I suspect that the engine coolant temperature sensor is the culprit.

If the sensor was defective, then charts from the Car Chip for that sensor would make the defect obvious. The sensor would report engine temperatures that make no sense. Or that change suddenly.

[glatt]

I never got a car chip report from that sensor that also happened at the same time the symptoms were occurring. The car chip is neat, but it can only track 4 things at a time. If you pick the 4 wrong things to track, it doesn't help you. When I did watch the temperature, it was normal and the car behaved normally. That's the big difficulty with this intermittent problem. How can you study a problem if you can't recreate it consistently? After I had settled on this sensor being a problem, the car behaved perfectly, so I couldn't test the theory by just unplugging the sensor when the stalling happened, and seeing if the car improved.

But I did check the resistance of both the new sensor and the old sensor at room temperature, and they didn't match. I played with the old sensor by running it under hot water, and it was cool watching the resistance change as the water got hotter. So the old sensor did something. Not sure if it was the right thing.

I'll tell you this though. My wife was talking about selling the car if this kept up much longer. So I didn't have the luxury of doing nothing and just waiting for the problem to happen again so I could study it some more. A $30 educated guess is OK with me. Better than losing thousand by having to get rid of the car and find a new one.

Based on a few different posts at Toyota Nation, where people had this exact same problem, and the ECT sensor was the culprit, I'm fairly confident this is going to fix it. We'll know if the car doesn't stall before the end of March. 2 months is the longest it ever went without stalling. I may be eating my words. We'll see.

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

I'll tell you this though. My wife was talking about selling the car if this kept up much longer. So I didn't have the luxury of doing nothing and just waiting for the problem to happen again so I could study it some more.

What!!! She wants to take away your fun?

[glatt]

How do you know if it's critical to replace tires if there is plenty of tread left? When we bought this car over a year ago, the tires looked like this, and we have been driving around on them since then without incident. Mostly city driving. Occasionally highway.

I'd like new tires, but 4 new ones of respectable quality will cost about $650-$700 installed, so I only want to replace if necessary.

See the good tread? See all those little cracks? They all look like this. Are they ok?

[jimhelm]

no. that's dry rot. dangerous.

get new tires.

[glatt]

OK, do you expect that I'm better off ordering them from Tire Rack online and paying to have them installed, or do you think I'd get a better deal just going to a tire place? Obviously, I can make some phone calls to compare prices, but if you have insight, I'd be curious.

I'd probably choose Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires because Consumer Reports rated them highest, and they are about the same price as other top tires.

[lumberjim]

I'd order them, and take them to walmart for installation. or pep boys... tire sales are the life blood of many retail service centers. I got my Nitto Dura Grapplers from DiscountTiresDirect, had them shipped here, to my work, and got them installed. I buy the 2nd best tires, unless the price drop is minor... in which case, I buy the best.

[Clodfobble]

Crap... my tires look like glatt's, I didn't realize they were that bad off. How long are tires normally supposed to last? The car is only 18 months old. Is it because it came with cheap tires to begin with?

[lumberjim]

depends on your weather too... and the tires may be much older than the date they were installed. You gotta check that when you buy them... .make sure they aren't already 3 years old.... and then if you live in a hot dry place, keep them protected with Tire Dressing or Armor All or something.

[Clodfobble]

Yeah, it's probably time to replace all four. Do you have an opinion on Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires? That's the one the Lamb's tire guy is recommending based on how frequently I commute to Houston and back. (I'm at just under 30,000 miles in 16 months...)

[lumberjim]

whook. that's a lot of driving. I'm not a tire expert... but in Houston... do you need an All Season Tire? what kind of car is it? year, make, model, sub model... engine type, please..

[Clodfobble]

2012 Toyota Sienna, I think it's the LE--it's the lowest available package, whatever that is. I don't know what kind of engine, V6 I assume?

[lumberjim]

The base Sienna has 17" tires, but the AWD version has 18". both have TPMS.

The Michelins get mostly good reviews.... I love my Nittos... here's one for your car... no reviews, but they get A ratings...

[glatt]

Consumer Reports ranks the Michelin Energy Saver A/S as the best for all season mpg tires.