[Bigrig44]

My daughter’s 06 Sienna began knocking and overheating (steam actively coming from under the hood) while she was driving, and will no longer start at all. It threw codes p0117, p0327, and p0332. Where should I even begin to determine what is wrong? It still will not crank. Given the age (06), mileage (around 240k), and symptoms I’ve described, is it even worth trying to diagnose, or is it most likely something too severe to bother repairing on such an old vehicle? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[paul r]

Sounds like loss of coolant. Not good when engine won't crank. Let the engine cool. Inspect radiator and radiator hoses for leaks. Inspect the heater hose Ts . There are two Ts and cannot be seen without removing the airbox. They are close to the brake booster located drivers side. Check also the coolant hose to the throttle body.

 

[paul r]

Failed heater hose tee's

This issue has been posted before, but since it's a potential engine killer I thought I'd mentioned it again. Returned home and smelled coolant on my 09 Sienna LE with 208k miles. Pop to the hood to hear phft, phft, phft and could see coolant leaking from below the air intake hose between the...

www.siennachat.com

Here is a thread.

 

[slothman]

first easy check. drain the oil. If it looks like chocolate milk, the head gasket blew, or coolant in the oil. this is NOT good, motor could be blown. You could easily compression check the front cylinders. Low numbers would mean blown motor. good news, used motors are cheap. If you go this route...install a new water pump and timing belt. Or any hard to get to part before installing.

 

[BillG]

It WAS most likely something that would have cost $500-1000 to fix (BEFORE the overheating/knocking/non-start) and now will be $5-10k to fix (with a junkyard/used engine plus a bunch of other parts which are required from the original $500-1000 repair).

 

[Bigrig44]

Thank you all for the feedback. I drained the oil and it did not look like chocolate milk. But it was VERY dark and had a very strong burned odor. Also, I tried to remove and inspect the plugs from the front cylinders. The ignition coil in the middle cylinder was melted to the wall of the cylinder and broke in half when I tried to get it out. It also had a fair amount of oil on it.

For background about a month ago the van was throwing misfire codes on cylinders 2 and 4. I replaced all the spark plugs (what a pain in the ass that turned out to be, but I digress) and the misfire on 2 went away but not on 4. I then replaced the ignition coil on 4 and that cleared the remaining code. The van drove well after that until the Highway incident with the overheating and the temp sensor and knocking codes.

the melted coil is the one I replaced. And one more thing. When I took the spark plugs out of 2 and 6 just now, they felt loose even though I know I tightened them well. I probably didn’t even need ratchet to move them. Does this back story and new info give any further hints about what’s wrong?

 

[3Wheelerguy]

From info you put here. Engine is toast and got SOOO hot.

 

[BillG]

So hot it melted the ignition coil??? That suggests the engine (or, the spot where that coil is) was something like 700 degrees. Unless, of course, the coil boot was actually torn (or not fully seated) and arc-welded itself in. Unfortunately, the concept of "coolant in the oil means the head gasket is bad" is not the only option. You can get oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil, coolant in the combustion chamber and combustion gasses in the coolant. All 4 options mean a blown head gasket. Now, you have to ask yourself... In a best-case scenario, you're looking at replacing the front head gasket and/or head (which can be done with the engine in the van). You're looking at a partial (or full) coolant loss, which will still exist after any engine repair. You're looking at somehow decoupling the fused partial coil plug from the tube and replacing that too. And then, there's anything else that may have been damaged (melted knock sensor wires and anything in the rear head). So, by my math, you'd be looking at probably $3-5k worth of repair work on the HOPE that it's only an issue with the front head. Once you reach that level, you start thinking about the trade-in value (for a push/pull/tow) or dropping in a used engine.