2001 L300 Stalling/No Start/No Fuel Reading

[Kodiak351]

(I sent this to the general forum first, but thought that maybe the Tech Forum was the more appropriate place)

I replaced the valve cover gaskets about 2 days ago, and then drove the car from Sprague River, OR to Eugene, OR (about 170 miles). It worked fine until I reached Eugene, where it started having issues; hesitation and jerking upon acceleration, and eventually stalling out completely while driving. Sometimes, I can crank it right back up, but sometimes, the car will show no fuel in the tank (it's full), and will crank, but not start. We are stuck at a motel until we can get the car going well enough to get over the mountain pass. We tried to leave the motel yesterday, and made it to the end of the parking lot before the car stalled and would not start again. After a couple of hours it did start again, and I moved it back to it's parking spot.

I just got the car, and this was it's first major trip. I did find out that the car is missing it's vacuum canister- the vacuum line simply runs from one side of the intake to what I believe is the intake manifold runner valve. I don't know if that would cause these issues, or if it's some delayed effect from the valve cover gasket change. Any help would be appreciated, and thank you.

[Rj 2000 LS2]

If you got fuel pressure on the rails, I could remove the Crank Position Sensor and clean any debris off of it. It could have magnetic metal particles blocking normal operation. Clean it thoroughly and reinstall it.

You could also have an intermittent air leak on the large intake hoses connecting both banks.

The PCV Oil separator and associated hoses would not likely cause the engine an intermittent starting problem. There could be a vacuum leak which would make the engine run poorly, but it would likely run.

If you removed the ECM while changing the "valve cover gaskets", be sure it is properly secured to the engine in order to get the proper ground. Without a proper ground, the ECM will not function properly.

I hope this information helps. Good Luck!

[Kodiak351]

Thanks for the response! Got it figured out, and it was completely my fault. I had only finger tightened the bolts on the rear intake runner, and had forgotten to go back and torque them down. As a result, the runner was not making full and consistent contact with it's attachment points, and ungrounding the ECM that is attached to it. I realized this when I was leaning over the engine bay checking connectors. When I put my weight on that rear runner, everything would start working again.