Environazis Can Stick It

 I drive a 2007 Toyota Tundra SR5 Doublecab pickup truck with 166,700 miles on it. It is by far the best truck I have ever owned, even with a couple of major issues. The biggest issue was a full frame replacement in 2018 that cost Toyota about $15,000 and cost me about $700. My share was for brand new Bilstein off-road shocks and struts and a new fuel injection computer. I purposely held off on the shocks and struts so as to save on labor since they had to come off for the frame replacement. The fuel injection computer lives under the bed mounted to the frame, and the original was so corroded the body of it was about to disintegrate. That part was not included in the frame replacement and if I remember right was less than $200. My truck chassis is still like new underneath. It included all new brake and fuel lines, control arms, and leaf springs.

The new truck frame with pieces for my truck being moved over

The other major problem with Tundras is the secondary air injection system. So much so that Toyota now warranties the *SAIS up to 150,000 miles. Of course mine started giving me trouble at 155,000 miles. I think that was because for the first six years I owned it I had a company truck and didn't drive the Tundra much. I had problems with both air injection switching valves throwing ECM error codes. There is one switch, an air pump, air supply tubing, and exhaust tubing for each side of the V-8 engine. The first time I replaced the valves I bought inexpensive after market ones on eBay. When those died one at a time in less than two years I bought the OEM version figuring I got Chinese junk off eBay. Nope, the OEM versions failed as well, and the last one was less than a year old. When I called Toyota to get a warranty replacement, they informed me they only warranty the parts if the entire SAIS system was serviced to the tune of about $4000. They explained failures are caused by contamination in the system, so supposedly replacing parts one at a time will eventually cause failures. The state of Kommiecticut has an emissions inspection program. Every vehicle over 4 and less than 25 years old must get an inspection every two years. It is a total sham and nothing but a way to charge a $20 fee. Trust me, I know, because before the Tundra I would tweak my vehicles to pass and then after inspection put them back to running the way I wanted them to. Initially the inspections were done just with a tailpipe sniffer probe, but now they also pressure test the gas cap,  poke a mirror underneath to visually see catalytic converters and as long as there is no lit check engine light, plug into the OBD II port and take the readings.

My problems started last summer just after my bi-annual emissions inspection. It was throwing the code for the "Bank 1" switching valve stuck closed. That would put the truck in a partial limp mode. The truck was drive-able, but super annoying. Repairing the system was never going to be an option. I had heard about an SAIS bypass kit, but when I initially looked at them they were about $400, and I didn't have the extra dough. So for the last almost full year, I carried my OBD II code reader with me every where I went. Whenever the check engine light came on, I would grab the code reader, plug it in and clear it. Only on the coldest of winter days would I possibly have to do it more than once. After clearing the codes, the truck ran absolutely fine. I recently came into some money (with much more to come) in the form of back overtime pay which I should have been receiving all along, so I finally ordered a bypass kit.

I ordered the highly recommended Gen II kit from Hewitt Technologies for $395 with free regular USPS package shipping and no sales tax. It came two days earlier than predicted.

The kit comes with a replacement control module, wiring harness, two exhaust tube block off plates, and an installation kit of hardware and zip ties. Following the enclosed detailed instructions, it took me a little over an hour to install. Problem solved!

These kits are sold for "Off Road and Competition Use Only" but believe me, the majority of these kits are purchased for the same reason I bought mine. The way the Toyota SAIS is engineered it is a moisture trap that dooms the system to eventual failure. If someone keeps their truck long enough, the system will eventually fail again. I figured since I was using my code reader to temporarily "fix" a non working system anyway, I might as well make the fix permanent. 

As an aside, I thought the Volkswagen emission software that detected emission testing and put out fantastic emission codes was brilliant. Too bad they got caught.

 

*SAIS -- The purpose of the SAIS is to introduce fresh air into the exhaust downstream from the engine, in order to burn the excess fuel used on a cold start. Burning the excess fuel also raises the temperature of the catalytic converters quicker. The system only operates during the first 30 seconds after a cold start and then shuts down. The SAIS is inactive for all successive starts on a warm engine. The SAIS has no effect on the operation or fuel economy, it is strictly to "reduce" emissions from the extra fuel used at a cold start. IMHO...IT IS TOTAL UNNECESSARY CRAP!!