Ok, I followed up on a few items, some still pending.
First the spark plugs. Yes, anything I touched in the past is suspect!
However, I found nothng wrong, torqued to spec (18 ft lb), and noted they all tended be in pretty clean environments. See photo.
- spark plug clean.JPG (56.31 KiB) Viewed 2543 times
However, I did note they had some oil seeping where I think the valve cover gasket is. Am I right? Would this warrant a change of gasket? I think you can see this in the photo below:
- spark plug oil.JPG (33.69 KiB) Viewed 2543 times
I checked the PCV valve since I replaced that, and though I didn't take it out, there is no "sludge" or residue in the hose at either end (referring to a Youtube Video by Fred Lyst, if I'm not mistaken). I could have taken it out but I believe you need to treat the threads with locking compound which I didn't have on hand, so I didn't.
Now, the 02 sensors. There are apparently several ways to log this behaviour with Torque. One is real-time data, then there is a Test mode for 02 sensors, there is a graphing feature, logging feature, and a plugin called realtime charts or something similar. I don't know how accurate these are, seems the highest resolution is 100ms. I think the O2 sensor works but may be "lazy" or "slow" but I don't think any of these are definitive.
Here are two plots. First is from the realtime data
- O2 realtime.JPG (41.67 KiB) Viewed 2543 times
this one is from the 02 test:
- O2 test.JPG (32.39 KiB) Viewed 2543 times
Does it look like the voltage doesn't go high enough?
Might this be a setup issue with Torque, a question of scaling?
Is it perhaps not fast enough?
I could try to change the O2 sensor, but I don't want to randomly start replacing things.
Is there a better app made specifically for Toyotas? (I'm sure there is, just not sure which). I'd like to be able to also get the status of other things like any transmission issues.
Finally, not sure I mentioned it, but there is no check engine or any trouble codes at all. Yet at my last fill up I recorded 17.1 mpg and I still hear the noise that started this thread (now thinking it might be the VSV, coming probably from near the air filter box).
Thanks for any further tips, info, or comments!