Rosco862003
Adventurer
First off I'll introduce myself as this will be my first post in the Toyota side of this forum. My name is Chris and I live back in Charlotte after having lived in the Bronx for a year, and finally got to buy my dream rig which is a 1st gen 4Runner. My DD/ light adventure rig is a lifted 06 Impreza 2.5i wagon that I plan on keeping since it's able to do about 80% of the trips I plan on doing. I plan on building the 4Runner for the other 20% of what I have planned. Unfortunately it seems like it's been one hurdle after another in regards to getting this thing to a streetable condition. The first issue was starting related, and my initial thought was the ignition switch and ignition cylinder. I replaced the switch, which made no difference, and ordered 2 ignition cylinders (both of which didn't fit, despite the parts store stating otherwise), and finally replaced the starter, which was the culprit as you can see in the picture. After replacing the starter the truck ran great after the addition of some craigslist 31" off-brand specials. All was well for about a week when I was headed to work on the highway and decided to downshift from 5th to 4th to pass an inconsiderate *explicit* doing 10 under in the fast lane, who I can only assume is somehow related to Hitler to justify a crime so heinous.. Anyways after doing so the engine immediately sounded and felt as though it wasn't firing on all cylinders.
Oddly enough the CEL would only come on while on the highway, and when it did it would flash about 3 times over the course of a 30 minute drive for 1 minute or so, not a constant flash, and never come on while driving around in the city. It doesn't blow any smoke, there are no leaks, there is no water in the oil, and vice versa. I've replaced the plugs (OEM spec NGK) and wires (Duralast) which made no difference, removed the exhaust including the cat back, thinking that it might be a clogged cat, but there was no difference in engine response. I did check my grounds and found one that wasn't connected, and after reading that these motors exhibit similar misfire symptoms with bad grounds, I rejoiced when I tightened it down only to be saddened once I started it again and had the same issue. I've cleaned the MAS with MAS cleaner, cleaned the throttle body and am now asking for some advice before I start tearing things down to look at the injectors. I removed the fuel tank access under the panel and noticed that the ground attached to the body appeared to be freshly ground down making me think that the fuel pump was recently replaced. Are these motors particular on the type of fuel pump used? I should also note that the fuel gauge didn't work to the PO's knowledge and he only put $10 in at a time. The day before this happened I put a full tank in and to my surprise found the needle gauge to reflect the full tank. I'm thinking that it's not fuel related as it starts up strong each and everytime and after about 5 seconds settles to a lumpy idle.
I'm hoping that someone may be able to easily diagnose the issue given the odd and sudden onset of the stutter. I should add that I tried pulling the code using the paper clip method, and there is no breaks in blinking, there is 1 blink with a 5 second break in between, which honestly stumps me. Most of the other videos I've seen of this procedure show a clear break in the blinking of the CEL. Thanks in advance for the help.
Oddly enough the CEL would only come on while on the highway, and when it did it would flash about 3 times over the course of a 30 minute drive for 1 minute or so, not a constant flash, and never come on while driving around in the city. It doesn't blow any smoke, there are no leaks, there is no water in the oil, and vice versa. I've replaced the plugs (OEM spec NGK) and wires (Duralast) which made no difference, removed the exhaust including the cat back, thinking that it might be a clogged cat, but there was no difference in engine response. I did check my grounds and found one that wasn't connected, and after reading that these motors exhibit similar misfire symptoms with bad grounds, I rejoiced when I tightened it down only to be saddened once I started it again and had the same issue. I've cleaned the MAS with MAS cleaner, cleaned the throttle body and am now asking for some advice before I start tearing things down to look at the injectors. I removed the fuel tank access under the panel and noticed that the ground attached to the body appeared to be freshly ground down making me think that the fuel pump was recently replaced. Are these motors particular on the type of fuel pump used? I should also note that the fuel gauge didn't work to the PO's knowledge and he only put $10 in at a time. The day before this happened I put a full tank in and to my surprise found the needle gauge to reflect the full tank. I'm thinking that it's not fuel related as it starts up strong each and everytime and after about 5 seconds settles to a lumpy idle.
I'm hoping that someone may be able to easily diagnose the issue given the odd and sudden onset of the stutter. I should add that I tried pulling the code using the paper clip method, and there is no breaks in blinking, there is 1 blink with a 5 second break in between, which honestly stumps me. Most of the other videos I've seen of this procedure show a clear break in the blinking of the CEL. Thanks in advance for the help.
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