Originally Posted by osu94buckeye

I have an '89 Toyota pickup with the 22RE (EFI) engine (210,000 miles) that has been hesitating and sometimes stalling out lately. Most of the time it does it at low speeds, usually when accelerating from a stop in 1st gear or when starting to accelerate in 2nd or 3rd and once-in-a-while it does it at higher speeds. It also will sometimes completely sputter and stall out usually after coming to stop after running for a while at higher speeds. The most common one is the 1st/2nd gear hesitation when it seems to be acceleration fine then will momentarily die usually firing again and lurching back to life after a couple seconds.

I replaced the plugs - the old ones were definitely worn but didn't show any signs of bigger problems other than age. It ran better for a few days then slowly started hesitating again. The problem continued to get worse with it also starting to completely stall sometimes out as described above. I just replaced the distributer cap & rotor (also well worn) and fuel filter over the weekend and once again it ran fine for a couple days but has just started doing the hesitation thing again.

Overall, the things I've done so far have definitely improved the engine performance & power but obviously not solved the problem completely. I'm going to try some fuel injector cleaner for the heck of it but I'm doubtful that's the problem. Other than that, my next guess was going to be replacing fuel pump unless someone has experienced this problem and has any other suggestions?

I'm a newbie here (sorry for the long post) and not an expert mechanic by any means so go easy on me. I saw a thread with a similar problem and some folks were mentioning the TPS but I'm not even sure what the TPS is?? Help!

Originally Posted by 4runnerx3

This is the check list for poor acceleration in the FM.
1. clutch
-Clutch seems fine, doesn't slip.
2. vacuum leaks-hose connections pcv, egr stays open
-I was thinking of some of these and will check them out.
3. air filter
-recently replaced
4. malfunction code-check engine light diagnostic codes
-it never gives me the check engine light but maybe I'll have a mechanic check the computer for diagnostics
5. ignition spark- wires, distributor, coil, igniter
-I'm going to do the wires - already did the dist - I'll check the coil & ignitor
6. timing -5 degrees BTDC at idle (T and E1 short circuit)
-it always seems to idle fine but I'm going to check the timing anyway
7. fuel pressure- fuel pump, fuel filter, presure regulator (fuel pressure at cold start injector 33-38 psi with regulator unhooked, 27-31 psi with vacuum on regulator at idling.
-fuel pump was also on my list of suspects...
8. check injectors
-I plan on trying some fuel injector cleaner...
9. check spark plugs- plug gap 0.8mm, 0.031 in.
-just replaced and was careful to check the gaps - hesitated before & after
10. check EFI- air flow meter, water temp sensor, air temp sensor, throttle position sensor, injection signal(solenoid resistor)
-all possiblilities but I'm not too familiar with any of these - have to study up a bit!

For sometimes stalls- check air flow meter

Originally Posted by osu94buckeye

Thanks for the reply 4runnerx3. Its not so much "poor acceleration" as it is that the engine will just cut out occasionally and it usually happens when accelerating. Overall it accelerates just fine especially with the new dist cap, rotor, plugs and fuel filter that I've already replaced. Thanks for the list of other possibilities - I made some notes on them below:



Thanks again for the advice - let me know if any of what I've already done gives you anymore ideas.

Originally Posted by blacksheep

Did you ever get this figured out?

Originally Posted by truck guy

i solved the problem you guys are having on my truck by changing the catilatic converter...i ended up doing a straight pipe from headers to muffler taking out the o2 sensor too. runs great now 22re motors last forever