Illusion569

Yesterday I brought a 1992 v6 4runner with 180,000 miles, I was told it had some minor issues but I got it at a good price. Okay, so here is what it does.

Problem #1: It has a loss of power, mainly on takeoff(Hesitation) but it seems it should do far better up a hill than it does as well. I have to kick the gas triggering passing gear to get it going, otherwise it just sputters and hesitates to go between 1500 and 3000 RPMs. Seems like a fuel or fire problem...perhaps due to some type of faulty sensor preventing the right mix. Seems it gets worst as the engine warms up(much like problem #2).

Problem #2: Difficult to start, when it does get started I have to keep it running because if I shut it off for more than 5 minutes afterwards, I have to wait for the engine to cool completely before it will start again.

What has been done: Previous owner reports doing the following to correct the problem(s). Note that the engine light is NOT on.

New MAF Sensor
New Plugs
New Plug Wires
New fuel filter
New Battery
New distributor cap. (I did this today)
A full tank of high test Gas with fuel injector cleaner added.
Compression test tested OK.
I plan to replace the thermostat tomorrow, mainly for the hell of it.

In addition, I read a post on another board where a person had the same problem with power. He disconnected the line to the EGR valve and he said it fixed it aside from throwing a computer error due to the disconnection(Which I could live with but it had no effect). I attempted this and it had no effect whatsoever. What I don't understand is that though my engine light works, disconnecting the EGR didn't throw an error code...I'm wondering if the computer itself may be faulty. I'm limited on funds so i'm limited from just replacing whatever else part I think is bad.

A friend of mine had a 4 runner with the exact same problems a while back, though he didn't take the time to fix it so ended up blowing a head gasket by over-revving it to get it to go (he's impatient like that). I prefer to fix the problem. If need be I can live with the starting problem but the power problem needs to be fixed, besides, they might be related.

All of these fixes did not solve the problems outlined above. The previous owner as well as some mechanically inclined friends of mine both suspect some type of sensor. I really need to get this thing running right ASAP so any responses and/or advice would be greatly appreciated as i'm completely puzzled.