alanbobalan

so i went wheelin today and with all the recent rains we've been having here in so cal, it was pretty freakin muddy! after driving through some pretty deep puddles, i notice my motor sputters a little at lower rpms when i give it gas. when i'm gentle on the gas, it sputters less. when i gun it, it sputters more harshly. after a mile or so of driving (or letting it run for a while), the sputtering goes away and it runs fine. obviously, water must be getting in somewhere. but where? my first thought was the distributor, but you would think if water got in there the motor would just die and refuse to start for a while.

the other minor problem i had was my brakes. (i think). immediately after hitting the mud, i heard screeching that sounded like dirt/mud was scraping against my rotor/drum. i couldn't really tell if it was coming from the front or rear, but i would put my money on the rear drums. after driving for a minute or so, it went away as braking probably cleaned the pads and the surface of the drums/rotors. but it had never done this before so i'm thinking maybe my drums need some cleaning? what's the best way to go about cleaning your brake drums? also, my brakes feel somewhat softer and my e-brake feels looser... like i have to pull it out farther for it to feel tight. could mud in my drums be causing this issue? i need help. the truck is going into the shop wednesday to take care of a leaking steering box, but the more work i can do myself the better. especially little stuff like this. thanks for your help guys i <3 you

98_YOTA

Driving through mud then your truck sputters....probably got some water on your plugs. make sure your plug-wires and cap is dry. Make sure your wires arent cracked. Make sure your cap isn't cracked like a hair line crack will cause it to hesitate.

For your brakes make sure the parking brake cable is still attached, you might have snagged it on something and stretched or kinked the cable. just take your drums off and make sure everything looks good, make sure the backing plate still has its plugs in, without it you'll get water inside your drums and have less braking power. GOOD LUCK MAN!

alanbobalan

i will check the spark plug wires and distributor cap tonight. thanks for the input i was thinking along the same lines. i also thought maybe i got some water into the air box? i was thinking about putting a snorkel on my truck and then driving through the same puddle a million times and see what happens then. i checked the air filter housing this morning and it was covered in moist, black, muddy goo. the air filter, of course, filtered everything out so nothing got into the motor. let me know what you think.

i doubt i snagged the brake cable on anything as it still works properly, it's just all of the sudden i have to pull it out further for it to engage and keep my truck from rolling away. i went muddin last night and today my brakes are squealing way more than they should. i'm really thinking i got mud on them and then they didn't clean themselves all the way. i'm especially concerned about the drums. about taking the drums off, last time i tried taking off my drums i screwed up big time. i just ended up tightening the shoes against the drum and then i got it so tight i couldn't loosen it. then my dad suggested we take it to pep boys (never go to pep boys, NEVER go to pep boys) because it was only a few miles away. well we got there and my drum cracked and the shoes melted. i hate my dad sometimes. after driving down the street i knew it was a bad idea. any insight as to taking the drums off would be helpful. i'm also taking in my truck to the shop on thursday to take care of a leaking steering box. i might just have him take care of the brake problems i'm having.

thank you for your help! any more advice is appreciated extremely!

98_YOTA

If youre gonna be doing alot of mudding, a snorkel is a pretty good idea! Cause one day you might go through a puddle and it just might be deeper than you think so a snorkel will be great!!!

As for your brakes, what I do if i can't back the shoes down i cut the hold down nail head from the backing plate. Or just be patient and back it off the old fashion way....use a screw driver to push the adjusting screw lock away from the wheel and at the same time use a flat head screw driver and turn the wheel to back the shoes down. As for your steering box get one from a junk yard and keep your old one as a spare.

dibble9012

I had the same brake problem after I first went mudding. i was really worried at first, but then read a thread on here about adjusting the brakes. It fixed my problem completely. All you have to do is drive in reverse at around 5mph and pump the e brake (hold the button down so the brakes dont lock). You have to have patients, it took a long time in a parking lot to do mine, but if you do it every now and then, they wont get out of adjustment.

alanbobalan

98 yota - the snorkel sounds like a plan. weeeee!

i checked my distributor tonight. i found evidence of muddy water inside the cap! and the gasket is in really bad shape. the second i tried to take it out, part of it crumbled in my hands. that definatly needs to be replaced before my truck sees any kind of mud. there was also this plastic piece on the back of the cap where the dried mud/water trail appeared to be coming from. i have no clue what this plastic piece is. it's on the end of the distributor where the spark plug wires come out. i can't think of a logical way to explain it.

i'm confused how you explained taking off the brake drums. BUT i did hose down my brakes with the garden hose tonight. i drove a mile back from my parents house to where i live and it seems the squealing has toned down. but we'll find out for sure when i do a little more driving.

i don't know if i would feel safe buying a used steering box from a junkyard. who knows what kind of shape it's in and what kind of quality box i'd be getting. i'd rather just pay the buck to my mechanic and get the one i have rebuilt. if anything, i could buy a box out of a junkyard and use that one as a spare... if they don't cost too much.

dibble - i have an 87 4runner in which we have no button on the ebrake. the second i pull on it, it locks and i have to turn it to release it. i know of the button you speak of on the later ebrakes. that sounds like an interesting idea though. maybe it's worth a try. thanks.

also to those of you reading this... i got my oil changed about a week ago and they also lubed the chassis. they said my zerk grease fittings on my driveshafts were seized. so i started replacing them tonight. however, every damn auto parts store i went into could not give me a definite answer as to what size fittings i need. i bought a box full of different fittings at auto zone and only 2 of them fit on my front drive shafts. that leaves 6 fittings that still need to be replaced. damn, i feel like i know more than the idiots that work in retail auto parts stores... and believe me i don't know much as far as auto mechanics goes. does anyone know of a auto parts store with people that know what their talking about or where i can fit some damn grease fittings for my front and rear driveshafts? thank you.

while i was under there, i noticed grease coming out from the sleeve yoke on my front driveshaft. am i supposed to be seeing grease there? or has my yoke seal failed and started leaking? thanks again

dibble9012

I know your 4runner is different, but heres the link to the thread that explains how to adjust your brakes. I followed that thread for my 4runner and it worked great. Good luck!

alanbobalan

i replaced the distrubutor, rotor, and the o ring gasket and still no luck with the sputtering problem. will replace plug wires and go from there.

i hosed off my brakes and they aren't squealing as much as they were after i got back from mudding, but the drums probably need cleaning anyway. however, i still haven't gotten around to that yet. heh.

98_YOTA

Check your timing!

alanbobalan

hmm i'll look into that. what would the timing have to do with the engine sputtering when it gets wet?

alanbobalan

?????

alanbobalan

i recently got my timing checked and adjusted and it's still sputtering. it's actually getting worse. now whenever it gets wet, it stalls. today i did a little wash down on my motor and it refused to start and sputtered. i drove a block down the street and it lost alot of power. after about a block of driving it was fine. after my truck sat for about 4 hours, i started it and it sputtered and stalled again. once again i drove down a little ways and it was losing power and after driving for a bit it was fine...

HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

retardedspleen

ok, moter sputtering thats water/wet mud on/in the intake, and yes, it will dry....just be carefull if you get TOO much water in there, you can kill your engine, you can Hydro lock it...and thats bad... the screaching sound, is your disk breaks, wether its a small rock, or dirt. this happens to me a lot, cause my roters are POS's and needed to be replaced like last year.. what i do to fix this, get up to speed (40mph or so) and slam on the breaks, seems to always do the trick..but i know its bad for the breakpads, and roters.

I dont think the engine will sputter like that from cracked distribuer caps, or anything like that. usualy those are pretty well water tight. maybe if you had a lot of water sitting, like at a stand still it might get in, otherwise, your prolly ok. Ive never seen or heard of the mud affecting your drum breaks. Try going to a very empty and very open parking lot, putting the truck in reverse. going about 15mph and stepping on the break, or about 10mph (still in reverse) and applieing the e-break. that will usualy help to tighten it.

Clean the engine as best you can with water. (being carefull not to get too much water in the wrong places) a lot of problems can be fixed this way. check the air filter, dirty? get a new one. pull all the plugs. if they're clean. then they're clean.

I wouldnt worry about timing...thats not gunna be changed in any way from off-roading

Good luck

alanbobalan

yeah, i was thinking about getting a snorkel but... i hosed off my engine today and it still sputtered and stalled. and there was no way water could have gotten into the intake. at least i don't think so. the motor wasn't running when i was cleaning it. i'm so lost.

alanbobalan

so now that i have parted that entire truck out..........................

i found a gaping hole in the plastic part of the intake that goes from the airbox to the manifold. it was just ripped. such a simple fix yet i was too dumb to figure it out. now that truck is dead and i miss it