Luvmeye22re

As far as I can tell it only stumbles from take off but I've never really had an auto before so I can't feel it at running speed, while flooring it and kicking it down a gear etc. it does just fine. It's only taking off from idle and goes away fast. I have a paperclip ready to go for checking codes in the am. I have already driven this truck a number of miles and never noticed it (bought it last week but put probably 50 miles on it, drove the piss out of it on the test drive). The stumble does seem to be somewhat dependant on how I feather the gas, and the more gas the better. It feels llike it's running out of gas almost when I'm lighter on the throttle. If it was a 5 speed I think I'd have a better time not blaming the transmission but I do have to wonder.

It only does it when warm, and only when taking off from a stop. It was more pronounced at higher altitude if that means anything and I'm talking 2000 feet higher in altitude although it did do it at lower altitude as well. I'll be hitting up harbor freight tomorrow for a meter to test various sensors etc.

I'll be downloading the FSM tonight but was hoping for a shred of insight. I guess 3 hours of searching has made me break down and ask Easy things that can be checked by eye would be sweet as candy. All I have is a little homeowners husky toolkit (black anodized though, flashy!) and the willingness to dive into something I have no clue how to fix as long as she can run by monday lol. I love my mechanic but he's not cheap!

islanderoffroad

Whats it idling at?

When was the fuel filter last changed?

nothingbetter

I get the feeling its fuel. Is it idiling smooth. Check for intake leaks. Might be small enough to make it idle fine, but enough to cause other issues.

Luvmeye22re

It idles smoothly, at around 700 or so if I had to guess by looking at the tach. I just dug through the service records which date back to the purchase of the truck and I don't see anything about the fuel filter being changed. I was thinking about pulling it to check it out tonight but it's going to be dark soon. Can I blow through it to see if there is much resistance and will that even tell me anything? I know it works for some fuel filters. I do have an appointment for my mechanic to look at it on thursday but I'll probably just put a fuel filter on it tomorrow anyways. I would like to get it resolved without paying shop labor

I looked under the diagnostic port and there is a bunch of gunk in there. I'm hoping this is to keep the contacts from corroding. I'm about to look up how to check codes here in a minute and see if there are any stored. I didn't have time to get a multimeter today. I did take a look at all the vacuum lines and I did see one thing. Forgive me for not having a pic.

There is a little circular black object with two nipples next to the fusebox on the inner passenger side fender. It has one vacuum line going to it but the other nipple is bare. Is something missing here? I am also over time going to be changing out all the vacuum lines as they do seem to be getting brittle. I was thinking about going with another color just to keep from confusing myself. Are there any brands that anyone reccomends?

I also took a good look at the airbox and the tubing going to the throttle body. I didn't see any cracks and with a solid squeeze on the hose everything seems structurally sound.

Thank you all so much for the help. I'm good with suspension, brakes, can even pull a tranny etc. but I've just never had a whole lot of time or education when it comes to engine/fuel system diagnostics.

Luvmeye22re

It turned out to be a lot less complicated than I thought, and something that I wouldn't have thought. I guess I've never really had a problem with spark plug wires before and always replaced them before I did but that was the problem. When cold or even just warm the truck wouldn't do it, looking under the hood no noticeable problem. Once it got really warm driving down the highway then coming to a stop it would happen so I took it for a long drive to see what would happen.

I opened the hood and spark plug wires were arcing all over the place. I guess maybe the outer casing would finally get warm enough to expand enough to arc?

A new (expensive on the 3vz) set of plug wires and she runs great.