trentdarin

I am new to the community. I have read a lot of forums in the past and they have been helpful but I have never posted. I have an '87 Toyota pickup with the 22r engine and that thing is the coolest truck in town. This post is NOT about that truck. This post is about a '92 truck 4x4 3.0. I do not hate Toyotas, I just hate this particular truck.

I CANNOT figure out what is wrong with my truck. This thing has been an absolute money pit from day one and now I am in so deep that I have to continue fixing it. It's underpowered, terrible on gas, can barely do highway speeds and exhausting to drive. Why does anyone like these things? I bought it for $5k in good (looking) shape with 105k miles on it. Week one through month 8 consisted of complete transmission rebuild ($3200), a bunch of electronic stuff ($1300), cv axles, new radiator, valve cover gasket, and a bunch of other stuff. I am now at $13k including the cost of the truck and I have had it for a year and a half.

The recent problem:
Not gradually, but all of a sudden one day it was struggling to start and when it did it would sputter and spout smoke and after some feathering of the gas it would start running normal. To keep from this post running way too long, I am just going to list all of the new parts installed in the attempt to fix this problem. With each new part the issue got better and better. A mechanic who is good but not a toyota guy did most of this:

fuel pump (oem)
fuel pump assembly (oem)
fuel pressure regulator
cold start injector valve (oem)
tps (oem)
new injectors
new spark plugs (ngk)
Throttle body removed and cleaned out

What was fixed:
The sputtering and spouting smoke is not happening anymore.

The new problem:
The truck still loses fuel pressure quicker than it should, but holds pressure better than it did before all of the above parts were replaced. It used to drop straight down to 0 psi and now it takes about 3-5 minutes to get to 0 psi.
The truck will more or less start normal first thing in the morning. It will start normal after sitting for up to maybe 20 minutes. However, if it sits for say 30 or 45 minutes to several hours, I have to hold the key in the start position for a good bit longer (seconds, not minutes) and let it turn over and turn over until it finally reluctantly starts. It feels like its getting worse but I don't know that for sure. With this truck I'm always assuming everything is getting worse and it's in an active state of self destruction.

I think this is all the pertinent info without the entire sob story (your welcome). Any help would be much appreciated.
T
Thanks!

scope103

The spec on fuel pressure retention is 21psi or more after 5 minutes. So you're not very far off. More importantly, it usually doesn't matter; your truck is "supposed" to start easily after sitting overnight, when you know the pressure has dropped to zero. (The fuel pump doesn't start to run until the key is turned to STArt.) But WHY is yours leaking down at all? (new fuel pump, FPR, injectors -- I assume "cold start injector valve" is the CSI, not the timer switch) I would wonder if you have a leaking injector. It doesn't leak fast enough to cause a problem "soon," and overnight the pressure hits zero and the leaked fuel evaporates, but after 20 minutes it may be so rich it won't start until the fuel is sucked out.

Here's the method I used to check for leaking injectors: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post52330847

trentdarin

Thanks scope103,

The mechanic replaced all the injectors. Not to say it couldn't be a faulty part. And yes, I am probably wrong by calling it a cold start injector valve. That is what it was referred to as to me. It located on the top left of the engine. I will pass this info on to my mechanic. It's a little out of my league to dig into the engine that far and test injectors. Thanks for the advice.