Mechanic recommendation in connecticut 87 4runner

CTrunner — Mon, 11 May 2026 17:31:04 GMT

Hello YotaTech,

Ive got an 87 4runner here in connecticut. ive had it my whole driving life. Its in the process of dying and im desperate to keep it alive. Im not ready to give up on it. It means a tremendous amount to me.

step on the gas and it just falls on its face. like its choking. like its sucked down one to many cigarettes. try to get it to go up hill and youd do better to get behind it and push. It wont kill the engine....but it sure wont go anywhere took it to my usual mechanic and he cannot figure it out for the life of him. cleaned out the intake and throttle body. cleaned out the idle control valve. replaced the mass air flow sensor. cut off the cat and straight piped it. He just cant figure it out. he feels like its some sort of timing or fuel/air mixture problem. But hes given up on it and told me i should look for someone else to try and diagnose it.

it was my daily driver this winter nov-march and the symptoms were starting off mild and very rare, i could still get it up to freeway speeds and maintain it -soon as it got warmer though these symptoms became immediatele and on every startup.

Does anyone here happen to live in CT and have a strong recommendation for a mechanic thats proficient with these 84-89 trucks/4runners???

thanks a million team

fuel supply cuts out

Scott Baxla — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:17:34 GMT

I've got an 06 tacoma, 4.0L. For years I've been trying to figure out this issue.

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place.

- The events are sporatic - could be months or even a year in between events, but I never know when its going to leave me stranded.
- Twice it was diagnosed as a faulty fuel pump (I"m pretty sure incorrectly diagnosed) , and the fuel pump was replaced ($$$$) - 6 months apart. (2nd time I replaced it with Toyota pump, first time mechanic insisted on auto zone part based on his experience...) So when it does this glitch, the auto shops do whatever test they do to diagnose faulty fuel pump, and it indicates faulty fuel pump. But I'm pretty sure that's not it. The 2 fuel pump replacement events were early in the game - not long after I acquired the truck, so it may have been doing it with previous owner and he dumped his problem on me. The first fuel pump replacement may have even involved running out of gas - I was running low and was looking for an exit to get gas, but my trip meter suggested I had a few miles left. The gas gauge was inaccurate at the time (it has been repaired now), so I used the trip meter to monitor fuel, and maybe at 90-100 on the highway I was using more fuel than usual.
- I've replaced the evap canister, which for a while seemed like maybe the issue went away after that, but it resurfaced again, so that was not it. (is there any sort of a filter associated with the evap canister?)
- Sometimes when I'm driving down the highway (70-80MPH) the engine just cuts out. I've not clearly identified the conditions yet, but it seems like some sort of extra load happens - like going up a significant hill - asking for more fuel. Last time I noticed I was on cruise control, but don't remember if I've been on cruise for previous events. Sometimes its just a hesitation (enough to make me panic) - a hitch and starts running again. Sometimes I have to take my foot off the accelerator and put it back on and that gets it going again. Once that didn't work and I swerved left, right, left, right... and it started going again. 2 times it didn't start running again and got towed in - fuel pumps. Maybe for those fuel pump replacement episodes, I could have gotten it going again by playing with the accelerator pedal or swerving? The first time may have even involved running out of gas - I was looking for an exit to get gas. When they replaced the fuel pump, the fuel take was clean.
- Twice I drove the truck home - everything working normal, parked and went inside for the night. The next morning it would not start. One of those times I had it towed to mechanic a day or so later and it started when it got there (we assumed something got giggled on the tow truck ride). I think I remember that for that episode, I had just filled up at the gas station before coming home and parking. (That led to the suspicion that it could have been evap canister related from topping off the gas past the first click off at the pump.)
- Two days ago on Saturday morning it did this next day no start (no fuel). I tried again later in day and nothing. On Sunday afternoon I was getting things moved around to get ready for a tow on Monday and tried it again and it started. Nothing got giggled, just 1 1/2 days time and it went away.
- The mechanic can't diagnose it if its not doing it... I'm pretty sure its fuel related.
- I've wondered about a connection issue at the fuel pump (why did previous mechanics diagnose fuel pump - they banged on the fuel pump and it started working again?) I don't think me moving stuff around in the truck would be enough to giggle that connection and have it restart 1 1/2 days later.
- I've wondered about a wiring short, but that would not make sense with it starting itself 1 1/2 days later? (This truck has had the frame replaced, and apparently the centers that do that are doing it really fast and other things get crimped and broken...)
- I've wondered about some sort of a vapor lock, but don't know what to look for if it is. Its one of the few things that make sense - if it goes away on its own with time.
- I've wondered about some sort of particle in the fuel system, and once pressure dissipates, the particle shifts and falls away from whatever orifice its blocking? (is there some way to do a fuel system flush?)
- Fuel filter?

New OEM thermostat looks different

wrmwrld — Sat, 02 May 2026 07:27:21 GMT

In the home stretch of a full rebuild of the 22re in my 93 pickup. Started as a head gasket job several months ago after overheating in traffic and blowing the head gasket.

Replacing the thermostat I noticed the old one has an extra spring at the end that is missing from the new OEM thermostat (and all 22re thermostats available for purchase that I could find). Curious if anyone knows why they're different (redesign? is the second spring a "2 stage" thermostat? was the old one the wrong thermostat?).

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Mechanic recommendation in connecticut 87 4runner

fuel supply cuts out

New OEM thermostat looks different