luckiyu2

I have a 1991 Toyota 4x4 with a 2.4l engine and 208,000 miles. About 12,000 miles ago I replaced the head gasket, timing chain and cover along with new water pump and also replaced fuel filter and added a new fuel pump while I was at it. I also replace plugs, wires and cap. The truck has ran great until about 2 weeks ago, on the way to work one morning the truck just started to sputter and cough a little bit under a load but seemed to stop once I got 2 or 3 miles on to work. It had done this for a while in the morning and evening when I would 1st drive the truck but would seem to clear up after a bit of driving. My last day of work was the 24th of December and I started home and it was coughing and sputtering worse than it ever has so I drove it home and parked it. Well I got up today and was gonna run to town and I started the truck and let it warm up and drove it to town with the usual coughing and sputtering and I stopped and got gas and it wouldn't start back. I called a buddy and he was gonna pull me home and once we got out on the road I dropped the truck in 3rd gear and let off the clutch and it started up but still ran bad. we unhooked and I drove it home it was acting worse than ever, as soon as I got home I checked for spark and it has GREAT spark and the I loosened the gas line at the cold start injector and cranked the truck over and it had GREAT fuel pressure, actually squirted it over on my other vehicle it had so much but it still won't start. If I take the rubber line loose from the power brake booster and poor some gas down the hose to the EFI, it will start as long as you hold the pedal to the floor and let it crank a bit but will only start by pooring gas down the hose to the EFI. I drove it to town and ran a bottle of seafoam through the same hose tonight thinking maybe to clean it out but that didn't help and when i got back home I also checked the timing which was off for some reason but i set it and it still didn't fix it and I think the timing is off a little now because it felt sluggish. I can't get the rpm past 2k or 2500 without it acting up and it coughs and sputters at that high rpm when in neutral also. Sorry for the long post but wanted to provide as much info as possible.Like I said the truck will start as long as I poor gas in the EFI but still coughs and sputters under a load bad.

luckiyu2

Ok went out this morning and tried to start the truck and it started on its own but still has a slight miss in it so i let it heat up to operating temp and shut it off to hook the light up and readjust the time and low and behold it would'nt start back. So I unhooked the rubber hose to the power brake booster and poor gas in the EFI and it eventually started again and it idles great but when you rev it up it starts to cough and sputter and you can tell it has a slight miss now. I reset codes and started it again and shut it down and check codes and only code comes up is 21 which is o2 sensor I think but I've had that code for a year now but have'nt had time to fix it but I don't think that is causing my issues now. I jumped the fuel pump and it does come on when I turn the key on but truck still won't start even if I do that unless I poor gas in the EFI. I thought about replacing wires and plugs again but could this be a firing issue with me having to poor gas in the EFI to get it started? The more I think about it, it sounds like a firing issue with the way it runs when I do get it started but not sure yet. Oh by the way when I did have it running I unplugged the TPS and it through a code but once I reset it, it was fine. I plan on putting a new engine in it come summer but don't wanna do it right now. Christmas has drained me.

richf

Maybe the "new" fuel pump is bad. I bet you didn't put a denso unit back in when you replaced it. I would put the old one back in to try it out.

luckiyu2

Hey Rich you are right, I actually bought a new fuel pump off ebay and i don't think it was a Denso unit but you can hear it running when you hook it up with the paper clip trick. i still have the old pump and only reason i changed it out was because the mileage on the truck and doing the head work and stuff. Would a faulty fuel pump make it sputter and cough under a load? I'm assuming me having to poor gas in the EFI is meaning the fuel pump isn't getting fuel to the motor even though it's squirting out the cold start injector like crazy when I loosen it and crank it?

richf

I'm not 100% sure that's your problem, But I do know when it comes to replacement of electric stuff on these trucks denso or ngk is the only way to go. Also check and make sure your grounds are good to go. I had a sputter/hesitation at about 2.5-3k and it turned out to be my ground wires. I would still swap out the new fuel pump for the old just to rule it out.

luckiyu2

Ok I think I might just do that and make sure that isn't it. I checked 2 grounds today, 1 at the back firewall and 1 at the negative battery end and they where godd but I think it has 4 grounds I've read so I'll have to find the other 2 and by GOOD I mean that they are tight and not loose. Also I've read on here that a "good" spark is a BLUE spark. Well my spark is a ORANGE spark but it will arc from quiet a distance when using a screw driver in the spark plug wire trick.

luckiyu2

Ok found other 2 grounds and checked those and they where tight so I tried to start it and it wouldn't until I took hose off and poored gas down in the EFI and then it started and idles fine but I drove it down the street and it still sputters and misses bad. Man thsi has got me stumped. Sounds like a misfire but doesn't make sense with having to poor gas in it to get it started. I called parts store here and can get a new coil for bout $30.00 and also get the plugs, wires and cap and button even thought the cap and button looks good. Gonna try pump and that stuff and go from there.

luckiyu2

Ok here's an update. My buddy and I loosened my bed and slid it back so I could get to the fuel pump this morning. Thankfully i found the old fuel pump at mom's that I had took out of the truck so i took the new fuel pump out that I bought off ebay and pump the old original fuel pump back in. After doing so the truck started fine but you could tell it still had a slight sputter and miss when revving. After tightening bed down we drove it down the road and it runs ALOT better but still has a slight cough at about 3500 rpm when changing gears but as I said I think that was the problem as it starts without having to poor gas down the EFI now and runs out alot better than before. I'm gonna go ahead and replace plugs, cap, button and maybe coil while I'm at it and reset time and see if that will completely clear the coughs out of it. I never would have figured the new fuel pump would have went bad after a year or so. Even when I would bypass the pump with the fuel pump paper clip trick I could hear it run and it would blow gas out the cold start injector, I guess it didn't have the strenght to run the engine. I will NEVER buy a off brand anything for the truck again as I have learned my lesson with this. Thank you richf for your input on this because I honestly didn't think it would have been the pump. I'll keep you guys updated on the 3500 rpm cough and see if the plugs and stuff fixes that.

richf

No problem. Many people are here have helped me out also. I would replace the fuel filter also if you haven't. I just replaced all the basic tune up stuff myself and used the NGK plugs, NGK wires, whatever the auto store had for cap and rotor, purolator fuel filter and the accel coil. I'm not sure the coil is worth it I would hold out on that last.

luckiyu2

Went out today and changed plugs and stuff in truck and drove down the raod and even though it starts fine now and idles fine, under a load its still having a bad miss and also still sputters and coughs. I already changed the fuel filter and even after putting old fuel pump that helped it a lot but still no where like it was. Any more hints on what the miss and sputtering could be coming from?

mightymouse

iTrader: (6)

check your compression. Check your coolant level. When you pulled the plugs what did they look like? After you check the basic stuff look here for some more answers https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ensive-199356/

SCTracker22

My vote is with richf on this one. I had the same exact problem. I replaced the fuel filter, fuel pump was denso and only a couple months old, started trouble shooting everything I could think of that might cause the problem and then my friend mentioned the grounds and I replaced all of them along with cleaning the surface they make contact with and it ran like a champ afterwards. Get out the FSM for it and trace down every ground on it.

luckiyu2

OMG just found the problem and it was simple.Ok just read a little more here about some things and I went outside and took a flashlight and was gonna check some vacuum hoses. Before I started the truck I crawled under the front of it and took another look and i noticed a wire washer just hanging there, looked like it had cam loose from something but I really couldn't tell because it's dark outside here so i peeled backed the tape and there where 3 orange wires connected to the washer end so I thought is this a ground came loose. I couldn't tell where it came loose at so I grounded it the best I could with it being dark and drove it down the road and now it runs like a CHAMP again, no sputter no cough or backfire. So all it was in the beginning was a damn ground that had came loose and was causing all my troubles. I would have never thought a ground would do that but I am a believer now with the 22re and them liking grounds. I've read a lot of post on here with similar issues so guys make sure your grounds are grounded and it might save you some time. Thanks to this great site or I would have been replacing the engine because I thought it was just wore out at my 200,000 mileage reading. Thanks guys for who posted and give me their input also. In the future I'm gonna post some pics of the truck when I go to paint it and I've also got a 4 inch lift with it and gonna do a new engine swap also so once I get started I'll definitely post some pics.

richf

I replaced these grounds: From the battery to the motor mount, motor mount to the passenger fender well. I used 4 gauge wire for all of them cause I swapped in a high out put alternator.

SCTracker22

Yeah my friend who mentioned this said a lot of Toyotas use the ground to send the signal return for lots of sensors. Not sure how true it is but it seems to be the case seeing as to how a couple of bad grounds can make these trucks run pretty funky. Anyways, glad to hear its running great again man. You should have known its not giving up at a measily 200,000 miles!

Catcher5

I have the same prob where did you find those orange wires?