I have an 1988 P/U w/22RE and 240K miles on it. I have three codes getting thrown for it the Knock Sensor, TPS, and rich/lean. Before I tear into it I want to make sure nothing else is wrong. I've been having major power loss with it, it also will not idle if the truck is warm. It idles when it cold but the idle is fluctuating a lot. Along with the power loss it also sound like my dads old VW Thing. Its been cold up here, but there seems to have a lot smoke coming out of the tail pipe as well. I know it has a minor valve cover gasket leak, but would it cause a lot of smoke? The power loss and the sound came at the same time.Will either of those codes cause that problem?

I've replaced: Spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor about 300 miles ago.

 

couple things to check, first off how old is the O2 sensor. O2 sensors only last 60,000 miles in good conditions. if you are burning oil, your O2 sensor is bad with out a doubt. next is Exhaust leaks, which will also make an O2 sensor go bad quickly. I would then check for timing, i have found that mine got advanced some how which causes some issues. If all of those check out to be fine, clean both your Idle Air Control Valve and and the throttle body and inspect to see that the tps is with in specs.

 

I actually have no idea how old the 02 is. I bought the truck in March and have only driven a couple thousand miles. So I'll assume the 02 is out. Ill have all of those check as soon as the snow clears up and can check it out without freezing.

 

I'm mainly concerned with it sounding like a VW. Could that be an exhaust leak?

 

If the TPS goes bad its can cause idle problems like your having. If you think it original then replace it, same goes for the 02 sensor.

 

Could be a blown head gasket. Because the smoke, poor running, and crappy sound. Sounds just like one.

 

Yea, thats possible.

 

Not sure why it would be throwing codes though.

 

I know for a fact that if the TPS goes bad it can cause several codes to pop up and cause the truck to run real bad, i saw it happen on a friends 86 4Runner, and when he replaced it all the codes went away.

 

Besides coolant mixing with oil is there any other signs I can look for? I will check my coolant levels, the last time I checked they were fine. I have never had the engine temp go past the the top line. I did get the temp pretty high when the water pump let go.

I kinda figured the idle would be the TPS and I am pretty sure it is the original as well. Do you think the I should just replace the knock sensor as well. It is most likely the original too.

 

The coolant was a little low, but the oil looked fine. Drove it around the block and let it sit for 10-15 minutes and the temp gauge never went over a 1/4 of the way up. It was blowing hot air as well. Really hoping its not the head gasket, but it's still making the VW sound and still has no power at all. The smoke blowing out of it this morning wasn't white it was a little darker compared to the snow on the ground.

 

Does anyone know what wire this is? Its inbetween the red lines, it goes from the distrubitor and cross the block and then I lost it there.

 

could it be that theres no screw in your idle up valve? the thing with the big spring on the efi?

 

I was wondering what that spring was for. I don't know the 22RE that well. I'm sure that could be messing with my idle.