hey everyone, alright so heres the run down ive got a 87 4runner 5spd 22re

On my way to go wheeling yesterday, on the highway my truck seemed really gutless. Not much power at all, when i took the off ramp the it seemed like it was missing/ on/off type power deal. Anywho, i kept driving, went away then it would come back at certain times. I could still do the speed limit 90km/h. Sometimes it would run like normal, no problems at all. So i get to the staging area and get out and my exhaust sounds different. So some of the yota tech took at look and figure #2 wasnt firing They swapped the plugs from #3 over to #2 then 3 had the problem. So we tried to fix the wire and it somewhat worked for the entire day. On the way home she ran flawless. No problems at all, i get home swap over my old set of spark plug wires, no luck exhaust still sounds funny. I checked the cap for carbon tracing and now im stumped..

what could it be? it feels like sometimes that cylinder is cutting out..

 

Could the coil be bad? Is the distributer loose? Those are the only thing that come to mind, but I am sure someone with more experiance will come along soon.

 

hmm, if the coil was bad wouldnt that effect all the cylinders..
i hate this, i wanna get it fixed!

 

Rotor/Cap?

 

were the plugs ok?

 

plugs look bit hagg'd but nothing new

 

I would go to the parts store and get a rotor, cap, and new ngk plugs. if that doesn't work check your valves. then timing then compression test. this stuff is cheap and is easy to do. Also check for any vaccumm leaks.

 

Yeah it probably would, but I threw it out there because you said you checked the cap rotor etc...Like I said someone with more exp will come along.

 

Yea, im waiting for abe or dc to chime in

im thinking compression test to, but if it were say a stuck valve, or something else wouldnt it be a constant loss of power thru the cylinder

 

They swapped the spark plugs over from 2 to 3 or the wires? because in there you say the plugs, but then say the wires......

 

Start with the cheap stuff. Cap, rotor, plugs, plug wires...

 

i have a 1989 toy same prob then i changed out the plugs and rotor and wires and it seemed to fixed the prob.

 

hmm, im gonna ask my friends that work at toyota to get me oem rotor/cap and wires

 

yeah, I'll 3rd (or is it 4th ) the cap, rotor, and plugs, and MAYBE the wires

when silly little stuff like that happens, it's often the simplest thing, lol

best of luck, and keep us posted!

 

Yeah, not sure if i should go oem and or aftermarket for wires/cap/rotor.

i just was tinkering around with it, the exhaust sounds funny, then sometimes itll sound normal again..
hmmm interesting interesting.

 

dude a new $10 basic brand cap from the parts house is going to work better than a $20 OEM cap that's BAD lol, catch my drift?

I've never had any issues with the brand BWD from Advance Auto Parts, either the cap or rotor, but I do use NGK wires, and E3 plugs, but NGK plugs would be my second choice

 

yeah, i got bosch wires on now

 

Replaced plugs, power wise its back to normal, sound wise. the exhaust still sounds a bit funny

 

oops. guess I'm too late.

Anyhows....
If you moved the spark plug from #2 to #3 cylinder and the problem followed the spark plug from #2 to #3, the spark plug was 'most likely' the problem.... but could be that the wire wasn't seated correctly to begin with.
Actually a good trouble shooting test- if you have a misfire in one cylinder, swap the sparkplug from that cylinder with another sparkplug. If the misfire moves to the new cylinder, the problem is likely with the sparkplug you moved. If the misfire remains in the same cylinder as it was initially, then you're stuck troubleshooting an issue with that cylinder.

 

Yeah, i have no idea why my exhaust sounds different tho.
I know my muffler is dying, but ive never herd my truck make this kinda sound. It sounds like totally fine while revving/driving. Im thinking i need a good tuneup.. but i have no idea where to start.