I've got a 1993 pickup with the 3.0 V6. When it rains, I find that the truck will cough and sputter after driving through a puddle. If I let off the gas for a second, it comes right out of it until the next standing water. I've replaced the plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor with Toyota parts, that made no difference. I've selectively sprayed everything in the engine compartment and under the truck with a spray bottle with the truck idling in the driveway, and found no difference. I'm thinking it's fuel related, as I let off the gas, and it recovers. Could the water be shorting out the fuel pump wiring? Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

remove spark plug boots, add dielectric grease, reinstall wires and repeat diagnostic process...


And you can take your distributor cap off and squirt a little WD-40 in there too, for good measure.

 

Done and done - no difference. I've soaked the cap and wires with the truck idling and I can detect no difference in how it runs.

 

Get new wires.

 

Newer than the brand new, OEM Toyota ones I just put on?

 

Get a spray bottle. Fill it with water. Spray the plug wires. Take a long metal screwdriver, ground it to the battery with a wire, or simply touch a known good ground. Move the screwdriver in close proximity to the wires. See sparks jumping? Get new wires.

Easiest to to this at dusk or night time.

 

Check your grounds, I once had a mustang do the exact same thing, turns out there was a ground to the motor that was loose, but when I hit water it would sputter

 

Ditto to these two suggestions. Good advice.

 

wow, lots of good info already in here...

 

glad im not the only one having this problem my 22re has no power till i get it to about 4000rpm and then bam its full power but only when it rains do i have this problem

 

Pulled all the ground wire connections, cleaned 'em up and put Noalox on 'em. They all looked pretty good, but you have to try everything. We're supposed to get a few inches of rain tomorrow. I'll see how it runs.

 

Ok, sorry it took so long to get back. All grounds cleaned, still bucks and stumbles in the rain. The funny thing is that if I let off the gas, it clears right up and runs good until I hit the next puddle. What else could it be?

 

I've had this problem before with a '90 pickup-22re. Ended up selling the truck problem and all... Sorry I was no help.

 

I had a similar problem a few years ago.

The wires on the O2 sensor were bare.

 

We have a winner!!! I think. I took a look at the O2 sensor. The wiring is a mess. There was some electrical tape around the four single wires coming off the sensor pigtail. I peeled the tape off, and the white and blue wires had nicks in the insulation. So, I taped up each wire and took it for a ride. It's raining, but not that hard. I intentionally hit every puddle I saw, and couldn't get it to do its thing. I think it may be fixed!

 

Cool. Hope that was it.

 

lol, i do this anyways
glad you got it resloved