4Runner slows or jerks when letting off the gas
 

Hey guys. Tried searching for this issue but it's hard to explain. And anything similar I found was for newer Toyotas, most of which were automatics.

When I drive my 4Runner and let off the gas it kind of jerks a bit but it's almost like it slows down? It seems to happen when I give it decent amount of gas in the mid rpm range and then left off the gas it slows back down fast, almost as if I am in a 1st or 2nd gear and rev it and let off the gas. But it happens in multiple gears. When I press the clutch in to shift it thumps or jerks like it's releasing pressure or something. Does that make sense? If I feather the release it's smoother.

On my list this weekend is greasing the driveshaft and flushing the transmission fluid. I was just wondering if there were any other areas to explore.

It's a 88 V6 5-speed btw.

Thanks

Well I think I know what the problem is. Felt both the rear wheels and the right rear wheel was really really hot. Like uncomfortable to touch after 30 minutes hot.

What's weird is that when my rear axle seal blew it spilled gear oil everywhere and eventually that brake started locking up sometimes so I stopped driving it until I could replace the seal. Well I did that like a month ago and while I was at it I replaced the wheel cylinders, shoes, springs, etc. I did leave the drums and cleaned the crap out of them.

I actually paid a shop to do the rear drums and for me since I didn't want to mess with it. Well that same wheel still drags apparently. I hope I didn't ruin anything. I only drove maybe 39 miles on the new brakes.

Ive been checking after every trip and don't see any new gear oil leaking. And before I took it to the shop I drove maybe 20 miles on it and they said it was still dry in the drum when they took it apart to replace everything.

Any thoughts? I'm gonna take it back in but just wanted to see what people thought.

adjusting the brakes is a straightforward procedure. you'll save a bit of money (and frustration) by learning how to do it yourself rather than depending on a shop to adjust them every time.

I will be pulling the drum off this weekend to take a look at it before going into the shop again. Hopefully I am able to figure it out. Is it out of the question that they just slapped the brakes on and didn't adjust them? Is it at all common for new drum brakes to need a re-adjustment after driving for a while?

There is an inspection port on the mounting plate, you can inspect the drum to pad gap without pulling the drum off. This will help you be certain its the brake and not (for example) a wheel bearing.

I will take a look at that. I guess I thought it just showed you the brake shoe. Didn't know what else you could see from there. I hope it's not the bearing as that was also replaced at the same time.

You will need that inspection plate to back the brakes off anyways if they are too tight, it is a royal pain to remove the drum if the brake pads have it caught. A lot of old drums have a lip from the pads wearing and so you have to back the pads off before you can remove the drum, you can do that through the inspection hole with a screw driver. Been a while since I did it, but there should be an FSM sticky around here somewhere with detailed instructions.

The inspection hole and the access to the stargear release are not the same thing! The inspect port is located along the edge of the drum, it has a rubber plug from.the factory, and it is located forward of the axel on the right side of the vehicle and rearward on the left side (yeah didn't ever make since to me either) while the star gear release is more central.

Well I'm pretty confident I can get the tension released and back the shoes up a little to get it unstuck. I just wonder what may have caused it in the first place. I mean everything in there is new except the drum and the adjuster.

I find it hard to believe the shop would have sent me on my way with one wheel dragging. So I'm wondering what would have caused it to stick again so soon?

I'm in a pickle right now anyway because I can't find my wheel lock key lug. They had it obviously to do the work but it's not in the box I had it in. I'm hoping they forgot to give it back to me.

With new pads

If everything is adjusted properly you should be able to slide the drum off easily... I'd do it to check that they hooked all the springs up correctly... it can be tricky...
Then when you put them back on if the drum is hard to push on it's too tight if it slides on too easy it's too loose...it should slide on with a slight resistance and your good to go...

And if it's not that, re-attach the vacuum hose to the EGR.

Shoe to drum clearance should be 0.6mm.

Check the bell crank is straight, and moves freely, inspect the cable divider on the axel housing isn't binding.