Further perils of the '94 3.0 VZE 4 runner. Since I last posted, I bit the bullet, put the new headgasket in, along with new waterpump and radiator. Runs great until today. STarting out, the car stalled, took a couple of starts, but then runs fine. DRives OK, until DRiving home, the Rear ABS light comes on, the car jerks a little.I thought maybe I hit the brake pedal by accident. Then, over the grade, coming down into town and the instrument panel lights up and the car stalls. Manage to pull over, raise the hood, laid hands on all the wires. Car starts up. Drives two blocks, same thing. Stalls out. Pull over to side, call friend, walk home.

IDEAS? I'm about out of money for this beast, and I'm really sorry I ever bought it. Maybe I sell it cheap...

A friend said maybe it was the 'brain'. Whatever that is. I can't find any posts on it, 'cause maybe I don't have the right terms, but any help is appreciated.

 

Possibly the computer, located behind the glove box I believe. I don't know much about the 3.slows, so I'm not all that sure. The computer is also known as the ECU, or the ECM. Check all connections under the hood to be sure of a good solid connection. Are the wires hot? Can you smell the infamous smell of an electric fire?

 

HI, no, I didn't smell anything like burnt rubber or electrical. I did have to replace two spark plug wire fasteners the other day, they had popped off, and the hubbie (who really should ride a bike) drove it up the mountain with two wires off...

 

Check engine light coming on?

 

check engine light, check

that came up after the ABS light, but after the whole dash lit and stalled. Then the check engine light came on. The car started, and then it went off, till the cycle repeated itself

 

pull engine codes

 

Definitely need to figure out the engine codes for this one, but your symptoms lead me to believe the ECU. Definitely pull the codes for a definite answer.

 

yeah, i guess that will get done when I get back to town to tow the stupid thing over to the mechanic. I just like to have a good idea before I go over there, as last time he replaced just damn near everything before we got to the headgasket...

Would an ECU make the ABS deploy?

 

Thanks for your input with this one, I looked up the price of the ECU, it's not too terribly bad, I thought I was looking at another grand, and I was going to go shoot the car and put it out of it's misery

 

I considered that with my pickup a couple of nights ago, while draining out the fuel tank, easy enough to make it look like an accident hahaha

 

If the truck stalls, it's normal for the dash to light up since the key is still on. This just means the ECU (located behind the pass. side kickpanel) is registering all the components are there and connected to the ECU. If the CEL comes on and flashes, then you have a problem there. But, if it just comes on solid....no flashing....it's something not electrically related. Or, atleast nothing electronic is picking up on any problem. Locate the grey diagnostic port near the fuse box under the hood.....pass side wheel well. Jump the TE1 and E1 terminals in the port with a paper clip. Turn the key on. If the CEL flashes constantly, no probs. If it flashes intermittently....ie. one time/brief pause/two times/longer pause/then starts over with one time/brief pause/two times........then you have a code. Follow?

This may help clarify.....
http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/codes/index.html

 

Lesser known fact, if you jump t1 and te1, and the cel stays solid, it's a code 0, meaning internal ecu fault. We get them all the time on 1jz motors

 

that is good to know!!!

 

HI, I'm about to go downt the mountain and kick the truck. Just curious, will the car stall if the ecu is bad, i.e., start, stall, or just not start?
Thanks

sorry, don't mean to be stupid, I think I'm asking what are the chances of me getting the car to start and driving half a mile to the mechanics...

 

on my old four banger yota I had it would run grate for a while when first started for about ten mile then it would go and ether die or if i pushed in there cluch or put in nutral it would drop down and idol at around 200 rpm. then it would go away but would happen again about 2 or 3 blocks away. could not figure it out and it turned out the fuel filter was completely full of gunk we replaced and it ran beter than ever. might not be the problem but it dont hurt to check i went napa a couple of weeks ago and the filter is about $25 if it is its a cheap fix hope i helped

 

What I mean by solid is if when the key is on/without jumper and not flashing. When jumpered, if there's no codes, it should flash constantly. Maybe reread my post.

 

Okay, I went down to the truck, tried to start it just wishin', no luck. I opened the hood, and took my printout, found the tester, got out my paperclip, and bridged TE1 and E1 terminals. The CEL flashed regularly, on, off, on, off in rhythm. I assume this meant no codes.

I did not have a T1 to bridge with TE1, so I tried bridging T1 and TC, C being the lowest letter code. The CEL light came on and stayed on.

Whatever I did bridged the little brain enough for me to start the car, pull a Uey on 101 (hah!) and drive the 1/2 mile or so to the mechanic. He agreed that it was probably the ECU. The price quote I got was something like $400. I will try junkyards for parts, next.

Anyway, thanks for the help, I got it off the hiway

 

I would suspect a problem with your wiring harness WAY before the ECU, FYI...

 

I would agree with the above TNRabbit. It seems a bit hasty to jump to a conclusion about the ECU without further diagnostics. Any good mechanic should be able to do the Factory Service Manual diagnostic checks before going to the replace this part to see if it is the problem routine.

 

Okay, it's official. I heard from the mechanic. Error code 14, ground fault in the wiring harness. He replaced a couple of wires and says it is running fine now. Go figure. This does explain how I was able to get it started again...I grounded the thing when I tested it....

On another note I felt very empowered with my paper clip test.

Thanks to all who posted in response, you are incredibly helpful, and this is a great resource.