MrGaryFish

Hey all, I was trying to get some feedback on what could possibly be wrong with my 94 4runner. First off, its a 3.0 v6 automatic 4x4 and it was having egr valve problems. I swapped the egr valve first, but that didn't take care of the problem. I then took it to the local shop to get it fixed, since I needed to pass emissions. They swapped the VCV and reset the timing because it was running really rich, About a week later the check engine came back on and it was running really weird. Especially when cold, the motor would surge erratically and the RPMs would go up and down and was not smooth like before. It would jump and miss while maintaining speed at around 2000 RPMs. I took it back in and told them of the symptoms. They called me saying they could not replicate the engine problems, but I needed a new temp sensor. That was another $300+. I elected to pick it up and drive it until the part came in, since they said it was fine to drive. A couple days later, I was leaving the neighborhood and noticed a huge cloud of black smoke coming from the exhaust while accelerating in first gear. I pulled off shortly after and the vehicle was running extremely rough and pouring out thick black smoke. I shut it down and it would not crank back up. The shop killed the starter trying to diagnose, and said they couldn't pull the spark plugs because they were overtightened during the last tune up. I hadn't touched them and assumed that had been done at the dealership right before I purchased it, since they swapped belts etc. Any ideas what could have gone wrong? The shop said possibly distributor gone bad or fuel pump went out. They've had it for 3 days and have nothing to report. Let me know if anybody has any ideas.

thook

The first problem may be the shop. $300 for a temp sensor? That's rediculous.....atleast, I think so. And killing a starter? Geez....I hope they sprung the cash for your new one.

I could see it being the distributor....possibly...but, not the fuel pump. I mean black smoke......that means gas. Unless you had a relay go out and so then you're no longer able to start it. Then the fuel pump wouldn't work, but that doesn't mean bad pump. That's an easy test, though. A "good" shop should know how to do that or atleast have a manual explaining it. Sounds kinda like there lost and throwing parts at it.

Well, you'll need to see if it's getting spark through the distributor. If not, it will have to be traced back through the ignition system.
The fuel pump would have to be tested by bypassing the relay and VAM. Jump the FP and B+ terminals at the diagnostic box and turn the key on. If the engine gets no gas at the cold start injector, the pump is probably dead.
Since they put a new ECT sensor in, it would NOT hurt to see if it's hooked up still or even correctly.

I'm wondering, though, how old is your O2 sensor? It wouldn't cause it not to start, but it would cause to run rich and flood out and THEN not start.

MrGaryFish

The shop thinks it's the head gasket, and I know I haven't done the recall on it. I didn't even know there was one until doing a little research. The only one i've gotten in the mail is the tie rod steering thing. Anybody have either of these recalls done lately? I'm trying to see if the best route is to call Toyota directly or go to a dealership to get this taken care of. Any experiences would be appreciated.

dcg9381

A shop should be able to accurately diagnose a HG issue.

If you're spitting black smoke, the temperature sensor makes sense. That being said, it's very unusual for one to fail and they're very simple parts - no where near $300, unless it's buried under the manifold on the 3.0L.

Mine got disconnected.. the truck would barely run and spit out a lot of black crud.

Idle at 2000 rpm is odd - indicates vac leak... .