Hey guys throw me some ideas out there. 93 xtra cab 4x4 V6 w/ 230,000. This thing has been well maintained per previous owner but it runs rough. A little hard to start, BAD vibration at idle, sputtering at the tail pipe, maybe running rich and will studder at a constant rpm. New plugs, wires, coolant, thermostat, air filter, egr valve, TPS and coolant temp sensor.

 

Check for vacuum leaks via the rubber hoses. Did you use denso/ngk plus? I'm just throwing parts but how about fuel filter and distributor cap/rotor?

 

All your typical 3VZ-E personality traits, especially one with 230,000 on it. You'll get used to it...or not.

Hard starting: mostly the first start of the day, especially on cold days and/or with a weak/old battery. Usually better after it "wakes up"(engine has some residual heat from being run a little before you try), or for the battery after it "charges up".

Bouncy idle: 800 rpm +/- 50, but that's within specs.

Sputtering at the tailpipe: yeah...not sure why on that, but pretty common.

Running rich: blame Toyota for that, part of the "detuning package" they're infamous for.

Studder at constant rpm: generally steadies out above around 2500-2750ish rpm if it's not engaged in a gear(is in neutral). Never noticed that happening while being driven in gear.

 

I'm getting the same symptoms except I have horrible gas mileage I'm going to try and gut the cat and see if that helps

 

The engine turns over fast when starting, so the battery sounds good. Sounds like it may be timing related, maybe. the studder is when it's in gear while moving and the mileage is pretty bad. Might have my local yoda specialist ajust the valves and check the timing this week.

 

DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT gut the cat!!!!

Trust me I've been there.

I gutted mine and put a flow master on it, sounded good, but with no backpressure it will take you 10 miles to go through the gears, and if there are no hills you may get to fifth gear.

Ran it like that for a week, went to the bone yard and bought a stopped up cat put it back on it and will outrun the dog piss out of one without the cat.

Dont do it. And I'm not an enviro freak, like i said i did mine and the truck ran like absolute stanky dog crap.

 

OK guys just got the truck back from my local toyota specialist and it runs great. He adjusted/reshimmed all the valves and that was it. He said the valves had all stretched so he replaced the shims to get them back to specs. Anyway just thought i'd let you know.

 

You bought a stopped up cat? AND put it on? Well, that's a first. How long have you been running like this?

 

i gutted my cat and it runs way better than before and sounds awesome. i'm just worried about going through emissions, its a 90 so i got 2 tests left before the 25 year rule.

1990 3Vslow xtra cab stock except for a sweet camo paint job

 

I gutted mine and it went through the last 2 emissions checks just fine. But having running issues now 2 years later. Once I get up to highway speed and back off on the peddal just enough to maintain speed it runs smooth but if I push on it enough to gain a little speed it really starts to hesitate a lot. New air filter, fairly new plugs wires cap and rotor. Any ideas?

 

I too have a gutted cat and have ran it like this for a year. So if I put a new cat on it will run even better?