Hi there, 87 pickup problems..
 

Firstly, hello and thanks for any information you guys might be able to provide. I'm not sure if i should post this in the Newbie section or not but i thought id throw it out there. So i recently acquired a 87, 4cyl , 2wd Toyota pickup with 115K from a trusted friend. The previous owner to him was an elderly man with a pretty extensive record of all the routine maintenance done and it's in really great shape. The problem i'm having is an intermittent sputtering. It seems to appear shortly after a cold start and will (sometimes) dissipate after a long enough drive. At first i thought it was only as i accelerated but lately it appears to happen while idling as well (again sometimes). While i'm not losing power as i accelerate the ride is jumpy and sometimes it can be a violent sputter. Although when it is not happening she drives like a dream. There has been a recent tuneup done including, new plugs, new fuel and air filter, and new starter contacts replaced. While i'm no idiot i'm definitely not an adept mechanic, i'm hoping to learn with this truck. I don't mind working on this myself. But if some of you gurus could point out what i should be assessing first, and what i should be looking for in order to make a solid diagnosis, it would be super rad. Thanks again guys.

I'll post what has already been done later.

Also just out of curiosity, ya think 1800 is a decent deal?
-eric

Hello eric,
I assume this is a 22re (fuel injected) sometimes the injectors can get clogged so get some injector or throttle body cleaner and go crazy, also you may want to change the fuel pump, it could be getting tired and needs to be replaced.

WELCOME TO YOTATECH!

could be the fuel filter. I think they are good for a 100,000 miles.

Welcome to Y/T.

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I guess i should have mentioned that it is not fuel injected. Old school Carb style. Thinking maybe this is a good place to start. Also the fuel filter was recently replaced.

carbs the only way to go!!! lol, could be a small hole in fuel line, possibly bad gas? run some lucas injector cleaner threw her and see what happens WELCOME TO YOTATECH!!

/me smacks you!!! "carbs the only way to go"?

Just kidding.

Little things start happen with carbs: linkage gets dirty, jets and air passages get clogged. All three can cause the issues you're reporting. So first off, clean the linkage. Beyond that, a good fuel system cleaning may help and barring that, a carb rebuild or replacement may be needed.

But that's just the fuel system....

Check the distributor cab, rotor, etc., even the spark plugs... for any evidence of tracking (carbon trails running around), make sure the plug wires are not arcing out to any nearby metal, check the coil and igniter.