First time poster and I'm completely stumped. I have a 1986 toyota pickup with the 22re and the auto trans. Truck has 251,000 miles on stock engine. I bought it for a project and would like to sell it since we decided to buy a house, but theres no point in advertising it with this problem. SO little backstory: bought the truck in MS, it sat for a looooong time (last time it was tagged was 2007). Had several fuel issues the guy had just been throwing parts at unsuccessfully. He replaced the fuel tank, pump, filter, ECM, distributor, pickup and probably some other stuff I cant remember. I replaced the fuel press. Regulator, air flow meter (used one from ebay) cold start injector, cold start injector sensor and I "think" that was it. Truck cranked and ran fine until the first time I tried to go somewhere in it. Made it a couple miles and it just shut off no warning and wouldnt crank back. The cure was 3 hours of tinkering and exactly 106 profanities and it fired right up. Since then I've ran another tank of fuel through it and it has shut off once more but at least cranked back. Now it cranks rough every time. It Takes a few seconds while paddling the throttle, once it cranks it runs great. Idle may be just a tad high. But has NO power. I have to wind it very high and manually shift it to go down the road and any little grade just takes it down. I know the PCV valve is leaky and had a mechanic tell me the only other electrical thing it could be is the igniter. The frame is rusted almost in 2 so it has to at least run good before I can sell it 🤣 any advice would be MUCH appreciated. I dont want to start chucking parts at it.

 

IF you can get it idling, at the correct idle speed (800 RPM, with the trans in Neutral), check the timing. I'm no pro mech, but it sounds to me like the timing might be off, a fair amount.
Could the timing chain have gotten old, stretched, and jumped a tooth?
Also, have you aligned the TPS correctly? It can make a big difference.

I am NOT suggesting throwing another part at the trouble, but when was the last time the O2 sensor was changed? Theoretically, much like the timing chain, I believe the O2 sensor is supposed to be replaced every 60,000 miles.
Again, do you have a CEL indicating the O2 sensor? It may not show until you use the jumper to display all the codes the ECU has stored up. By the same token, it may have a bunch of very old codes stored up.
Have you checked for ANY CEL codes? If so, what are they? It would help if we knew.
You might want to clear all the codes by pulling the ENG fuse for 30 seconds, or the negative battery lead same time. Then fire up the truck, get as much in the way of problems to show up as you can, then shut it down, install the jumper, and read out any and all codes there are.

I hope something in all my babbling helps a little...
Pat☺

 

Junk it.

It has a bad frame. Unless you're a real douche bag, you'll tell the buyer that it really can't be driven. You'd be trying to sell a 34-year old undriveable "project" truck that hasn't run in at least 13 years. The engine wouldn't be worth anything, and the rest of the truck even less.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you don't want to be "that guy" who sold a complete POS to some kid.

 

I agree with scope, why would you sell this to someone if "the frame is rusted almost in 2"?

 

No I've been super open about the frame, I don't want anyone getting it without full disclosure. I'm just hoping someone can get it that needs parts. Body panels are good, interior is good etc

 

So since you're going to be decent about this, you're going to sell it someone who ONLY wants it for the body panels and interior. And maybe a "project" engine. "But hey, I just managed to get it running. Sorta." If you were the buyer, how much would you allocate to this engine whose "running" history is all of 11 miles? If I were a buyer, no matter how many parts you threw at it, and no matter how well it was running right now, I'd think of the engine/transmission/drive train as a long shot at best.

My advice to you is to just cut your losses and sell your truck for what it is. Good lookin' on the outside and inside, but definitely not for driving.

 

Yea just sell it for parts. Dont waste time and money wrenching on it. Youre still only going to get so much money for a truck with a bad frame.

 

THIS^^^ decent, fair, less trouble and you would still get some money back. Easy to find value of parts based on Ebay / Amazon /Online parts store.