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02 Tacoma 3.4L Issues

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Old 11-18-2011, 03:06 PM
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02 Tacoma 3.4L Issues

You know that old Tacoma commercial where the girlfriend drives the boyfriends truck off a cliff?? Well I'm about to do that myself!

I bought my truck a little over year ago with 80k it now has 95k. I noticed it was a little down on power some time ago but it wasn't that bad until recently. I was making the 4hr trip back to my home town that the power loss became very noticeable. I had it in my head that the cat. convert. was becoming plugged and causing the loss in power. So me being me I like tinker and try to gain knowledge. Problem with that is crap can get expensive!. But I have a bad spending habit.

Issues I'm having: Rough idle, major power loss, horrible fuel mileage.

So I buy both catalytic converters and install....No dice! Still have issues.

I buy a MAF sensor and install, unplug the battery to reset the computer, CEL light goes off for a few minutes but then comes right back on. Still have issues!!!

I have autozone hook up their diagnostic tester and they come up with bank 1 o2 sensor.

I buy an o2 sensor and install, reset computer CEL goes off for a longer time but still runs like garbage. Run it back up to autozone and they hook up their thingy and now reads multiple misfires .

I have done thrown away too much money and off to the stealership it goes. Toyota says its got a misfire on #2 and #4 cylinders and they think its a clogged fuel rail and it will take a few hours to disassemble and reassemble.

Get a call back saying "well the fuel rail isn't clogged"

My bank account is only so deep...

My thoughts were/are maybe a TPS or bad coil??? But after I just got done reading a few threads it could be fuel filter or injectors...maybe more.

Thoughts before I trade this thing in??? Lol

Last edited by dropzone; 11-23-2011 at 08:32 PM. Reason: language
Old 11-18-2011, 09:01 PM
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Hey read post #14

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/s...-light-137254/
Old 11-19-2011, 03:33 AM
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What am I looking for In the fuel? I have ran at least 2 tanks of gas through my truck while the problem has been occurring. It doesn't stall but has came close and it doesnt start very hard.
Old 11-19-2011, 06:35 AM
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Maybe you need to send the fuel sample to a place like blackstone labs. I'm not sure if that test valve is past the fuel filter towards the engine or not but maybe something is contaminating it before it gets to the engine...
Old 11-19-2011, 01:16 PM
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Sounds like a coil pack to me. I had the same loss of power, ruff running, but it was intermittent, some time it would be great, other times very ruff... I bought one coil pack and just swaped it from back to front, the first two, made no difference, but on the last (why is is always the last..?) the truck was back! :-)

Hope it is an easy problem like that for you...

A.
Old 11-19-2011, 01:43 PM
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Did not know you went through 2 tanks of fuel... I'd do what aferg suggested. Swap #2 with #1 and see if the code switches over.

The reason I went after the fuel is the multiple misfire code. Water or diesel, as you know, is noncombustible. If you have just a little in your tank it'll throw those codes and run like dog poop. Its the cheapest and easiest diag. IMO... Water will seperate from the fuel. Looks like a lava lamp. Diesel you can smell. E85 is harder do see or smell.
Old 11-19-2011, 03:03 PM
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Thanks a lot guys for your suggestions. As it is right now it sits at the dealer waiting for o-rings for the injectors so the can finish putting it back together after they checked the fuel rail...or so they say.

97yota water in the fuel is a possibility, all the crap they put in our fuel these days I'd imagine doesn't help the situation. As for E85 I have never seen it around my area yet. I just don't see it being a fuel issue. The rough idle sounds like it could be fuel but it's not hesitant on take off. It's just very very sluggish.

Afreg, I'm going to try that when
I get it back Monday. Like it said in my first post the problem seemed to come on slow and I could notice the power loss in "stages" almost. It's not intermittent, it's dog ass slow all the time.

I'm def thinking its a coil but the dealer said it wasn't throwing any codes which I don't know if that's possible with the CEL light on and they know it has a misfire? I'm no technician though.

Again thanks for the input thus far! This is very frustrating because this truck has always been well taken care of. I'll be sure to post up what I find out when I do.
Old 11-19-2011, 03:30 PM
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Anytime man! Water will do some funny stuff. Just a quick story.... Had an old lady come in with a CEL. She said it stumbles once in a while. I had a p0300 code (multiple random misfire). Drove it and it was normal! The minute I turned a corner or was going up a hill the car would stumble then the CEL started blinking. Once I was going straight it went back to normal. Took a quick fuel sample and found water. Anyway hope these guys can figure it out. Let us know for sure.
Old 11-23-2011, 08:54 AM
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Ok so I finally heard back from the dealer and will be able to pick my truck.

They found the the water pump was bad and had created crusty coolant build up that caused my motor to jump out of time.
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