I have a '98 Toyota 4Runner SR5 which yesterday suddenly turned off when I was driving it. There was nothing odd about it before. I tried turning it on and after the first few tries, it would stay on a few seconds. Afterward, it would sputter and it wouldn't turn on. I'd also noticed that it had begun to drip oil, but I'm not certain where it's coming from though it's roughly around the middle of the car.

 

Guessing the V6 3.4 liter? There should be a CEL, a Check Engine Light. Can/have you had the code read and what code is it? How many miles and when was the timing belt last done?

 

Yes, it's a V6. The check engine light marked for the P0420 code and it's got 257,000 miles on it. The timing belt was done last month when we did the tune up on it.

 

P0420 is a catalyst system issue. That shouldn’t keep your truck from running.

When it stalls, how does it act? Does it sputter out? Does it die quickly? Does everything else stay on, radio, etc.?

if it’s sputtering out, it could be a clogged fuel filter that is starving out. Or a Fuel pump that isn’t keeping up. @aowRS had a write-up on his fuel pump issues.

if it dies quickly, it could ignition related. It could be the actual the ignition cylinder itself.

 

If after those initial attempts it no longer catches at all, I’d put money on a dead fuel pump. My ‘01 acted the same way at around 400,000 miles and I correctly guessed that the original pump was done.

It’s a PITA to replace, and I highly recommend you use a Toyota pump. I initially installed a cheap-o aftermarket unit. A year later it was whining loudly, so I had the joy of doing the entire job twice when I installed a Toyota pump. No issues since.



Andreas