My 94 3.0 4x4 has just started melting the air breather hose right near the throttle body. It has done it in the past before I fixed my radiator. This time I am not sure. Truck feels like I am driving with the E-brake on. Other than the feeling of loss of power the truck runs good. Anyone else have this problem or know what the cause is?

 

Wow, never heard of that before. If there is an air leak at that point the engine will run dangeriously lean because air will get sucked into the engine that isn't metered by the AFM.

I can't remember if the 3.0 has a coolant line through the throttle body but if it does you might try bypassing it so you don't have that extra heat going into the TB.

 

Yeah lean burn or Cat clogged up maybe cause alot of excess heat for sure , I had a car that had a power problem like that and it turned out the brake line hose from the chasis to the caliper was bad - it would seal internally when it got warm and let pressure pass but not return therefore keeping pressure on brake.
When you fixed your radiator did you replace your T-stat ?

 

Is it a factory hose Or possibly a piece of coolant hose that has been subbed in?

If the hose is not suited for oil then it could soften and "MELT".

 

Yeah i replaced the t-stat. The hose is factory.I noticed a wire plug hanging today underneath the truck on the passenger side close to the transmission. Maybe thats my problem. Ever since dealership did the Head gasket swap a few years back the truck has been lacking power. My truck was perfect before they touched it. They even had to rebuild my transmission because it went out the day i got it back from the yota dealership. I still havent did the steering rod recall because I am scared to death to bring it to them.

 

Then I think I would go over it closely , valve lash , timing , compression check , vacumn routing etc and make sure its all good .

 

Have you checked EGR to see if it is stuck open or malfuntioning , that could cause a great amount of power loss/stalling even and a lean burn condition for sure .

 

Got any pics of the hose?

Yeah I'd skip the steering rod recall unless the rod starts cracking or you are redoing the whole front end for some other reason. From what I've seen the new steering rods bend easyer than the old ones.

 

Could a clogged or kinked pcv valve hose be the source?

 

Clogged CAT will push superheated exhaust back up to the intake and likely attack anything soft. My bet too is a clogged CAT which will kill performance and create the symptoms you have pointed out. Let truck idle and have someone shut it off. With your ear near the throttle body, you should be able to hear the pressure blow back through the throttle body.