a good family friend has a 1995 SR5 3.0L 4Runner. it has 180xxx miles and they just recently ran into a problem at startup. when they start the runner it nearly sputters, starts up and has a high rev (even when its warm outside). when she said they accelerate, the engine seems to be working harder and sometimes sputters (to me as if its gasping for air). i have a 3rd gen runner and don't know much about the 2nd gens.

she said she was going to a dealership to get it looked at and before she said she always drops at least $400 in repairs!!! insanity! i think that it might be the MAF? she said her husband put in fuel injector cleanor and it *helped* but it came back again. any help much appreciated!

part 2 issue- the driverside rear brake light is out as well as the motor for the rear window. the dealership she went to said that you couldn't just change the brake light and that it was tied in with the motor for the rear window ... ? the quote for that was $500 and she just wants to fix the brake light!

so how do i go about the rough idling & rear brake light issue?

thankx in advance

 

I don't know much about diagnosing engine problems so I'll leave that to someone else, except for one thing, 2nd gens dont have MAFs so that is definitely not the problem.

And as for the window and light I don't know what they were smoking at that dealership but I don't see any connection. Did you try a new bulb in the brake light. If it's not that then look in the socket for any corrosion. Then check for power at the socket, if there is none then it could be a broken wire or bad ground. If you pull off the inner panel you should see the wires.

 

The rear window motor will need to be replaced and you can try to replace the bulb for the brakelight for about $2. They are 2 filament and I would replace them both at the same time. If that doesn't fix the brake light, pull fuse #6 and inspect it. You can also try bending the connections out a tiny bit on the fuse and putting it back in for a better connection.

Not sure on the rest.