Hi, I wonder if this happenned to anyone. I have a 96 3.4 V6 4runner. The truck has only 94k miles. I was crusing in the colorado mountain last week and apparently my truck is losing power, I can hardly keep up with more than 50 mph by using 4th gear going up on the free way(I have a 5speed 4runner). The truck runs fine on normal road but weak going up hill. It just drive me crazy, all the vehicles passed me and I am competing with the 18 wheeler Any suggestion or help? Please!!

 

You've done regular maintenence right? air filter, fuel filter, and things like that. Run some fuel injector cleaner through the engine, that usually helps.

 

Could it be the cat?

 

I was having similar problems this weekend, BUt then i got real rough, even at idle. I had the autozone guy pull the codes, and it said misfire in cylinder3. He recomended changing the plugs( will do it on tues), and if that doesnt help, then there is a more serious problem. I know what you feel, i was barely able to keep up with traffic coming home from my girlfriends this weekend.

 

Start replacing the cheap stuff first as mentioned. Plugs, filter, wires and cap etc....but it could easily be your Catalytic Converter pretty expensive where I am.

Is this all the time, meaning every time you go up a hill? You could maybe try a different Gas and Gas station....run premium too.

 

Thank you guys for your help, I will replace all the spark plugs tomorrow, hopefully things will get better. yup it happens all the time when I am going up the hill. I used premium gas all the way. By the way, how can you tell if the cat converter is bad? Thanks a million !!

 

bad smell (rotten eggs) or just give your exhaust system a shake, if you hear something rattle inside, the cat is shot..........

How many miles are on your "yota"?

 

I have 94k miles on it. Thanks for your advice, will go sniff it

 

Your mileage is too low for the cat to got bad, unless you ran a tank of bad gas.

 

I too may have a bad cat...there is a pretty god awful smell coming from it usually after only running for a several minutes. I am going to the stealer today to get some things checked and replaced. I will also have them check out the 02 sensor to check and see if it's bad and I will have take a look-see at the cat as well. To check and see if it is clogged.

I would do the regular maintenance as everybody else has suggested and then see where you are when you are done with that.

Fink

 

all right, just finished replacing my spark plugs. Seems like the cat converter is in good shape, it smell normal, no bad smell at all. Gonna find a hill and test drive it. Hopefully things go well, thanks guy!!

 

You should be able to tell if that was the problem by looking at the plugs you pulled out. How were they?

On another note:

Since you have a 5 speed and a 96, can you do something for me? Can you listen to the gear whine very carefully while you are driving slowly (<10MPH) in first gear, and tell me if you hear a high pitched whine every now and then?

Mine has a lot of gear whine, and I get freaked out about it. Just curious if you hear anything like this. Thanks man!

 

well, those plugs are in pretty good shape. I am not sure by replacing the plugs would help, I hope it would. Sure, I can check those gear whine sound for ya!

 

The true test would be to check the gap on them. Thanks for checking that gear whine for me!

 

gear whine also?
might be the rear end?

 

Seriously consider the oxygen sensor if the cheapo tuneup stuff doesn't help. Especially if your power loss is accompanied by a sharp decrease in fuel economy. At your mileage an O2 sensor failure is not outside the realm of possibility. I don't know if Toyota is still doing this, but they used to give you the first replacement O2 sensor for free as long as the mileage wasn't ridiculous, somewhere in the 80K-100K range. You might want to check with your local stealership.

 

No, I know it’s not the rear. In fact, several Toyota techs have told me this is “normal.” I have discussed this in a few threads now, and the consensus is it is not normal, but does not affect reliability. Go figure.

I replaced the pilot and T/O bearing with the clutch 7K miles ago (67K miles), but it did it before that.

I drained the man trans fluid, it was full with no metal shavings on the magnetic plug. The fluid was like new. I replaced all fluids with Amsoil. Same noise.

Anyway, my point was to see if anyone else has this gear whine on their 96 5 speed. If you click on “exhaust movies” in my sig, you can really hear what I am talking about in the movie I posted.

More of a curiosity if anything. It’s not like I am going to do something about it.

 

Hey Christian,

I've said this several times in different threads about the noise of the manual trannies, but I don't know if you've seen those posts of mine. Anyway, what I've said is that I've owned 4 manual tranny-equipped Toyotas, 1 4 Speed and 3 5 Speeds, and they have ALL whined. The quietest they have ever been is with RedLine MT Fluid.

My .02 if you want it.
G

 

If it is any concellation mine was losing power too, just like you were talking about. Make sure all the tuneup stuff has been done (new plugs, fuel filter, air filter, run some injector cleaner in a tank of gas, etc). Then do the deckplate (I prefer this one) or elbow mod to ensure you are getting enuf air flow (so the air intake is not restricted).

If you still don't see any more power returning then you may have a restricted exhaust (converter) or need a new O2 sensor or perhaps another problem not mentioned. I would try the easy stuff first, then go into diagnostic mode.

 

Yeah, that does make me feel better Galen. And I have paid attention to your responses in the past . This just seems to come up a lot.

Thanks