Alright, it has been one problem after another here, and quite frankly, I am getting a little sick of it.. my older F-150 never ran this badly! My best guess at this problem is a bad vacuum leak somewhere, but I have yet to find it.. Anyway, here is my problem: For a little while now, my '91 3.0L 4X4 has been having a rough go of even keeping my idle up- at all. Basically, when I am going under 15 MPH or at a stop, be it in park or any of the drive gears, my idle refuses to be consistent, and the 4Runner acts like it is trying to run out of gas (even on a full tank!). The idle fluctuates wildly between exactly 0 RPM and 800 RPM, my lights dim erratically, and when it does die, just about every idiot light on my dash lights up. I have been driving with both feet so I can keep my RPM's up, and prevent it from dying right in the middle of an intersection.. a scary prospect here in suburban Southern California...
I am taking it to the local auto shop for the FIFTH time this SUMMER! I am hugely frustrated, especially since I have to go back to school in MONTANA in less than a week! I do take care of my vehicles, I do maintain them; it is a 159K 1991 4Runner, so age isn't too much of a problem.. WHAT GIVES?? Here is the list of problems I have had to pay for so far (on a college student's budget, no less!):
-two bad power steering pumps
-overheating tranny (piggyback cooler fixed this)
-blown tranny lines
-blown coolant lines
-overheated engine
-water in the distributor cap (a $32.00 fix!!)
-busted rear springs
-busted exhaust
-A/C (it sucks to be in SoCal without it!)
-stuck shifter knobs (couldn't get out of park for a while w/o shift override)
-malfunctioning turn/brake blinkers
-blown headlights
And get this: all that was THIS summer!! I know I did not get a lemon (drove fine for a year, and CARFAX checked out), and I have never taken it on anything more severe than mild fireroads! Actually, last Saturday, I was to tackle the John Bull trail in Big Bear, but the idle problem prevented that! All in all, if this keeps up, I will be VERY unhappy, and I will ditch that 4Runner. I need reliability, not consistent breakage!
P.S. The name of this 4Runner is LIL DEVIL for a different reason, but it is sure living up to the name now!

 

That sucks man, I feel for you. I dont know what to tell u. If you took it to a shop multiple times and they cant fix then I dont know. A combonation of everything. My buddy and I have been having problems with our Runners too. Doesnt this kinda stuff just make you want to kill yourself.

 

Rough idle as you have here can be caused by a vacuum leak, and a good deal of other things. I would check all of the air box/air intake hoses from the throttle body back to the MAF for any holes tears or cracks. Also for what you have to be a vacuum leak you should hear that pretty easy with the hood up.....so here are the four things I would check before anything else... 1. air intake leaks 2. Vacuum leaks 3. MAF air flow sensor 4. Throttle position sensor

Now you note that the dist was changed due to water was the vacuum advance connected properly? busted exhust....is that all cat back? there are three sensors on mine....one on the left side header (o2) one just before the cat (unk) and one on the very end of the cat (EGT)
Now how bad was the engine over heat.....the 3.0 with the HG troubles and the all alum head really does not responed well to over heats......the head can warp realy qwuick and cause the HG to blow....that depends on how long it was in the over temp condition

 

how does the idle fluctuate between 0 and 800 rpm? i had my truck adjusted once and was able to get it to idle at 390 rpm, but less than that it stalled.....

 

Any decent Toyota mechanic should be able to figure out the idle issue. Are you going to a shop that specializes in Toyotas? If not, that would be a good idea.
Since I'm not much of a mechanic, I have gone to the local dealership for service and repairs since I purchased my '89 new. They have done an excellent job of keeping my 'Yotas purring. Especially my 1989 truck, which is my DD. A little pricey, but free loaners always, and good service.
I often hear of unhappy experiences regarding dealers and service. I'm happy to say that Doxon Toyota in Auburn, WA is OK in my book.

Jim

 

Doesnt sound right at all. Most of these things should never happen.

-two bad power steering pumps
Sometimes they crap out, but two in one summer is rough. What size tires do you have?
-overheating tranny (piggyback cooler fixed this)
I don't think I have heard of this problem for toyotas. You have an Automatic right?
-blown tranny lines
Strange
-blown coolant lines
Stranger
-overheated engine
This should never happen if all the related parts are working. Passive cooling is more than enough even in SoCal heat
-water in the distributor cap (a $32.00 fix!!)
This happened fairly frequently with my 3.0. However the Water drys out and shouldnt cost you anything.
-busted rear springs
-busted exhaust
Bummers
-A/C (it sucks to be in SoCal without it!)
-stuck shifter knobs (couldn't get out of park for a while w/o shift override)
Related to blown lines and overheating nodoubt
-malfunctioning turn/brake blinkers
-blown headlights

To be honest these problems sound like they stem from a bit of abuse. Before you get all offended, I only know this because I am quite the truck abuser myself. Exhaust rust out, they only bust when your abusive. I have also broken springs, but never on the way to the mall.

To be more helpfull however, the idle problems sound like vacume leaks to me and that engine has about a billion vacume lines. You also mentioned the dummy lights, have you checked the codes?

 

When I couldn't figure out a probly with mine I broke down and took it to a dealer. I found that the dealers often don't charge you for little things ie - diagnose the need for a new cap& rotor, plugging (sounproofing) the firewall due to my mods, verify AC problems.

Take it to a dealer, you will be in & out in no time with a truck that runs well.

Don't get me wrong - I do most of my own maintenance as well, but sometimes you neeed the dealer.

 

Bad grounding connections....?
My 3.0 used to idle @200 when hot but would never stall out. I found a few things changed with a higher amp battery

 

My truck will idle at >200RPM if its set there, it sucks when it gets that way tho It seems that the screw that holds the idle in place backs out on me alot...slight adjustment fixes it tho.

 

Blown coolant lines and overheating sounds like HG to me- have that checked

 

The list I posted is stuff that occurred, and I have fixed since then; the only exception is the weird idle problem.. I did have my HG checked out, and it is fine, and luckily my idle problem wasn't as severe as I thought it might be: as it turns out, my stock intake has developed a rip in the tubing near the throttle body, well past the sensor locations. I did a quick "duct-tape" fix, but now I am in the market for a new intake (ISR's do not come in kits, and I don't want to put up with the risk); but unfortunately, my wallet went missing last night, and it is possibly stolen. Hmmm, I did lose it at a Christian camp, so perhaps I might get it back from a kind soul.. Here's to hoping..

 

Lovely, I got my wallet back, but no money (little brats probably stole it...), my upper radiator hose literally dynamited on me (tearing apart the hoodliner); and now the engine refuses to start after limping home from work.. I am inching ever closer to selling it, and getting something older and cheaper (and SIMPLER!!), and to hell with mileage/ gas prices!!

 

BOOHYAH. Engine is flat-out TRASHED, and I have to pay up for a new motor now.. and push my "leave for Montana" date back to THURSDAY at the earliest (originally scheduled for THIS sunday..). SO what do you think? rebuilt long block? Brand-new short block? convince them to do a 3.4 swap, if not then the long block? I have to talk to them tomorrow... Long block (the rebuilt one) is $3,000; new short block is $8,000; who knows WHAT the 3.4 might be (I'd just thought it might be funny to have the dealer do it for me)... I'm still thinking of complaining to Toyota central, this is the second head gasket in it's 14 years of existence. Not cool.

 

You can get a rebuilt engine for under $2000 so price around and don't take the first estimate somebody gives you. Sounds like the engine leaned out and overheated or blew the headgaskets due to the ripped intake tube. $8000 is insane so don't even listen to that person. I've seen rebuilt 3.0 motors on Ebay for $1200 with no core needed. You would just have to get it shipped and bolt on your intake, exhaust, accessories. How do you know the motor is completely shot and not just the headgaskets?

 

Alright, my toyota flat-out SUCKS. I am 80% sure that I want to develop a deep, DEEP hatred of toyotas, 4runners in particular, because of this P.O.S. that I am forced to live with. They "fixed" my motor, and at about mile 22 of a 1059 mile trip, the engine died on me. One $500.00 tow later, I am driving up to Montana in a Jeep (Jeeps freaking rule in my book.). They "fixed it, and my stepdad decides to drive it up himself. Got to about Barstow (mile 100) and the water pump fails (keep in mind that this is a NEW pump.). It turns out that it isn't the pump, but some stupid mounting bracket-bearing thing that connects the pump to the block. Now, we are at a $1000.00 fix! I am currently taking out MORE student loans just so I can stay in school! I am hating this vehicle SO much right now.. The costs to "fix" this P.O.S. is almost par with the freaking LOAN I took out to buy it!! That wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't only halfway through PAYING IT!!
Guys: that is IT. NO MORE. I am so SICK and TIRED of this piece of JUNK. I am selling that pile of crap as soon as it limps it's pathetic butt up here. I am going BACK to Ford, and I am going to buy myself an F-350, and I will just imagine that all of this crap is nothing more than a horrible nightmare that never really happened. Consider me dead to the Toyota community. I am sorry, but I quit. It is not worth it to me. I hate my 4runner. May it rot in Hell.

 

dude I'm sorry about your bad experience, but 4runners rock.
remember what Mark Twain says (in my words)
the cat who burns his paws on the hot stove will never go up again...even when it's cold!!

you got a lemon. you got burnt once.
but Toyotas are the most reliable, best driving, coolest off-roading vehicles on the planet. I'm sure that a lot of us feel the same.
If you get another one, I'm sure that your next experience will be better.

 

If your taking it to the same shop then it looks like they are getting a lot of "Return" buiseness so to speak. With everything that's happened to your runner I would start asking questions at the mechanics shop. I have seen with my own eyes several shops that will put used "junkyard" parts on, clean them real good and call them new. They would also charge you as if it was new knowing that it would maybe last 6 months to a year if your lucky. Then walla! Repeat buiseness.

 

My 88 4Runner has 288,000 Miles on it and Runs Like a Top! Sounds Like you went to a Really Poor repair Shop And I Bash the Crap out of it