Can you remove the pump without dropping the tank?

By cutting a much larger hole in the floor yes. Other wise no.


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OP you're grasping at straws again..

Did the deed. Not too fun on a sloped driveway with 1/4 of a tank. The soft line for the tank vent was fused on to the hard lines as others have mentioned. I fought with it for too long before cutting it. Replaced it with 1/2" fuel line, which was a pain to get on as well and fits super snug.

I won't claim it's fixed for quite some time, since the first fuel filter replacement netted amazing results for a week, but I did turn it on and it purred beautifully so I know that it's running well for now. Finishing projector retrofit re-do and installing in a minute, then I'll hit the highway.

I'm kind of baffled though by the part # on this pump I pulled out. 195130-2772. All hits for that come back on foreign sites, and the only thing I can conclude is that it was often put in a 'Toyota HiAce' which did have a 3.4L v6 at some point.

Makes me wonder if I just removed the original fuel pump at 256,000 miles. The same thing happened when I replaced the MAF the other week, a Denso + Toyota stamped part, with a part # that only came back on foreign websites and nothing conclusive on whether it ever belonged with a 3.4L 4runner.

Alright, well WTF.

So things immediately observed after 20 cranks to get the engine started, following fuel pump replacement and yet another filter change:

• Sounded better at idle, both cold and warm
• Practically no vibration through steering wheel or door panel at idle
• Pressing the gas after coasting would result in rpm+speed gain without having to mash it to force a downshift
• Car pulled hard from stop to redline at 50% throttle in the same time it previously would take to reach 3,000 rpms mashing it

It was a significant improvement over how it had been running, but it still didn't feel as strong as it had immediately after the first fuel filter change.

Anyway, took it over the mountain through Eisenhower tunnel, 11k ft / gain of 6k ft. I was actually able to keep pace at 65 on a hill that I can barely get up at 50 - with none of the foot to floor forced downshifts that would put me at 4500 unhealthy sounding rpms with no speed change. I even used cruise a lot on the way up because I didn't have to intervene.

So shortly after I get through the tunnel and coast miles and miles down the mountain, I put cruise back on and it does fine through the valley.. but as soon as I hit another hill, far smaller than any of the climbs I had been doing on the way up with cruise on, it wouldn't downshift, lost speed, and cruise control shut off.

The rest of the 130 miles of my drive were marginally better than it had been, but the pronounced vibration returned at idle and there were several hills where it just wouldn't do anything but lug when trying to climb a hill, and not downshift. I was stuck at 20mph up a hill through a neighborhood in Breckenridge with a Honda Fit and a Toyota Echo on my tail, foot to the floor - engine just lugged louder and louder without downshifting.

Highest coolant temp: 202*F
Highest transmission temp: 214*F

Trans temp dropped from 214*F as I exited the tunnel at the top of the mountain to 175*F when I started up the hill that made the problems very apparent again - coolant at 188*F.

Highlight: I cut my fuel vent tube 1.25" higher and my tank capacity was increased 3+ gal, projectors installed and somewhat aimed

And you've done sensors. Maf I remember you saying.
Do you have an air leak somewhere?
Is there a way you can check afr values?
Can you check air intake temps?
Engine temps?

I'm not sure if this is a lack of fuel problem of lack of air problem (sensors not reading correctly).

Is your transkickdown cable operating properly?


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Is your exhaust clear? Muffler? Cat? not plugged? does it get plugged as it heats up?

Also worth mention, significant mention... 150 miles in to today's drive I did a 30 second hill climb on the highway then coasted for about a minute before I smelled gasoline. I was looking around for the culprit vehicle but there were two ~2 year old Subarus in front of me, and no one had passed in the opposite lane. The reality, is it was raw fuel - not a rich exhaust... I mean, I got covered in gas yesterday and had a tank in my face for a few hours - it was my car, and it was straight gas.

I couldn't pull over for a while and I know fuel evaporates fast, but I did check under the car to see if I didn't tighten anything properly. All was dry. I used a new tank gasket yesterday, the access hatch is reinstalled, and none of the soft lines were damaged when I inspected them. Plus- gas spraying under the back of the truck when I'm going 60 mph probably wouldn't flood the cab like it did. I had the fan on, pulling in fresh air.

So this could be another piece of the puzzle as I've never smelled raw gas inside my car and it doesn't appear to be from anything I did yesterday with the fuel pump. Injectors, FPR, charcoal canister?

Muffler has been on for a year and was new, cat is unknown age but I pass emissions and I also can't think it could have run ok for hundreds of hard working miles and then clog again

Yeah. So I have also had a fuel smell in my cab onetime. My 7th injector fitting had come loose and was dripping fuel on the top of the motor. I pulled over and tightened it no problems. So I know what you mean.

I wish there was a way you could check fuel pressure while driving. Also does removing the gas tank cap help. As you drive. The venting might not be working properly.

Now what I'm thinking is after you put some miles on the truck. The vacuum from fuel leaving the tank could be a problem for the pump. (Shouldn't but could). That's the hissing noise as you open the cap of the fuel tank.

Now another problem I've seen (in hot Moab). A 2nd gen was having the tank pressurized from the high heat and causing the EFI fuse to blow and truck to stall.

What are your thoughts as the gas tank going under vacuum or pressure? Is a new gas cap a possibility?

What do your spark plugs look like?

Tested the tank pressure theory last week before doing the pump, desperately trying to avoid dropping the tank. Took the gas cap off, drove the same (like dook). Made sure no pressure had built up in the tank by pressing the flapper. Also checked any line I could for blockages with a blow test and pinching along soft lines.

Plugs I should check again, but I had done plugs and wires (correct NGK-correct gap) in the earlier stages of throwing money at this same problem - but before the problem got this bad.. maybe 7k miles ago? I remember being pissed because I took the old ones out expecting to find some cheap generic plugs - and they were the exact same ones as I was putting in, looked ok, and were gapped properly. If this is an injector problem I might learn something looking at the plugs... will put that on the list

Reading through all this a second time. Just so I'm clear, you have never thrown a code in this rig or never thrown a code that's related to this problem?

I've thrown codes when I've forgotten to plug the MAF back in, or when I had a grounding issue with a tail light turn signal converter - so I know the CEL is functional - but other than those things, the light has never come on.

Cool. I was gonna suggest you unplug the MAF and fire it over to make sure the ECU is reporting codes.

It's indeed weird not to have a code and to have fuel related fixes alleviate the issue. Have you checked compression on the cylinders at all? Just wondering how tired the motor really is?

Haven't checked compression - I was starting to think the motor was just tired too at the beginning of this summer until I did the fuel filter and was blown away at how great it performed. If it can do that towing for hundreds of miles, it's gotta be something stupid.

I don't assume valve problems can be a come and go thing?

With the fuel smell today and the quick hiccup the car still does on warm restarts - I think I should pull my plugs and look for any obvious evidence that a cylinder or multiple are running rich/lean. I also kind of want to get a USB borescope camera since they're so cheap - saw a video on youtube of a 3.4 where guy removed intake plenum and could see bottom of injectors leaking. Similar symptons