4R shutting down while driving

[carrot6993]

Please help! I have a 2000 4Runner. Absolutely love it. For the last 3 years it has been shutting down while driving, no warning, nothing. It just simply cuts off. I never know when it will happen. It might not do it for 3 months but then will do it 3x in one day. We have taken it to Toyota dealer and they found nothing. Taken it to 2 other mech. and found nothing. We just put up with it for a while, but last weekend it did it while I was turning and so I had very little steering and braking. I almost ran into the curb, nice when you have three kids in the back.

 

[toybox]

I can't help with a fix. These sorts of things can be very hard to troubleshoot as you have found out. Maybe a shop that specializes in electrical and electronic repair could figure it out.

I also agree it is a REAL safety issue and if I couldn't fix it I'd be very tempted to trade for a different truck.

 

[krot]

check the ignition key, i had a Honda that had worn out ignition...it would stall in the middel of a highway at 60mph....scared the hell outa me the first few times.

 

[Deaner9505]

I had the same problem with my '95. Very unsettling when your slowing down around a curve and everything shuts off. It was random just like yours.

I took it to a trusted mechanic and he personally spent a day on it and said he found several grounds on plastic. He changed them to a proper metal ground and viola no more stalling. I agree with toybox, an electric repair specialist may be a good bet.

 

[Ed Rooney]

I used to have a Honda Prelude that did the same thing. It turns out I had an electrical problem which caused some of the solder on the ignition to melt. Eventually I had to "balance" the key between on and start.

 

[HerbVick]

Here's another possibility. When it happens, can you immediately restart, or does it seem to be disabled for a variable length of time? Did it start out with a long time between stalls, then gradually become more frequent?

My brand new Dodge Mirada would just quit while driving down the highway and leave me on the side of the road wondering if it would ever start again before I ran the battery down trying. No warning! Just one second power, the next second nothing. Cranking the starter produced engine turnover normally, but nothing would fire. Sometimes, it would be just a few minutes. Other times, it might be as long as 15 minutes. I soon caught on to it's little game, so I would try, sit and wait, then try again until it fired off. Then once it started, it would run like a top, with no indication that anything was ever wrong.

I was mystified! The dealer, under warranty, replaced the computer, put in a carburator kit (err... that's the way we used to mix the fuel with air in the old days) and a few other things, yet it still would do it. After it got more frequent, every other day the mechanic would give me my car certain that the problem had been fixed. And every other day, I would bring it back saying that it's still doing it. He was at his wit's end.

As I was explaining the problem to a guy at work, he told me that he had had the same thing happen to him on a new Ford Fairlane 500. He went through the same madness with his dealer without success, but after taking it to a shadetree mechanic, the problem was solved, cheaply, and in a few minutes.

His shadetree man listened to the stall tale, then told him to change the fuel filter. He did, and it never happened again.

So, when I took my Mirada back to the dealer I reinterated the story to the mechanic. He refused to believe the fuel filter was it and wanted to go riding with me so that he could see what happened when it stalled. We drove about 8 miles before it happened again. He pulled the fuel filter out right there on the side of the road and it was so clean, you could see straight through the copper mesh.

But getting back to the dealership, he changed it anyway. You know, I never had another problem with stalls on that vehicle for as long as I had it.

This may not be the same problem you have, but if the symptoms are the same, do it. Fuel filters are pretty cheap.

 

[Fro-Runner]

Please help! I have a 2000 4Runner. Absolutely love it. For the last 3 years it has been shutting down while driving, no warning, nothing. It just simply cuts off. I never know when it will happen. It might not do it for 3 months but then will do it 3x in one day. We have taken it to Toyota dealer and they found nothing. Taken it to 2 other mech. and found nothing. We just put up with it for a while, but last weekend it did it while I was turning and so I had very little steering and braking. I almost ran into the curb, nice when you have three kids in the back.

I would be willing to bet that it is 90% an ignition module! These can be mounted anywhere from the underhood side panels on older vehicles to the firewall to inside of the distributor cab housing.
What is happening is that whenever this module gets "hot" or processes too much info at once; it will not report to the vehicle's ECU causing it to shut down the vehicle. Most of the time immediately after this shutdown your truck's engine will crank but it will NOT start. After waiting anywhere from 5-30 minutes, the vehicle will start up like a champ as if nothing ever happen. This will sometimes make you look stupid to the road service truck repairman. It will also make a wife/daughter/son look puzzled when hubby or dad arrives on scene only to start the vehicle right up at first asking.

These modules cost anywhere from $22 - $150+ depending on your vehicle. You can do a search online for the price of this part before going to the auto parts store. Autozone, Pepboys, Napa, Kraegen and O'Rielly's all have websites that allow for part search. Good Luck. Also these parts are usually easy to change out.....held by a few screws after unplugging a couple of wired connections.

 

[Fro-Runner]

Before I posted my last statement about the control module, I had taken into consideration that you would have changed your fuel filter, air filter, spark plugs and cleaned the carb with cleaner.

Like an individual said before, CHANGE your fuel filter first before spending the dollars on the module. If the filter does NOT work then change the ignition module.

 

[Cam05210]

Is the general consensus that the module is the answer? I have owned my '99 for 3+ years and this same issue just started happening. First time I drove to store..came out in about 1hr and wouldn't crank. Had power and it would turn over but not fire up. Called AAA and met them a few hours later and it turned over like nothing happened...no CEL or anything. Second time was 2weeks later and died while driving. Waited about 45mins and cranked right up. Only got 2-3miles before it died again...same thing, waited 10-15mins and cranked right up....again...no CEL. Got fuel pump and filter replaced this week and have been driving 2-3days and it happened again...unfortunately wife was driving, all have been low speed or parking lots thank god. HELP!

 

[k2damfc]

Having a somewhat similar problem as of late. Haven’t checked my grounding yet but figured I would see what was out there before I started fidgeting around. My problem is:
While driving all power will shut off. I’ll lose radio and hvac system. However the car keeps running, for the most part. I was actually sitting in the runner not running doing some work and I fired it up no problem, then when I pressed the brakes all electric shutdown and the engine as well. Started it right back up no problem. Then drive a little bit and as soon as I pressed the brake peddle, I lost power again, but engine kept running. It came right back on and I was able to drive home without issues. It’s so intermittent, won’t always happen when I press the brakes.
Thoughts?

 

[unsub1]

Having a somewhat similar problem as of late. Haven’t checked my grounding yet but figured I would see what was out there before I started fidgeting around. My problem is:
While driving all power will shut off. I’ll lose radio and hvac system. However the car keeps running, for the most part. I was actually sitting in the runner not running doing some work and I fired it up no problem, then when I pressed the brakes all electric shutdown and the engine as well. Started it right back up no problem. Then drive a little bit and as soon as I pressed the brake peddle, I lost power again, but engine kept running. It came right back on and I was able to drive home without issues. It’s so intermittent, won’t always happen when I press the brakes.
Thoughts?

[MENTION=164516]k2damfc[/MENTION] , you ever find anything? This is exactly my hell right now.

 

[who done it]

[MENTION=164516]k2damfc[/MENTION] , you ever find anything? This is exactly my hell right now.

Anything come of this?

I have a 06 but this is exactly what's started happening to mine. Checked the grounds I can find and they were tight.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk

 

[k2damfc]

Haven’t found much into it yet. Came across a new issue that takes priority over this. But I will post findings when I can

 

[WiscoOverland]

I went through all of this with a 2003 Explorer 4.6 and went through a EGR, IAC, fuel filter, MAF, etc. It got better and then I did some work and had the battery unhooked for a long period of time. It never stalled again after that.

 

[unsub1]

Haven’t found much into it yet. Came across a new issue that takes priority over this. But I will post findings when I can

I ended up detaching my Redarc dual-battery controller for a while and nothing changed, which was a relief in a way. I then took off all of the accessories and it still did it. Thought surely it was the battery so took it back to Batteries Plus who were like the third place to look over all of the connections with me and agreed they were fine. They pulled the AGM and did a multiday slow conditioning on it and diagnostics. Said it seemed within spec to them.

Ultimately put the battery back in, reconnected each accessory over weeks and it hasn't come back. No idea what the culprit was. Not very satisfying feeling but it's running great.

 

[k2damfc]

Trying to bump this post, but still having same problem. I got an oil change the other day and it seemed to help a bit, probably keeping it cooler. But now it’s doing it all over again. I’ve replaced TB gasket again, cleaned TB and MAF again. Looking at replacing spark plugs and wires soon, cuz why not, but not sure what’s going on to begin with. Only happens on hot days and usually including elevation.
The kicker this time though was while it started to happen pulling up to a red light, I threw it in park and I could feather the gas pedal and it kept revving up like it should, then when I put it into gear it died down almost right away. Got thru the light, so I could pull over somewhere decent, by just keeping the pedal 3/4 of the way down and let it jump a few times to get me thru. Once thru the intersection it didn’t seem to want to die right away.

Any help would be great. Thinking of doing the evap canister delete to see if that helps. But I’m not sure. It just feels like it’s starving for gas, I’ve slammed a pedal once or twice in my life and usually smell gas real bad if I did it too much, but I don’t get any smell.

Things replaced since:
Fuel pump
Fuel sending unit
Fuel filter
TB gasket
Pressure valve selenoid on fuel rail

 

[spartacus]

Trying to bump this post, but still having same problem. I got an oil change the other day and it seemed to help a bit, probably keeping it cooler. But now it’s doing it all over again. I’ve replaced TB gasket again, cleaned TB and MAF again. Looking at replacing spark plugs and wires soon, cuz why not, but not sure what’s going on to begin with. Only happens on hot days and usually including elevation.
The kicker this time though was while it started to happen pulling up to a red light, I threw it in park and I could feather the gas pedal and it kept revving up like it should, then when I put it into gear it died down almost right away. Got thru the light, so I could pull over somewhere decent, by just keeping the pedal 3/4 of the way down and let it jump a few times to get me thru. Once thru the intersection it didn’t seem to want to die right away.

Any help would be great. Thinking of doing the evap canister delete to see if that helps. But I’m not sure. It just feels like it’s starving for gas, I’ve slammed a pedal once or twice in my life and usually smell gas real bad if I did it too much, but I don’t get any smell.

Things replaced since:
Fuel pump
Fuel sending unit
Fuel filter
TB gasket
Pressure valve selenoid on fuel rail

what year gen ? Cleaning the iac and testing the tps would be my next suggestion.