Hi, I have a 98 4WD 3.4 V6 4runner. Recently the check engine light came on. I went to a autozone to have the code read and it came up a misfire on cylinder 1. I changed spark plugs and ran injector cleaner through a tank of gas. Ran ok for a while then the light came on again with the same code. I swaped the coil over cylinder 1 sparkplug with cylinder 3 to see if the code would change cylinders. Still number 1. I figured it could not be a wire as cylinder 1 has no plug wire, it is part of the coil. I did a resistance test on the injector it was ok a ten OHMs (at least to my understanding). I still have the light comming on and can tell the car is slugish. At times it will run fine and the light goes out, but comes back on. It seems to run better cruising at highway speed. I also put a new air cleaner in. Any help would be useful. Oh yeah the Runner is about to turn 90000.:bash:
98 runner cylinder 1 misfire
- Thread starter djvanharp
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mikes4runner
New member
Clean the MAF(Mass airflow sensor) with carb cleaner.
also did you reset the ecu? dissconect the battery for a few min.
Mike
also did you reset the ecu? dissconect the battery for a few min.
Mike
mikes4runner
New member
djvanharp said:
I am not sure about the 4Runner but in my MR2 when the MAF is dirty it can cause the CEL to come on and the performance is sluggish like you stated....anyway it should be cleaned as part of a routine.
keep us posted
Mike
polvadis
New member
hi,
I also have a problem with my moms 98 4Runner. The #4 cylinder is showing to be misfiring, but everytime i take it into the shop everything works perfect. I seem to have the same symptoms as described here; very low idle causing the car to shake, and sluggish pick up when its go time.
i did change the plugs and switched the coils and it still does it.
the light comes on when this happens, goes away by itself when the problem vanishes.
where is this MAF sensor? perhaps i should clean that, the car has some 130k on it.
thanks for any replies.
I also have a problem with my moms 98 4Runner. The #4 cylinder is showing to be misfiring, but everytime i take it into the shop everything works perfect. I seem to have the same symptoms as described here; very low idle causing the car to shake, and sluggish pick up when its go time.
i did change the plugs and switched the coils and it still does it.
the light comes on when this happens, goes away by itself when the problem vanishes.
where is this MAF sensor? perhaps i should clean that, the car has some 130k on it.
thanks for any replies.
Her4Runner
New member
Hi sorry it took me so long. If you have not figured out your problem yet, here is what I did. Checked coil by switching with another to see if misfire changed cylinders. Checked wires. Cleaned MAF which is just behind the air intake by the air filter. After that the problem seemed to clear up and then came back. When it finally came back to stay I tested the injector with a ohm meter. The resistance between the connectors of the injector should be I believe 11-13 ohms. I used a haynes repair manual to figure this all out. I had tested the injector before and it showed good but the problem was not consistant. I think the injector worked on and off until it quit altogether. the ohm test is done with the engine off. The haynes manual was quite helpful when changing the injector also. Make sure you change the o ring seals also. I found six injectors on ebay (aftermarket) very cheap and I changed all three on that fuel rail. Good luck! let me know if this helps fix the problem or if you find something else. DJ
polvadis
New member
Thanx for the reply.
I just got back from the mechanics, and he said something along the lines of not being able to pull just one injector without pulling everything off, and quoted me some $300 for labor. Is that true? You can't just take out one fuel injector and replace it? He recommends cleaning all of them out because when he pulls it out they will all come out anyway.
Anyone? Sounds a bit fishy to me.
EDIT.
Just called a local Toyota Dealership and they confirmed that to change one injector some rail with all of them needs to be pulled, and want $499 just for the labor, $186 for the fuel injector. WOW.
I just got back from the mechanics, and he said something along the lines of not being able to pull just one injector without pulling everything off, and quoted me some $300 for labor. Is that true? You can't just take out one fuel injector and replace it? He recommends cleaning all of them out because when he pulls it out they will all come out anyway.
Anyone? Sounds a bit fishy to me.
EDIT.
Just called a local Toyota Dealership and they confirmed that to change one injector some rail with all of them needs to be pulled, and want $499 just for the labor, $186 for the fuel injector. WOW.
Last edited:
There are two fuel rails and all three injectors have to come out when one in the rail is changed. They can check to make sure the injector is electronically functioning with a resistance test, without having to remove the fuel rail. Depending on the position of the injector they may be able to get at it without removing much. If the resistance is correct it still could be plugged. Trying a $2.00 bottle of injector cleaner from a Auto parts store and driving at highway speed for a while may also help. If a injector is clogged it just might need a little help to clear itself.
When dealing with shops especially dealers it is best to tell them "my car chugs". If you tell them to change the injector and they do and the car still has problems they only did what you told them. I do not like paying what I think is outragous labor fees at many shops.
It took me 3 hours to change mine myself. The first time I ever tried something like that. I tried to get by with a old seal that looked fine and it leaked. The second time I had to do it to changed that seal. It took me less than a hour. A seasoned toyota mechanic should be able to do this in no time, however somethimes we are at their mercy. If you email me directly I could return email you my phone # if you would like to talk on the phone. DJ [email protected]
When dealing with shops especially dealers it is best to tell them "my car chugs". If you tell them to change the injector and they do and the car still has problems they only did what you told them. I do not like paying what I think is outragous labor fees at many shops.
It took me 3 hours to change mine myself. The first time I ever tried something like that. I tried to get by with a old seal that looked fine and it leaked. The second time I had to do it to changed that seal. It took me less than a hour. A seasoned toyota mechanic should be able to do this in no time, however somethimes we are at their mercy. If you email me directly I could return email you my phone # if you would like to talk on the phone. DJ [email protected]
I am going through the same thing right now. 1996 V6 SR5 with 233K. Started chugging and CEL came on. Misfire in cyl. 3 and in several others as well on occassion. Mechanic ruled out everything but fuel injectors. I find it hard to believe that multiple injectors are going bad at same time. I am going to add some cleaner to the tank and possibly clean MAF. Any other thoughts? Thanks.
Only thing I can think of is as I stated earlier check the resitance of the injectors to see if electronicly they're fine. The one I had bad was on the passenger side fuel rail and that side was fairly easy to get off. Good Luck. That is about all I have let me know how it turns out. I hope I can get 225K on my 4Runner! I'm at 115 now.
Just wanted to say thanks for this (old) post.
I had the same problem in my '98 3.4 V6. Rough idle, loss of power, "chugging", totally intermittent, and no problems at wide-open throttle. After checking the plugs and wires, cleaning the MAF, and swapping the front & back O2 sensors, I let the shop take a look. They said it just needed new plugs (to my surprise). That fixed it... for about 3 days. After that I got a misfire code for cyl 3 and 6. Ok, must be that shared ignition coil. That fixed it... for about 5 miles. So I finally followed the other thread (posted by Her4Runner). Ordered a stethoscope, and started sticking it on things, having know idea what I was doing. Sure enough, injector 3 wasn't "ticking", just as they mentioned.
Replaced it ($130), and THAT fixed it.
But now, I'm getting a "System too lean" code from the check engine light. When I pull the battery cables to reset it, it runs a low idle for 10 minutes, then seems to correct and turn on the check engine light. Did I damage the O2 sensor in all this process?
I had the same problem in my '98 3.4 V6. Rough idle, loss of power, "chugging", totally intermittent, and no problems at wide-open throttle. After checking the plugs and wires, cleaning the MAF, and swapping the front & back O2 sensors, I let the shop take a look. They said it just needed new plugs (to my surprise). That fixed it... for about 3 days. After that I got a misfire code for cyl 3 and 6. Ok, must be that shared ignition coil. That fixed it... for about 5 miles. So I finally followed the other thread (posted by Her4Runner). Ordered a stethoscope, and started sticking it on things, having know idea what I was doing. Sure enough, injector 3 wasn't "ticking", just as they mentioned.
Replaced it ($130), and THAT fixed it.
But now, I'm getting a "System too lean" code from the check engine light. When I pull the battery cables to reset it, it runs a low idle for 10 minutes, then seems to correct and turn on the check engine light. Did I damage the O2 sensor in all this process?
cly 1-4 missfire
ok heres a new one on me, I have a 98 4runner with a 3.4 it missfires so I did a tune up, (plugs wires air filter oil change you know the drill) the problem went away for a few days then slowly cam back. I brought it to the dealer who said they thought it would be a head gasket. So I did a compression check and they were wrong. No loss of compression, oil, antifreeze so all good there. so I messed with it more. I took a timing light to each wire and found that two were hitting normal and the cyl 4 wire goes twice as fast. computer, coil, and ignition module later my head hanging and very frustrated I havn't got a clue.:ybrick: I thought maybe the injector was stuck but it's located under the intake and I don't want to get into that just to find out I'm wrong and I don't know if that would cause the computer to make that cyl fire more frequent. I did notice the cyl 4 spark plug was a lot darker in color than the other plugs witch still look new if that helps.
ok heres a new one on me, I have a 98 4runner with a 3.4 it missfires so I did a tune up, (plugs wires air filter oil change you know the drill) the problem went away for a few days then slowly cam back. I brought it to the dealer who said they thought it would be a head gasket. So I did a compression check and they were wrong. No loss of compression, oil, antifreeze so all good there. so I messed with it more. I took a timing light to each wire and found that two were hitting normal and the cyl 4 wire goes twice as fast. computer, coil, and ignition module later my head hanging and very frustrated I havn't got a clue.:ybrick: I thought maybe the injector was stuck but it's located under the intake and I don't want to get into that just to find out I'm wrong and I don't know if that would cause the computer to make that cyl fire more frequent. I did notice the cyl 4 spark plug was a lot darker in color than the other plugs witch still look new if that helps.
