Can anybody help a new guy w/ 1990 2door SR5

Thanks Doublethump, My success was short-lived though. This morning it was idling back up at 1800-1900 and after a few minutes of driving and then puting into park, it starts surging again between 1500-2000. The surging has slowed down ALOT but it is still doing it. Do new belts need to be re-tightened after a few miles?

It was running great yesterday. Idling almost too low, to the point that i had to bring it back up a few hundred RPM's.

Really starting to run out of ideas here.
 
Belts generally do strectch a little after an install. Double check to make sure they are tight and that no bolts came loose that caused them to slack again.

The idle thing seems more like a fuel issue then a belt issue. I am thinking it has to do with the throttle body. Chances are it is sticking on high idle.

If you can, when it does that again see if you can leave it running and pull the air intake off and see inside the throttle body to see if there is anything sticking. It could be very simple.

BTW.... nice looking 4Runner
 
I'll give that a shot this afternoon. Wouldnt the engine die or start to run poorly if i remove the intake tube from the TB?

What do i do if it IS sticking? I have already thoroughly cleaned the throttle body and butterfly to the point you could eat out of it. It is spotless on the inside, the throttle cables are NOT sticking. You can rev the engine while it is idling high or surging and after you let off of the gas the rpms drop to about 1k then start climbing high or surging again.

Thanks for the kind words, Looks better in those small pictures snce you can't see the rust and peeling clearcoat haha. But its got a porno RED interior and more character than any car i've been in. I love this thing, just wish it would love me back!
 
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Yeah it should run fine. Just take the air intake stuff off so you can see inside the TB. It may just be hanging up a little or it may be a sensor that is kicking in the butterfly.

I love the porno red interior. I also have a 1992 Buick Roadmaster with Red Maple (porno red) interior. Love the car. I just blew a head gasket on it so I am thinking about a Buick 455 in it.
 
Double thump - checked the TB to see if anything was happening in there and it appeared to be working like it should. So i decided to change the TPS and the TB gasket as well as tighten the belts again.

So far so good! started it up this morning, and she revved to about 1400 for a few minutes and then settled down around 900. after driving out on the highway and back roads on my way to work i put it in Park to see if it would start surging like it has been. Sure enough, no surging. Must have been a bad Throttle Possition Sensor.

Also installed some driving lights in my bumper :D

Foggers004.jpg~original


Here's the car i was borrowing for a few days :gun6:
Foggers001.jpg~original
 
Short lived yet again

Well the success was short lived yet again. The problems are as follows

1: cold start and warm start idle fine but after driving for 30 min. and puting it into park it starts surging between 1500 and 2K. During this surging you can smell a strong smell of OIL coming from the truck.

2: the belts/pulleys are squeaking very bad. It is a high pitched squeal/ squeak coming from the drive belts/pulleys. The haynes manual claims my water pump may be going bad . . . :mad:

3: I cold started it today to see if the problems were still there and it started fine but as it warmed up it the rpms started to climb and stopped just shy of 2000 rpms. as the rpms were climbing smoke started pouring from the driver side exhaust manifold area, getting thicker with the engine warming up more and more. Smelled like burning rubber and was smoking to the point i brought out the fire extinguisher. . . just in case.

Really dont know what to do now. I've changed the following:

rep. alternator
rep. vacuum lines
rep. radiator and hoses
rep. radiator fan
rep. all drive belts
cleaned the throttle body
rep. throttle position sensor
rep. throttle body gasket

I dont think it is a fuel issue becauase it drives fine without any bogging at all. It just wont settle down.

Thinking about taking it to the dealer at this point. I've sunk too much money into this thing as of lately and it is really starting to get old. I love this truck but man it must hate me . . . :whipping2 (4runner on the left and me on the right)
 
ok I am going to try to help but I am scratching my head a little too.

1. The oil smell is what is throwing me off here. I am wondering if there is a PCV that is clogging with oil and thowing the cold idle circut into action. Is the oil level higher then it should be?? I am hoping that is not but double check it when it is warm and make sure there isn't too much oil in it.

2. Belts squeel when they are loose. I am wondering if there may be an idler pulley issue. maybe it isn't adjusting properly to apply the right tension. If it was your water pump it would feel tight to move with the belt off. That would be an easy check when you are checking the belts.

3. The smoke is probably oil and may be related to number one. I am hopeing that it isn't a head gasket issue that could be causing a lot of the other issues. with the engine cold, check that side of the motor to make sure that oil isn't leaking onto the exhaust manifold.

I know that probably isn't a lot of help but check those things and we can try to narrow it down
 
Ok, i checked the oil level and it appears to be right below the full mark. I've changed more vacuum lines in hopes i come across a bad one and even changed my intake tube since the old one was cracked and dry rotten.

The burning was in fact a leaking valve cover gasket and i have new ones from felpro on the way so that should help.

I even took the car to a local shop and had them take a look at the belts and the idling issue. They claimed the idle was set high and that all it needed was to be turned down, and the belts just needed adjusting. Well now i have a high pitched howling that comes from that area that increases with rpms. . The idle settled for the rest of the day yesterday. But this morning it started up and idled high and started surging when i got off the highway and parked in my parking lot.

This is really starting to get irritating, especially with the snow we're supposed to get this weekend. . . I mean, that is EXACTLY why i bought this thing
 
Since i already paid the shop to fix it, im going to take it back there in a little bit. I really trust this place and have never heard a bad thing from anyone who has taken their cars there.

Hopefully they can catch what i cannot, its really driving me crazy
 
The idle thing has to be sensor related. Not sure which one but I would think that something is triggering the cold idle circut when it shouldn't be. Teh squeal is probably the idler pulley or waterpump.

I feel bad for you with all of these problems. The really crappy part is if you do give up on it it will become the best vehicle someone has ever owned as soon as it leaves your hands. Murphy's Law right.

I would think the shop should be able to isolate the issue quickly.

Keep me posted.
 
Thats what im thinking as well. But im thinking it may have to do with the trans/spedo sensors because i can drive around the neighborhood all friggin night and not have a single issue. rpms sit in gear below 1k and in park at 900 but as soon as i get out on the highway and take it above 60 the rpms wont go below 1200. Not even in gear.

Also, when i slow to a stop, right around 10mph the rpms start spiking to 1500 then back down to 1100 where it sits when i am stopped but still in gear. THIS is how i can tell then engine idle will start spiking when i park it without actually puting it in park. Now it does this EVERY time i get on the highway and take it about 50-60 mph.

I really hope the shop catches whatever it is.

man it really blows being a younger guy trying to get a mechanic to listen to you.
 
Well i got a phone call from the shop this afternoon. . . They explained to me that they had 2 guys looking at my truck for a few hours this afternoon and couldnt seem to get the idle settled. They did say my waterpump is fine but the noise i am hearing sounds like it is coming from behind the timing cover. Because they couldnt fix it i will be getting my money back. If only that were as good as getting the truck fixed. .

Could the idle surging be related to a timing issue?


I guess its time to call the dealership and try my luck with their service dept.
 
Well I took the truck to toyota to see what they had to say. This is what the tech had told me.

There is play in the butterfly inside the TB as well as the arm the runs through the TB and attaches to the butterfly. There is also a broken spring on one of the throttle/CC cables where they attach to the TB. As well as a broken spring on the dashpot.

This is causing the idle to get screwy when the car warms up and things expand a little.

The squeeling is a fan pulley bearing going south. The belts are fine and all of the accessorier are working it just makes a little noise.

I was quoted for parts and labor fixing the two above issues as well as new plugs, wires, dist. cap, fuel filter (standard tune up) . . . . . . . $3015.00 :gun5:

I told tell the guy i didnt even pay half of that and have already put close to that into the truck and that i really couldnt afford to dump another $3000 into this thing. So i got the OK from the tech tojust drive the truck the way it is, It just has a "personality" now (which it kind of always had, and older cars and trucks usually do). He then told me he has a 92 runner with the same pulley issues/noise and has been driving it like that for some time now.

To my suprise it has yet to surge at idle since it went to the dealer on thursday. still runs a little high but no surging!

If anyone knows of an aftermarket retailer or even replacement parts retailer that carries throttle bodies for the 2nd gen. v6s that would be great!
 
Since you mentioned the dashpot I take it you have a manual trans? 3000 sounds absurd for all that. I'll do some rummaging outside today...
 
Nope, mine is an auto trans. And yeah, for $3000 i'll buy another friggin 4runner. Im gonna look into a new throttle body and do that myself. As far as the pulley noise, :happens:
 

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