engine trouble ideas?

M

mooockie

New member
03 4runner V8 - 130k miles

battery was dead replaced last night and it started right up

this morning hard start and then died right away. then started up drove kids to school just fine (including turning off and restarting).

seemed like it was idling a little low when I got back to the house so I revved the engine and left off the gas, it died. But it started right back up.

I didn't have time to really check anything out before leaving for work.

Ideas? Would a loose battery connection cause this?
 
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mooockie said:
... Would a loose battery connection cause this?
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Yes.

If you truck ran fine before, I would disconnect the battery for about 5 minutes, check battery cable and reconnect. Make sure it is all good and tight. Then start it up and let it idle for about 10 minutes that should be enough time for CPU to relearn all settings.

Hope that works for you.
 
progress4m said:
Spark plugs change interval on V8 is 90K.. Since you have 130K on it you either past due or not there yet, if plugs were already changed @ 90K.
Click to expand...

Actually 120k.

Doubt it's the plugs unless you ran absolute junk for gas in it. Seafoam is over hyped gimmick. People who have torn down the 2UZ note it stays remarkably clean.

Sounds electrical in nature. As others have said, check battery, fuel pump, etc.
 
Let's start off by saying seafoam is not a miracle cure in a can. Don't waste your time. In this situation, that is the last thing I would bother with. Replacing spark plugs would be the next to the last thing.

I would start with what recently went wrong. If your just replaced your battery, that is where I would start. I would check the connections. That is most likely the problem. If you have a bad connection, you can get symptoms like you described. It probably would have died if you had tried to turn on the lights or other accessories. Clean the posts and terminals real good. Make sure the connections are tight. You may also want to check the battery. It is possible that you picked up a bad battery. That does happen. Beyond that you would want to check the alternator and check for a parasitic drain. Some thing like a light stuck on. I would doubt the last two would be your cause, but if it isn't the obvious then those become possibilities. Most likely it is either a bad connection or a bad battery.
 
Sungod said:
Let's start off by saying seafoam is not a miracle cure in a can. Don't waste your time. In this situation, that is the last thing I would bother with. Replacing spark plugs would be the next to the last thing.

I would start with what recently went wrong. If your just replaced your battery, that is where I would start. I would check the connections. That is most likely the problem. If you have a bad connection, you can get symptoms like you described. It probably would have died if you had tried to turn on the lights or other accessories. Clean the posts and terminals real good. Make sure the connections are tight. You may also want to check the battery. It is possible that you picked up a bad battery. That does happen. Beyond that you would want to check the alternator and check for a parasitic drain. Some thing like a light stuck on. I would doubt the last two would be your cause, but if it isn't the obvious then those become possibilities. Most likely it is either a bad connection or a bad battery.
Click to expand...



What he said. Definitely check the charge of the battery. Sometimes they sit on a shelf, and get weak.


Jesse
 
Carl_G said:
Please explain "TB" to us non-technical types. Thx.
Click to expand...

TB is most often used to shorten the term Throttle Body.

Post Note- Seafoam isn't a magickal cure-all!? Well that sucks... I was gonna get a dozen boxes to throw at customers cars! J/K I love the stuff myself but its true, not every rough running issue is going to be solved by a cleaning.
 
Symptoms don't sound like a bad battery to me.

It's either ignition or fuel.

If due for plugs..then replace them NOW.
 
ha, funny some went right to the word seafoam, never suggested it as a solution to the op's problem or that cleaning is a solve all, what i meant was with an 03 & 130k, if he's never cleaned the maf sensor & TB its not a bad idea, & doing the seafoam, no matter how over-hyped, cant hurt. and yes, at 130k if plugs have never been done, thats not a bad idea either.
 
Update: I haven't had time to check it out yet, but this morning started up fine and ran fine to drive the kids to school.

Since it did it yesterday, when i got home I put it in park and revved the engine to around 4k rpm and let off the gas then it went down to real low idle and cut off. Started right back up though.

Probably not going to have time to really look at it until this weekend. Luckily I only HAVE to drive it to take the kids to school (maybe 2.5 miles)
 
mooockie said:
Update: I haven't had time to check it out yet, but this morning started up fine and ran fine to drive the kids to school.

Since it did it yesterday, when i got home I put it in park and revved the engine to around 4k rpm and let off the gas then it went down to real low idle and cut off. Started right back up though.

Probably not going to have time to really look at it until this weekend. Luckily I only HAVE to drive it to take the kids to school (maybe 2.5 miles)
Click to expand...

Definitely sounds less like a battery issue. Three things that come to mind, Mass air flow sensor, Idle air control valve and Vacuum leak.

Is there a chance When the battery was replaced that a vacuum hose was disconnected. This can cause rough idle, or high idle and stalling after being revved or when slowing to a stop. A small leak may not affect idle but may still cause stalling.

Mass air flow sensor: this measures the air flow into the engine, they can get dirty or faulty, dirty won't set a cel but faulty will. Can be cleaned with brake cleaner.

Idle air control valve (IAC): A small electric valve that is used to control the idle speed of the engine. These can get sticky and are then unable to control idle speed and can cause it to stall.

Now the fact that this started right after the battery replacement, makes me think mass air flow less than the other two. I would check all vacuum lines first.


Jess
 
So after asking on some other forums, i was told it may take a little bit of time for the ECU to relearn settings after a battery swap. My only drive this week have consisted of 1.5 miles or less to take the kids to school. Drove for about a 30 mile drive today and seems to be fine now.
 
mooockie said:
So after asking on some other forums, i was told it may take a little bit of time for the ECU to relearn settings after a battery swap. My only drive this week have consisted of 1.5 miles or less to take the kids to school. Drove for about a 30 mile drive today and seems to be fine now.
Click to expand...

This is true, and the main culprit is probably the IAC motor. If when the battery died it for some reason "forgot" it's position, then this can cause stalling issues. It will usually take a couple warm up cycles to relearn, then your good to go.
 
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