Help me save my truck!

Foo-Fighter69

Foo-Fighter69

New member
I had my 4runner sense June of last year. My mpg dropped really bad at the end of August. I've read about almost every mpg thread here! I've tried almost everything! Guys its gotten serious I'm averaging 10.4 driving like a grandma. My dad has gotten to the point of selling it. I grew up in this car and he just gave it to me. I don't want to sell it! I've put tons of TLC into it. Here's a list of what I have done to it to try to fix it.
New Fuel filter
Undid ISR mod
checked tire pressure
checked spark plugs (Look like running rich if anything)
Spark plug wires pretty new
Sea foamed it
Checked my 02 sensor (pre cad it was running great)


Today I took it to a mechanic. My mpg is still the same. He told me he did this though.
Lowered my Idle (I have a bad IAC idled high before)-now idling 900
inspected fuel injectors
checked gas coal filter
checked fuel line
checked for vacum leaks


Nothing has helped! I really need to get this fixed if I want to keep her!
 
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How's your air filter and MAF? Is your throttle body clean? Are your spark plugs new or just ok looking old ones? How many miles on it? 3.4 with auto I presume.
 
The idle should be at 650-750 so 900 is still too high. I'm guessing the IAC valve is stuck open. A clogged cat could be from the IAC being stuck for too long. PM me if you want to try a trick to fix the IAC.
 
Whitson Metalworks said:
How's your air filter and MAF? Is your throttle body clean? Are your spark plugs new or just ok looking old ones? How many miles on it? 3.4 with auto I presume.
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Sorry I forgot to say I got in a brand new Air filter and just cleaned the MAF and cleaned the throttle body a month ago and I checked it yesterday and it looked fine. 3.4l V6 Auto 207XXX

4Running Daily said:
Check for exhaust leaks, maybe clogged muffler or Cat?
Click to expand...
The next thing I will do is check for an exhaust leak and the clogged cat or muffler.



Thanx guys I'm writting all of this down on the do to list.
 
Where in CA?

You really should take it to a Toyota or all Japanese mechanic. Either the dealer or a private shop.

Do not expect the same level of knowledge from a midas or Firestone type place.

Is it throwing any codes? What are the exact codes?

Go to a TOYOTA -or- "all Japanese" mechanic! If he knows anything he should be able to figure out why it is getting 10 MPG. If you are broke then see if anyone local has a code scanner.
 
Last edited:
brianemc2_42 said:
Where in CA?

You really should take it to a Toyota or all Japanese mechanic. Either the dealer or a private shop.

Do not expect the same level of knowledge from a midas or Firestone type place.

Is it throwing any codes? What are the exact codes?

Go to a TOYOTA mechanic. If he knows anything he should be able to figure out why it is getting 10 MPG. If you are broke then see if anyone local has a code scanner.
Click to expand...

I will talk to my dad about it. The code is saying Bad IAC I'm going to fix it very soon. I don't have the excat code but I will get it up here soon.
 
my wifes honda was doing this same thing! We couldnt figure out why it was using so mush gas shifting fun and everything. It ran fine but not great. It was the temp sending unit the ecu runs off of. you could try that.

Her car was idling really high!
 
If the above does not correct it check your breaks.
I had a 91 Toy 4x4 that the drivers front caliper failed. Over a month the MPG kept dropping from ~17 to 12. The breaks worked to stop but would not release and the pads would drag.
new calipers/pads/rotors and the MPG jumped up to ~18

good luck.
 
I will also suggest throwing some redline fuel system cleaner in it, cheap and i've had great results running it in high mileage vehicles.

Beyond that compression or leak down test to make sure the engine is in good shape would be another step.

But I would start by fixing the idle problem.
 
muddertrucker99 said:
my wifes honda was doing this same thing! We couldnt figure out why it was using so mush gas shifting fun and everything. It ran fine but not great. It was the temp sending unit the ecu runs off of. you could try that.

Her car was idling really high!
Click to expand...

Evil Ash said:
If the above does not correct it check your breaks.
I had a 91 Toy 4x4 that the drivers front caliper failed. Over a month the MPG kept dropping from ~17 to 12. The breaks worked to stop but would not release and the pads would drag.
new calipers/pads/rotors and the MPG jumped up to ~18

good luck.
Click to expand...

Stick Figure said:
I will also suggest throwing some redline fuel system cleaner in it, cheap and i've had great results running it in high mileage vehicles.

Beyond that compression or leak down test to make sure the engine is in good shape would be another step.

But I would start by fixing the idle problem.
Click to expand...

Alright guys I'm writting all of this stuff down I'm going to go over these today I will keep you all posted. Thank you all so much for the help!
 
if you can, plug in a odb2 reader to get some reading of temp and spark, if a truck runs too cold(stuck open thermostat) it could run rich and use a lotta fuel, when i ran my truck without the thermostat i got about 10 mpg
 
i see you already had this problem before, and if cleaning the IAC doesnt help then you just gotta get a new one. it sucks but so is life sometimes
 
I finally got around to checking the cat today. My auto shop teacher told me more then likely that was the issue. So today me and my friend checked by getting a vacuum gauge and plugging that into a source of intake vacuum. The vacuum gauge seemed to read low but when I revved it, it increased to normal and above. It was also acting strangely during the revving process it would not hold 2500 rpms it would go from 1750 then jump to 3000 and back down there was no in-between. Then the exhaust during this process was also struggling. When the rpms would jump to 3000 then go back down the exhaust would build up and sputter all at once. You can see the videos they will show this in much more detail.
IMG 1617 - YouTube
IMG 1618 - YouTube
Sorry I couldn't figure out how to embed youtube videos. The videos are really short sorry I lagged on getting back to you guys. I'm serious about getting this rig fixed. I'm guessing from this evidence I need a new cat. Any one advise?
 
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