sluggish acceleration

G

grover

New member
got an oil change a few days ago and since then, i've noticed my 2005 4runner is sluggish on acceleration. when pressing the gas, it starts pretty sluggish most of the time and will then "take off" after a few seconds or so.

any ideas what this could be? need help fast, as i'm supposed to take it on a road trip this weekend. thanks!
 
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This sounds like a coincidence with something else besides the oil. A thicker weight oil shouldn't cause a noticeable change unless it was substantially thicker. Also, you describe "it starts pretty sluggish most of the time and will then "take off" after a few seconds or so" which leads me to believe this is a hesitation problem where the car starts off sluggish but then goes as normal (if I read you correctly) which wouldn't be oil related.

Try a fresh tank of fuel from a different station. Perhaps it's time to run some good fuel system cleaner (Techron, SeaFoam) thru a tank.
 
I agree with Kyle and Rick. Check the oil level and make sure it's not radically over-full and then try some fresh gas.
 
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thanks nuke. you read it correctly.

i'm thinking the oil change was a coincidence too, but will check the level as CJ3Flyr recommended.

took it to a mechanic real quick and, of course, it wasn't doing it when he drove, but he thinks it may be some bad gasoline also.
 
well, looks like the problem isn't/wasn't bad gas. ran that tank out and filled up with some premium and i still have the problem. it actually felt like it was going to stall out on me this afternoon when starting from a complete stop. seems to be pretty intermittent though. any thoughts? thanks.
 
Good prior advice above. I did put too heavy of an oil in my old rav4 and it did similar to what you said. I'd say go back and have the guy who changed the oil do it again and maybe watch him use the correct weight- it coulda been a new guy who screwed up the oil weight.
If that dosen't work-
How many miles do you have? Time for a tune up? Do the step by step items- view/change air filter? spark plugs? maybe a bottle of fuel injector cleaner to clean out injectors? Uhhh Pray???
 
thanks guys. air filter is very new. not sure about the spark plugs. i got the 4runner 7 months ago. i'll check the plugs and put in some SeaFoam.

CJ3Flyr, it's a 2005 with about 67K miles on it. is resetting the ECM the same as pulling the fuse for the EFI relay? and do i need to disconnect the battery or just make sure the truck is off before pulling the fuses?

thanks again!
 
grover said:
thanks guys. air filter is very new. not sure about the spark plugs. i got the 4runner 7 months ago. i'll check the plugs and put in some SeaFoam.

CJ3Flyr, it's a 2005 with about 67K miles on it. is resetting the ECM the same as pulling the fuse for the EFI relay? Yes. and do i need to disconnect the battery No. or just make sure the truck is off before pulling the fuses? Correct.

thanks again!
Click to expand...

This may add clarity: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/560825-post4.html


I thought of something else: Do you have 44psi tires? Were you running them in the high 30's/low 40's? Did the guy at the oil change place read 32psi on the door jam and let air out???
 
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great, thanks for the clarification. i do not have 44psi tires, but will check them to make sure they're still in the 32-35psi range.

i'll try pulling the fuses and putting in some SeaFoam to see if that helps.
 
Nuke said:
Perhaps it's time to run some good fuel system cleaner (Techron, SeaFoam) thru a tank.
Click to expand...
okay, probably a dumb question, but how should i use the SeaFoam? seems to be a lot of different methods online.

truck was REALLY sluggish this morning and seemed like it was about to stall out when trying to pull out of my neighborhood. seems to get better as i drive it though.
 
try cleaning or replacing the MAF sensor, a dirty one can have similar effects including stalling.
 
Crawl up under there and check the transmission fluid. If they drained SOME of the wrong fluid (this has happened to 4runners before) before they caught their mistake, it could cause sluggishness on acceleration. This would be very obvious if the trans fluid was completely drained but could be intermittent on acceleration if it is just pretty low.

Just a thought. I have seen this exact problem with my friends 05 V8. 2 qts low from the Jiffy Lube. They denied it at first but the worker fessed up when asked. Guess he didn't know how to add any with no tranny dipstick available. We added 2 qts and it was fine.

My friend now changes his own oil (as I always have).
 
Strangely enough I may be experiencing a similar issues. It’s nowhere near what you have described but I noticed, well the butt-dyno tells me, that my v6 seems a tad sluggish after switching from 5w-30 dyno to 0w-30 Mobile 1 synthetic. It’s subtle and I am not sure if there really is a performance issue because the engine is running very smooth and normally when I jump on it I would hear it roar to life and take off, but now it’s so quite that it may only seem to be sluggish because I am not hearing the engine noise. But oddly enough it seems a pinch slower in low end acceleration. I have also read that too heavy of an oil in a 4 banger can cause this issue. I would not imagine a v8 would have such an issue but who knows. Maybe there is something to the oil change. Maybe a bad filter or wrong oil.
 
This just happened to me too ...

Thought I'd bump this thread and post what happened to me.

I had an oil change and immediately had very, very sluggish response to acceleration. It turns out that my friend who changed my oil actually drained out my tranmission fluid and then added 5+ quarts of oil into the already dirty 5+ quarts that were in there.

Long story short(ish), I lost the factory ATF ($90) and had to replace it ($25), wasted the 5+ quarts of Mobil 1 ($30), had to get the oil drained ($25) and had to put in 6 quarts of new Mobil 1 ($40).

It runs great again but what a PITA.
 
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I have been having the same problem with my 06 4Runner v6. It all started when I took the car for an oil change at EZ Lube. They overfilled it with two extra quarts of oil which I drained a few days later when I checked it. The car was incredibly sluggish in the low RPMs and also much less responsive. Since then every oil change I am experiencing the same problems. One fix that has been working is to drain a few quarts of oil and run the car on the lower end of the dip stick. I know this sounds rediculous but I have no other explanation or reason for the horrible performance. I have taken the car in to the dealer but they say they can't find anything that is wrong with the car. Has anyone else with a 4th gen 4runner experienced this same problem and has anyone determined the cause????????? Thanks
 
Oil weight isn't going to make any difference what-so-ever (unless they put in gear oil). The ONLY thing that could cause bad acceleration after an oil change that I can think of is they overfilled the oil...Check for that IMMEDIATELY. If they put too much oil in the crank shaft could be sitting in oil..and when it turns it whips the oil up that can cause the oil pump not to work...and you could easily destroy the engine.
 
HunterFace said:
I have been having the same problem with my 06 4Runner v6. It all started when I took the car for an oil change at EZ Lube. They overfilled it with two extra quarts of oil which I drained a few days later when I checked it. The car was incredibly sluggish in the low RPMs and also much less responsive. Since then every oil change I am experiencing the same problems. One fix that has been working is to drain a few quarts of oil and run the car on the lower end of the dip stick. I know this sounds rediculous but I have no other explanation or reason for the horrible performance. I have taken the car in to the dealer but they say they can't find anything that is wrong with the car. Has anyone else with a 4th gen 4runner experienced this same problem and has anyone determined the cause????????? Thanks
Click to expand...

YES...well, I definitely don't have an answer but started experiencing this same exact problem last week on my 05 Sport Edition V6 (97k miles). Strangely enough it was doing this before I changed the oil so I'm pretty sure that's not the issue...I'm almost questioning myself before pulling out in front of traffic to make a right or something because it bogs down and then suddenly takes off! (slight whiplash i might add..) Anyway, I'm going to replace the spark plugs tomorrow morning along with some fuel injector cleaner etc...I will let you know if that solves the problem.
 
Changed the plugs to NGK Laser Platinums, did an oil change Valvoline synthetic 10 W. Checked all the fluids.. Poured some Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner and My 07 SR5 V6 flies... seriously... I have 135000 miles on it already. And never feel short on power. To Make it more smooth just added Michelin's LTX MS/2 and i am loving it day by day.

Probably if not all above just change the plugs and you will be better off. Sea foam is not a solution.....
 
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