Warning lights

[bcc101]

My 2004 4Runner has 132K miles. Really no problems. Had the rotors and calipers replaced at 130K. Redid the rotors with Toyota after the service people put Car Quest which ran out pretty fast.
My problem may be not related to the recent service, but, last week when stopping at a bank I noticed an unusual vibration as I came to a standstill- the engine felt rough until I engaged neutral.
Today when coming to a stop the same thing happened except this time the check engine light and the VSC and VSC OFF lights came on and stayed on. I drove the few miles home after checking fluids.
The owners manaul says something like- take the vehicle to a dealer!

I have had very little need to go to a dealer after purchasing this vehicle.I am a little worried what I might be getting into.

Anybody have an experience in this?

As a side, I did use a Filtrete filter. My only caution is to be careful cutting -the aluminum is rather sharp. As the saying goes-its only a flesh wound>

Thanks, Bruce

 

[eskimochaos]

My 2004 4Runner has 132K miles. Really no problems. Had the rotors and calipers replaced at 130K. Redid the rotors with Toyota after the service people put Car Quest which ran out pretty fast.
My problem may be not related to the recent service, but, last week when stopping at a bank I noticed an unusual vibration as I came to a standstill- the engine felt rough until I engaged neutral.
Today when coming to a stop the same thing happened except this time the check engine light and the VSC and VSC OFF lights came on and stayed on. I drove the few miles home after checking fluids.
The owners manaul says something like- take the vehicle to a dealer!

I have had very little need to go to a dealer after purchasing this vehicle.I am a little worried what I might be getting into.

Anybody have an experience in this?

As a side, I did use a Filtrete filter. My only caution is to be careful cutting -the aluminum is rather sharp. As the saying goes-its only a flesh wound>

Thanks, Bruce

Do you have the V8?

Its probably a coil pack - a cheap repair. Common on a V8 w/ that mileage.

 

[bcc101]

I forgot to mention I have a V6. Thanks, Bruce

 

[EH007]

Re: Re: Warning lights

Do you have the V8?

Its probably a coil pack - a cheap repair. Common on a V8 w/ that mileage.

Again, where do you get this stuff? Don't make the poor guy go around chasing a problem with a suggestion that is out in left field. What in the world would make you think that the problem is a coil? BTW, the 4Runner doesn't using coil packs, it uses individual coils mounted on each plug.

And the failure rate for these individual coils is VERY low, not common as you stated. In fact, I don't remember anyone on this board complaining about a bad coil on a 4th gen 4Runner, so to say it is a common issue just doesn't make sense.

But if you want to do some armchair diagnosing for somebody, then look at the clues.... First, he said the engine felt rough until he put the transmission in neutral. Just that statement alone should make you realize that it is not a coil problem.

bcc101:
My suggestion is to take the vehicle to your nearest Autozone or Pep Boys where they will hook up a scan tool to read the code for free. The description of the problem is too vague for me to offer any other advice at this point.

 

[EH007]

I forgot to mention I have a V6. Thanks, Bruce

Bruce,

Where in upstate NY are you located? I own a scan tool and can help you out if you're not too far away. I'm about 25 miles north of Manhattan.

 

[eskimochaos]

Re: Re: Re: Warning lights

Again, where do you get this stuff? Don't make the poor guy go around chasing a problem with a suggestion that is out in left field. What in the world would make you think that the problem is a coil? BTW, the 4Runner doesn't using coil packs, it uses individual coils mounted on each plug.

And the failure rate for these individual coils is VERY low, not common as you stated. In fact, I don't remember anyone on this board complaining about a bad coil on a 4th gen 4Runner, so to say it is a common issue just doesn't make sense.

But if you want to do some armchair diagnosing for somebody, then look at the clues.... First, he said the engine felt rough until he put the transmission in neutral. Just that statement alone should make you realize that it is not a coil problem.

bcc101:
My suggestion is to take the vehicle to your nearest Autozone or Pep Boys where they will hook up a scan tool to read the code for free. The description of the problem is too vague for me to offer any other advice at this point.

Again what you said has no material to it. Yes coil pack failures are common on the v8 at that mileage. Other cars such as the land cruiser have the same v8 engine. I have a land cruiser and are a member on another forum that specializes in land cruisers. You are a dimwit.

 

[EH007]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Warning lights

Again what you said has no material to it. Yes coil pack failures are common on the v8 at that mileage. Other cars such as the land cruiser have the same v8 engine. I have a land cruiser and are a member on another forum that specializes in land cruisers. You are a dimwit.

You have zero mechanical aptitude. If you did, then you would realize what I already stated--- if he puts the vehicle in neutral and the engine smooths out, the problem is not a coil.

And again, there are no coil packs on 4Runners.

You're an idiot.

 

[eskimochaos]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Warning lights

You have zero mechanical aptitude. If you did, then you would realize what I already stated--- if he puts the vehicle in neutral and the engine smooths out, the problem is not a coil.

And again, there are no coil packs on 4Runners.

You're an idiot.

What is it then? You havent thrown out any ideas. You want to him to come to your house to play with your code reader

 

[EH007]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Warning lights

What is it then? You havent thrown out any ideas. You want to him to come to your house to play with your code reader

It could be many different things. I already said that the description of the problem is too vague. Anything I could say right now would be pure speculation, so what's the point?

But if I had a gun to my head and HAD to guess, I'd take a look at the IAC valve or even the EGR.

The very first step in diagnosing any problem is to actually confirm the problem. And when you do that, you can interpret what the vehicle owner is saying in the first place. In other words, someone may say that his engine is stumbling at idle. Well, what does that mean? Maybe there's a misfire in one of the cylinders. Or maybe there's not a misfire, but the idle is usually low. The point is that people have different ways of describing problems, so the first thing you need to do when diagnosing is to confirm and evaluate the problem yourself. That's why it's hard to diagnose a problem sight unseen. Trying calling up a mechanic and asking him to diagnose a problem over the phone. Chances are good that he'll tell you to bring the car to the shop so that he can diagnose the problem.

 

[rockwall]

Boys, be respectful to other 4Runner Brethern. Besides, Eskimo Chaos has the best dammed avatar on the site.

 

[bcc101]

Had the car checked today at a garage. Using a Snapon scanner found a code for the oil control assembly. Checked this for resistance and found it improper. The local Toyota dealer did not have one in stock so will wait until Monday to replace. A shop manual would be handy for me , but the garage subscribes to one. The scanner would be a handy tool except it is only a beginning. I am a pretty good friend of the garage owner so he showed me the difference between the $100 scanner I was interested in and his.
I am used to working on cars of an older vintage and do find it frustrating not to be able to do a lot myself.

The 4Runner has had no problems to date and I do expect a few to crop up as I would with any car with 132K miles.
Thanks for your help. Bruce

 

[simple]

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=255827

Theres the shop manual, so you can have a subscription on your hard drive

 

[EH007]

Had the car checked today at a garage. Using a Snapon scanner found a code for the oil control assembly. Checked this for resistance and found it improper. The local Toyota dealer did not have one in stock so will wait until Monday to replace. A shop manual would be handy for me , but the garage subscribes to one. The scanner would be a handy tool except it is only a beginning. I am a pretty good friend of the garage owner so he showed me the difference between the $100 scanner I was interested in and his.
I am used to working on cars of an older vintage and do find it frustrating not to be able to do a lot myself.

The 4Runner has had no problems to date and I do expect a few to crop up as I would with any car with 132K miles.
Thanks for your help. Bruce

Yeah, those Snap-On scan tools are awesome, but they are really expensive. The price means that most backyard mechanics don't have one. The $100 scanners are very basic, usually just the ability to check codes and clear them.

I own a mid-level scan tool made by OTC, which is a very respected brand. I only paid $550 for it, but it allows me to record live data stream, as well as read pending codes, both features that are absent on the lower cost scanners. If you decide to invest in one and you're interested in troubleshooting fairly complex problems, definitely get one that records data stream and allows you to view pending codes.