Jump to content

toyota with rough idle...wtf is wrong?


Gil Bang

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Walte464 said:

Could also be spark plugs the vehicle doesn’t like. Changed plugs on a Jeep, used the higher end ones and it idled hard, changed them again to $2 dollar plugs and it ran like a dream.

Problem started about 3 months after installing bosch plugs.  Installed NGK plugs thinking maybe I had a bad one.  Same problem.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

1 hour ago, Parliament said:

Could be running lean because of a bad O2 sensor.  It's a cheap fix.  Next would be intake gasket, MAF sensor and all the plumbing behind it.  If you have air getting in AFTER the MAF, your motor'll run all wonky.

 

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Sounds like a fuel delivery/mixture problem.  Fuel filter, fuel pump, O2 sensor (controls mixture).  Does it get better or worse when it reaches operating temp?

MAF is another one = mass airflow sensor.

wouldn't either of these conditions trigger the check engine light and throw a code?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"fucking Toyota"...

Oh boy.  Fucking Toyota indeed. 

So here's the longer version of the story. My GF is a great lady.  She's tough as nails, but her ex-husband doesn't know shit, and her kids don't know shit.   Ex was the heir to a condom company (which shall remained unnamed, but think J.T. Daniels and you're getting warm), and was disowned by his father after the father remarried a much younger woman.  So, he grew up a wealthy, privileged asshole that never had to do anything, which was OK when he had money,  and he ended up a broke-ass know-nothing asshole, which sucks. 

Anyway, he never taught his boys shit. 

So, GF's son starts having car problems, in the worn-out Toyota that GF gave him when we bought the new car.  One of his buddies tells him to check the spark plugs.  So, he gets out the Craftsman socket set that I gave him for Xmas, gets the socket that says "spark plug socket" in the little plastic box,  and goes to work...after removing the coil.

Here's the trouble;   The socket was a 5/8, as one would expect.  Meanwhile, fucking Toyota plugs are 9/16.   So, tl/dr, he gets this socket wedged down the fucking spark plug tube and cannot get it out.  I end up having it towed here to the house, and after several hours, I finally get the fucker out, replace the now destroyed plug with a new one, and try to fix the issue, and here we are. 

How did I get it out?  I drove a lag screw into the socket with my impact driver and was then able to pry the fucker out, only after using generous quantities of WD40. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

"fucking Toyota"...

Oh boy.  Fucking Toyota indeed. 

So here's the longer version of the story. My GF is a great lady.  She's tough as nails, but her ex-husband doesn't know shit, and her kids don't know shit.   Ex was the heir to a condom company (which shall remained unnamed, but think J.T. Daniels and you're getting warm), and was disowned by his father after the father remarried a much younger woman.  So, he grew up a wealthy, privileged asshole that never had to do anything, which was OK when he had money,  and he ended up a broke-ass know-nothing asshole, which sucks. 

Anyway, he never taught his boys shit. 

So, GF's son starts having car problems, in the worn-out Toyota that GF gave him when we bought the new car.  One of his buddies tells him to check the spark plugs.  So, he gets out the Craftsman socket set that I gave him for Xmas, gets the socket that says "spark plug socket" in the little plastic box,  and goes to work...after removing the coil.

Here's the trouble;   The socket was a 5/8, as one would expect.  Meanwhile, fucking Toyota plugs are 9/16.   So, tl/dr, he gets this socket wedged down the fucking spark plug tube and cannot get it out.  I end up having it towed here to the house, and after several hours, I finally get the fucker out, replace the now destroyed plug with a new one, and try to fix the issue, and here we are. 

How did I get it out?  I drove a lag screw into the socket with my impact driver and was then able to pry the fucker out, only after using generous quantities of WD40. 

Any chance you dinged the threads and created a compression leak?

Rough running can be a bitch to diagnose.  At least it doesn't do it in normal driving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No chance.  The plug was firmly seated when I got the socket out.   The porcelain shit was cracked all to hell, and I carefully removed it with tweezers, compressed air, a shop vac, and everything else I could think of until I was convinced that there was no debris to  fall into the cylinder once I removed the damaged plug. 

And compression leak doesn't make sense, because it only idles rough in D or R.  In P or N it idles smoothly. 


Makes me wonder if the torque convertor, or some electronic item controlling it, is malfunctioning.  Assuming it has a torque convertor.  I'm WAAAAAY behind  on cars.  last two I seriously wrenched on were an old Mustang, and a '56 F100.   New shit baffles me. I'm good with my hands and  can handle mechanical items, like swapping a starter or alternator or similar, but diagnosing electronics isn't in my wheelhouse. 

I just had a transmission failure on the Mercedes (warranty item, thank heavens), and here's how clueless I am:  I thought we had a car with an Automatic Transmission.  I learned that we actually have a car with a manual, but that the clutch and shifting is done by a computer.  Fuck me.  

But make no mistake, I'm not sentimental for old cars.  Working on them was easier, but newer cars are so, so much better in every way imaginable.  I have no desire to own a "classic" of any kind these days. 

Edited by Gil Bang
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could be fuel issue: pump shitting out or clogged/dirty injectors. Possibly a vacuum leak. If no check engine light and no codes, you could hook up a vacuum gauge and check for leaks. Also could hook up an ODB II scanner and look at fuel trims, that can point you in the right direction 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got the scanner, but "fuel trims"?  WTF?  

Off to the googles. 

As to the pump, the car consumes more fuel at highway speeds than at idle.  It runs down the freeway just fine.  Wouldn't a fuel pump issue show up at higher speeds?

 

I've got a vacuum gauge.  I will look for a leak tomorrow. 

Edited by Gil Bang
Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

I just had a transmission failure on the Mercedes (warranty item, thank heavens), and here's how clueless I am:  I thought we had a car with an Automatic Transmission.  I learned that we actually have a car with a manual, but that the clutch and shifting is done by a computer.  Fuck me. 

Bah.  That's still an automatic.  It just doesn't have the fluid coupling (torque converter) that prior ATs had.  If it doesn't have a manually operated clutch, it's an automatic. 

You are probably right about the fuel pump, but sometimes they do weird shit on the way out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not necessarily. My brother cracked one when he did a tune up. Took forever to figure it out. It would stutter for no reason, took a couple of days to throw a code.

Heck, I’ve had the electrode end on a spark plug come unscrewed on a fairly new plug and do the same thing. It would stutter and miss at low engine speeds. It was random as heck. Took a couple of months before it did it good enough to show a code.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i bet you it's the MAF, mass airflow sensor. My lexus did the same thing. Take it off, and grab a can of compressed air and make sure the little filaments are clean. if it has 200k miles you may just want to buy a new one. check on ebay should be able to get one for under $50 new

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It might have messed up a plug wire when changing out the plug.  If they are older then they will get brittle around the part that connects to the plug..  If not sounds like a fuel issue, probably a injector clogged.

Edited by Sparky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, Sparky said:

It might have messed up a plug wire when changing out the plug.  If they are older then they will get brittle around the part that connects to the plug..  If not sounds like a fuel issue, probably a injector clogged.

No plug wires on this car. Coils attach directly to plug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, El Tri said:

i bet you it's the MAF, mass airflow sensor. My lexus did the same thing. Take it off, and grab a can of compressed air and make sure the little filaments are clean. if it has 200k miles you may just want to buy a new one. check on ebay should be able to get one for under $50 new

I pulled the MAF, and it's clean as a whistle.  No buildup or corrosion.  I blasted it with contact cleaner anyway. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update:  I took  it to a mechanic.  The Cyl. #4 codes were a red herring.  Low compression in Cyl 3, most likely a burned valve.  Mechanic says with 200.000 on it, it's not worth fixing.  Drive it until it drops, so that's what the GF's son is going to do.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...