2004 Toyota Land Cruiser, 400,000 miles
Won't start, open hood, close hood, starts.
Losing power when accelerating, power then comes back.
Losing power when driving on the expressway, cruise or no cruise.
Cruise set at 75, 70, 65, 45 doesn't matter, lose power, rpm's slowly drop, truck slows at a rate quicker than just shifting to neutral but slower than braking.
Happens mostly when under power, like climbing a hill, passing or merging.
Mash throttle to floor, no response.
Sudden return of power.
With window down and sudden return of power, exhaust smells very rich and raw.
I've researched the living hell out of this, it got so bad my truck was almost not drivable. Which sucked because it is my office.
Everyone else with this problem has replaced the fuel pump, throttle body, throttle pedal, plugs, wires, vacuum leaks, O2 sensors...all to no resolution that they ever posted.
I have found the culprit, replaced it, driven 1,000 miles and not had the issue since.
FUEL PUMP RELAY!!!
It was so bad my truck wouldn't start. Unless I tapped on the fuel pump relay while the engine was cranking over. Then it'd fire right up.
Went to O'Reilly's and bought a new relay for $16 (my cost) and BAM!!! problem solved.
Losing power was because the relay would cut power to the fuel pump, with no fuel the engine quits BUT because the transmission is still in gear it was spinning the engine over, the extra resistance of rotating the engine with the transmission was slowing the truck at an increased rate, faster than just shifting to neutral, slower than using the brakes. Engine braking would be the definition of this.
Relay comes back to life, fuel pump comes to life, because the engine is spinning the spark plugs are still sparking, sudden dump of fuel, engine comes back to life.
Because of the fuel dump not all fuel was burned, hence the "flooding" smell of the exhaust.
The longer the engine ran the worse/more frequent it got. I was on a 1200 road trip, started off no issues, then 10hrs in it was so bad I had to pull to the side of the expressway.
I never turn my truck off when road tripping. I drive straight through, engine running the whole way, even on a 24hr trip. Even while getting fuel, food, nap, etc.
I'm trying to use as many key words as possible for anyone who Googles this problem.
I have extra fuel pump relays in my glovebox now. The first time to have to slam my hood to get my truck to start I'm swapping the relay.
I hope this helps anyone and everyone.
Won't start, open hood, close hood, starts.
Losing power when accelerating, power then comes back.
Losing power when driving on the expressway, cruise or no cruise.
Cruise set at 75, 70, 65, 45 doesn't matter, lose power, rpm's slowly drop, truck slows at a rate quicker than just shifting to neutral but slower than braking.
Happens mostly when under power, like climbing a hill, passing or merging.
Mash throttle to floor, no response.
Sudden return of power.
With window down and sudden return of power, exhaust smells very rich and raw.
I've researched the living hell out of this, it got so bad my truck was almost not drivable. Which sucked because it is my office.
Everyone else with this problem has replaced the fuel pump, throttle body, throttle pedal, plugs, wires, vacuum leaks, O2 sensors...all to no resolution that they ever posted.
I have found the culprit, replaced it, driven 1,000 miles and not had the issue since.
FUEL PUMP RELAY!!!
It was so bad my truck wouldn't start. Unless I tapped on the fuel pump relay while the engine was cranking over. Then it'd fire right up.
Went to O'Reilly's and bought a new relay for $16 (my cost) and BAM!!! problem solved.
Losing power was because the relay would cut power to the fuel pump, with no fuel the engine quits BUT because the transmission is still in gear it was spinning the engine over, the extra resistance of rotating the engine with the transmission was slowing the truck at an increased rate, faster than just shifting to neutral, slower than using the brakes. Engine braking would be the definition of this.
Relay comes back to life, fuel pump comes to life, because the engine is spinning the spark plugs are still sparking, sudden dump of fuel, engine comes back to life.
Because of the fuel dump not all fuel was burned, hence the "flooding" smell of the exhaust.
The longer the engine ran the worse/more frequent it got. I was on a 1200 road trip, started off no issues, then 10hrs in it was so bad I had to pull to the side of the expressway.
I never turn my truck off when road tripping. I drive straight through, engine running the whole way, even on a 24hr trip. Even while getting fuel, food, nap, etc.
I'm trying to use as many key words as possible for anyone who Googles this problem.
I have extra fuel pump relays in my glovebox now. The first time to have to slam my hood to get my truck to start I'm swapping the relay.
I hope this helps anyone and everyone.
