Engine issues sluggish and stuttering

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climber8483

climber8483

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So looking for help with my 91 Toyota. Has the 3.0 v6. What’s going on is the motor has a really bad stutter and lots of power lost. 1st gear is ok. 2nd gear start to notice the power lost and stutter. Third is about the same as 2nd but when I go to 4th the truck just wants to die and stutter really bad. In third I will push the truck up to 3500RPM which is 40-45mph and when i shift to 4th the RPMs drop to 1500 and very very slowly I am able to bring the RPMs up to 2500 to 3000.
 
Have you checked the ECM for codes?

When was the last time it got plugs, wires, cap, rotor? Fuel filter?

How many miles on it?

Has it had the HGs replaced yet?

I would check the adjustment on the TPI.
 
CEL not on.

Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and filter were just replaced.

263,xxx engine rebuilt 75k ago

TPI?

What is the timing supposed to be set at?
 
There can be codes stored in the ECU that don't turn on the CEL.

Oops... TPS. Throttle Position Sensor. Little black thingy that attaches on the other end of the throttle butterfly, sends info to the ECU. If it gets out of calibration or fails things can go wonky with the engine. And a failed TPS is an error that won't turn on the CEL.

Do you have a FSM?
 
OK, I'll see if I can find a place to read the codes.

I don't have an FSM, is there a PDF version online like we have for the FJ40 stuff?
 
Just gunna throw 2 cents in. But the tps would effect it in every gear or at any time it is just a reporting sensor it dosnt care what gear you're in. Next would be you're maf it messures the amount of air entering the engine so to determen engine load it uses those two sensors plus temp sensor and o2 sensor for fuel trim.
Did you check the gap on you're plugs befor you put them in also have you checked for a vacume leak. Another posibility is the ignitor/coil with that many miles those may be nearing the end of there life span and as load increases the coil dosent produce a hot enough spark to fully light the fuel mixture.
As far as you're timing question I ran my 3.0 at +8degreas at 5500 feet above sealeval and at +3 degreas at sealeval
 
i'm having the same issues.. 92 V6. high mileage. just checked my codes and i got 24, 31, and 41. tps and air temp sender and air flow meter. checked both with the multimeter and they're in spec. my truck takes off when i put the pedal to the floor though.

and i found the link to the fsm on here browsing through threads and didn't bookmark it. can someone throw a link on here?
 
Keep in mind that electrical components are sensitive to heat and often only misbehave under load. Case in point an ignition coil or igniter will do that when they are on the borderline. No wonder electrical problems are tricky, you have to be very detail oriented when trying to isolate them.
 
My bet is with a melted lead on your engine knock sensor. PITA to get to to replace a $10 part. This thing rubs up against the bottom of the intake manifold and melts together. This diagnosis can be confirmed by a code 52. Good luck.

Also, look into swapping for a 3.4 I'm hearing that you can pick up a 3.4 for $800 so and at taking apart your intake you're almost half way there to an engine pull.
 
i dont know if i agree with all of whats been posted..... look at the symptoms:

climber8483 said:
1st gear is ok. 2nd gear start to notice the power lost and stutter. Third is about the same as 2nd but when I go to 4th the truck just wants to die ................and very very slowly I am able to bring the RPMs up to 2500 to 3000.
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climber8483 said:
263,xxx engine rebuilt 75k ago
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I suspect clogged/clogging catalytic converter. its choking off engine. It will idle fine right? but, no matter how hard you push the pedal in gear, it just wont go. its because there is no where for the higher mass of gases to go when under throttle.. its a giant compressor with an orifice on the outlet.....air in, but no air out = no power. sounds exactly along the lines of symptoms in first post. 1st gear ok but sluggish...as engine gets higher in rpm and needs to expel more gas it is blocked by the "bottle neck" in catylitc converter and cannot escape...but after a long period of slowly incrementing throttle the truck will come up to speed.

the high mileage of the vehicle supports the theory. bet the catalytic converter has never been changed. most people do not realize that the converter IS A WEAR ITEM and needs to be periodically changed. its just that the change interval is longer than most people own a vehicle.

the other items may be part of the problem, but i would suggest keeping this probable cause at the top of the list.
 
well i'm dealing with the same issues and i have no cat. it acts up in 3rd and 5th 2500--3000 rpm. if i put the pedal to the floor it runs like a raped ape (ok maybe not but it's a 3.slow) if i let off and barely push the gas it runs way better for a second. all signs point to the tps but what else could cause this and the air temp and air flow sensor to go off.
 
hmmm....well i guess in your case its definitely not the cat. lol:doh:

sounds like its either got to be fuel or electrical related. my guess is your on the right track.
 
Weird stutters mean check the main fuse box elect connection (on bottom of engine mounted box), check the ERG vacuum function, then try disconnecting the breather hose on the dist cap. If the cap is bad, the breakdown goes to the rubber breather hose which can ground out. Got me on my 60, even after only 2 months on a cap.
 
the 3.0 is known to have issues with the distributor/ plug wires/ plugs as well. a missfire under load will trip all sorts of codes. i used to have that motor and was always dealing with crap like that. if you replaced the cap/ rotor/ wires/ plugs with aftermarket I would get the oem parts and go from there. you can keep throwing money at the 3.0 year after year but those nasty gremlins will always find a place to hide. i know of a few people that don't have problems with it but if i was you i would look in to the 3.4v6 swap. in the long run if you add up all the time and money you invested in a heavy, slow, gas guzzling motor it will cost you far more than the conversion which will also make your truck a pleasure to drive. i have decided to save for the 2.7 motor in my 4runner so i can get away from trying to squeeze more power from the more reliable but underpowered 22re.
 
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when my motor goes i'm going for the 3.4 swap and going through my wiring. 365,000 miles is hard on everything.
 
A sticky AFM air gate can cause symptoms where it idles fine, but is sluggish when trying to change speed. When you go over so much air flow or hit a good bump it all of a sudden moves, and becomes quite responsive. When you change to another speed it may be doggy until the air gate moves to where it should be for the amount of air flow.
 
Bogo said:
A sticky AFM air gate can cause symptoms where it idles fine, but is sluggish when trying to change speed. When you go over so much air flow or hit a good bump it all of a sudden moves, and becomes quite responsive. When you change to another speed it may be doggy until the air gate moves to where it should be for the amount of air flow.
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This makes a lot of sense, also you may want to think about the igniter, a faulty igniter will cause similar issues...at least in a 22RE, not sure if it works the same in the 3.0. The 22RE igniter provides the rpm signal to the ECU as well as controls advance and retard of the spark, if it works the same in the 3.0 and was faulty it would cause very similar problems.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD
 
i just did the drive test diagnostic thing (jump te2 to e1) and got code 14. maybe it's my igniter...
 
changed my AFM, TPS and adjusted, and then the igniter. runs great! with the AFM and TPS it ran a little better then with the new old igniter it's running awesome.
 
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