I think I broke my pickup...:(

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Droopynut

Droopynut

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
May 18, 2006
Threads
40
Messages
140
Location
Westchester County, NY
Hello all,

I just got a 1993 Toyota Pickup with a 3VZ-E V6 and I changed the plugs, cap and rotor.

While I was doing this i bumped the cap off the little grey cylinder on the throttle body that has a small filter in it.

I have no idea what it is but The cap is lost within the suspension and I can't get to it. I put the filter away so I don't loose that too.

I also changed the air filter and screwed up the electrical connections inside the thing on top of the air box. it would start but not stay running...so I took it apart and found that two pins that were soldered to the circuit board were broke...I fixed it and now it starts but it runs like crap.

It ran pretty smooth before I changed the plugs, broke the air thing and lost the cap to the grey thing...but now it runs rough, as if the timing were off.

Any one know what I did wrong?

Dan
 
Last edited:
I think the grey filter thing is called the dashpot. I believe it's supposed to let the idle come down slower when you let off the gas, an emissions thing. I've looked at my throttle body really close and I could not find any connection to the intake from the dashpot, just in case it is supposed to filter air the motor will breathe. The filter keeps dirt from clogging up the diaphragm that operates the dashpot. If it gets clogged the idle could be too high. I don't think you are risking the motor if it takes a few days to get it back on there.


The connector on top of my air flow meter has crummy connections on the wiring harness side. I have it cleaned up enough to run without issues. Just one brittle wire will make it run like crap. Did you find the breaks on the wiring harness side or inside the AFM (with top cover removed)? Hopefully there is just another connection to be repaired.
 
I found this picture online...this is the thing that I tried to fix...inside are a bunch of electrical connections and a rotating mechanism. There were two connections that appeared to have been soldered but were ripped apart. I bent the connections down so they would touch the circuitry without the need of solder...If this was done wrong, would this make the engine run rough.

I'm not sure if I screwed something up while changing the plugs. could the plug gapping effect the way the engine runs? The plugs were a pain in the arse to change as it is. I would hate to do it over again.
v84.webp
 
These pics are grabbed from video, still camera finally died tonight. They are crappy but this might help to verify what connections should be like inside the AFM. Also here's the dashpot just to verify what filter thingy fell off.
Grabbed Frame 1.webp
Grabbed Frame 2.webp
 
Also can you drive it around at all? I had a strange idle issue that popped up now and then over the year. It would run like crap randomly at startup and once I ran the motor above 3k it would fix itself. Never happened during driving, just very randomly at startup (warm or cold start). Since my last top end job the issue never came up again.
 
yeah it's drivable but it seems like it should be idling smoother. It wasn't doing it before I changed the plugs, cap and rotor.

I'm pretty sure all the connections inside the AFM are ok...but I will double check.

I put the filter back in to the dashpot and taped an antifreeze bottle cap to keep it in there for now.

Perhaps I should change the fuel filter...maybe it will help.
 
Unfortunately I could not figure out precisely how I fixed my random idle issue. I suspected my fuel filters as well but I think it was something else (small emissions errors on my part).

Did you redo your timing with the jumper connected at the diagnostic port? I think it's TE1 and E1 that need to be jumped for timing adjustments.
 
FSM likes the spark plug gap at .031 in, .08 mm. Unless the new plugs are gapped way out of that spec than they should be fine. I'm guessing there are no new trouble codes that have come up since the parts went in.
 
in the event that I should get a new AFM...do you know any good sites that sell used toyota parts?

I wonder if Cruiserparts has an old AFM from a pickup.
 
I've been looking through my FSM, it's pretty easy to check the AFM with a meter. Everything is on my computer right now with terrible organization, I will get the page posted if I can find it. It would suck to track down an AFM if something else is the culprit. Lots of Toyotas get parted out on Ebay. I didn't see the right AFM today but the last 3VZE one went for $30.

I hate hunting down engine gremlins after a bunch of work, no fun at all. If all the vacuum lines are attached correctly (leaks play havoc with idle) and the timing is correct I'd gently pop the rubber boot off of the AFM's connector. The wiring there gets moved a lot when we unplug it for service. This is where I have seen damage to the harness in the past. It may be the AFM but there's a lot of small stuff to double check. They are very resilient, mine lived underwater for 15 minutes and it's fine.:D
 
I'm starting to think that the AFM is ok. I soldered the connections and it works...however, I'm not sure if it's working properly.

If the spark plug gap is off on some of the plugs, would that cause the engine to run rough at idle and when going about 35mph? When I'm at a stop and then give it gas...it hessitates and vibrates...then it clears up a little as I pick up speed.

I'm trying to narrow it down to something...and right now I feel that it may be the plugs...since it ran fine before I changed them.

what do you think.
 
The old cap and rotor could be easier to put back on first for a check (easier than the damn plugs). I think the bent tabs contacting the circuit board were made so the parts snap together at the factory (so that they would not need soldering). Soldering could slightly change the resistance but as long as the joints are clean I don't think it's a problem. Kinda sounds more and more like a timing/vacuum leak thing. I'm still trying to dig up some FSM pages when I get out of work.
 
Here's the AFM meter stuff. The troubleshooting page is numbered to correspond with the probability of what failed (like what to check first, ext).
AFM1.webp
AFM2.webp
TS1.webp
 
thanks for that diagram...I went out and checked the cap and rotor...it all looked good. I took off the ignition wires at the spark plug ends and cut some of the rubber boot off so I could make sure they snapped on the plugs. I think #5 wire wasn't on there all the way. That is one of the more difficult plugs to get at.

So I started it up and It is a bit better...I checked timing but to be honest with you, I'm not sure how to set it.

I know it needs to be at 10 degrees BDC...I figure it's the second mark on the angle indicator above the pully. I jumpered the ports and adjusted it accordingly, but...it looks like its at 10 degrees.

What about the coil...should I change that?

is it expensive?
 
Timing sounds right, I'm guessing you have the light and it's 10 degrees with the jumpers connected. When you pull the jumpers I think it goes to 8 degrees (maybe slight difference for emissions, alt, ext). If you can check all of that stuff the adjustment is easy. One bolt under the distributor assembly (not the cap) gets slightly loosened. The distributor can be rotated slightly either way, an extra set of hands helps for this. Good check on the wires, mine hook up like crap (good enough for a bit).

The coil is pretty mean, I'd check the wires first. Also here's some vacuum lines. It sounds like they were not messed with but these are the roots of many of my idle gremlins from the past. Sorry the vacuum line picture quality sucks, they are pretty much side by side where they group together.
Elc.webp
EMS.webp
EM2.webp
 
Last edited:
Finally....:)

I figured I may as well take the plugs out and check 'em.

#2 plug was way way way off...the hook part of the electrode was bent all the way down to the center electrode...which probably means there was no spark on #2.

So this whole time i've been driving around on 5 cyclinders. I feel like a shmoe:)

Thanks for you help.
 
Glad it was simple, now there's more time to wheel. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom