No power, sounds like a lawn mower (22R-E)

[DanS HJ-45]

OK, so the girl's '85 4-runner did something weird today. After driving it around a while (so it was hot) she stopped to run an errand. When she started it up, she said it "sounded like a lawn mower." It doesn't have a tachometer, so she would be going by sound/feel only.

She decided to try it anyway, and it had little to no power. Little enough that to get it back into it's parking spot she had to rev the engine quite a bit to get it to move at all. Once back in it's spot, she let it idle, and after "a little while" idling it settled down to being like normal and drove normally after that.

It has had the fuel filter replaced recently (and it had done the "lawn mower" thing a couple times before that, but has acted normally for the past few thousand miles).

Anyone ever seen this before?

Dan

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Check the spark plugs and wires. If you loose 1 out of 4 it will barely move it's self...

 

[Rambrush]

All most sounds like a plugged cat convertor.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Check the spark plugs and wires. If you loose 1 out of 4 it will barely move it's self...

I'll have her check them. It's got a whole new plug wire set (Toyota, of course), but something could be loose or something. I'm 99% sure I replaced the plugs, but I'll see if Kate can't check the plugs themselves too.

Seems like a dropped cylinder (like from a bad plug or wire) causes it to idle slow and rough though, or would that make up the lawn-mowering? It takes 3 minutes of idling like that for it to go back to normal, she says. She'll update me in the morning to see if it does it when it's cold.

The CEL isn't on, but *somebody* tinkered with it in a past life and it no longer has a diagnostic port, so I can't even be sure that it's not throwing a code. Either that or I can't find the port, but then, neither could Marlin himself...

Dan

 

[DanS HJ-45]

All most sounds like a plugged cat convertor.

Oooh, I hadn't thought about that. But if it was plugged, would idling it for a few minutes so consistently clear the problem?

I'll have Kate tap it in the morning to listen for rattles and whatnot.

Dan

 

[Hilux]

I had a problem like that happen to me one time.

I had just bought this truck and somehow got it running. It had a 4" "Lower to Lift" on it and some big 33" tires. It ran like krap but on my way back to the house one day it REALLY ran like krap.

I was going along and the power just started bleeding REAL bad, it got real loud like it was running off of one cylinder and eventually I stopped.

Looked at the cat thinking it was clogged and would be a cherry, instead the down pipe was cherry red. I flagged a guy down and with a hacksaw I borrowed from him cut halfway through the pipe to help it breath...

No such luck. It ran the same, like it was on one cyl... Fun with 4:10's and 33's That was about the last time I drove the truck and come to think about it I dropped a motor and down pipe in it and never could get it to run... Sold it before I could found out what had happened.

 

[Hilux]

The CEL isn't on, but *somebody* tinkered with it in a past life and it no longer has a diagnostic port, so I can't even be sure that it's not throwing a code. Either that or I can't find the port, but then, neither could Marlin himself...

Dan

You do know that port is on the D side, right?

It looks like a weather connector and you just short it...


Just checking...

 

[Offroads4x4]

If it's not the cat have you checked the timing guides and timing?
Could it of jumped a tooth and or broke a chain guide? Lawn mower noise could be there and than go away after it grinds up the plastic guide chunks.

JM2C

 

[DanS HJ-45]

If it's not the cat have you checked the timing guides and timing?
Could it of jumped a tooth and or broke a chain guide? Lawn mower noise could be there and than go away after it grinds up the plastic guide chunks.

JM2C

I replaced the Timing Chain and guides pretty recently (Maybe 5,000 miles ago).

I'll have to make a special trip to do any real checking of it myself, but Kate is pretty handy (hey, she replaced the fuel filter on it in an airport parking lot once). But she doesn't have a timing light, although we may have to go borrow one or something.

I can't even bring one over. No use for the things. Stupid gas engines.

Hilux: oh, I've looked all over for the D-port. I've even checked for other year ports in case somebody hacked a different year harness into that truck. It simply appears to have been removed. Why you would remove one, I have no idea.

Heck, I spent a few extra days when I wired the faux-lux to make sure my OBD port worked...

Dan

 

[missouriman]

look at hilux's picture.
the one on the right.
see the thing on the fender.
just below it are two yellow plugs that go into the inside of the fender.
the front one is the connector you short out.

 

[toy4xfun]

dan i am not sure, and i have never seen one there but the haynes manual says it could be inside, buy the console.

 

[Hilux]

The one on the left is a 8?, RTE 4Runner... IFS.

The one on the right is a 86 RTE 4WD truck. IFS.



The port could be on the passenger side... It could have slid off the little clip that holds it to the side of the fuse box.

 

[toy4xfun]

dan this is out of the 85 fsm

hilux looks like you are on the money.

 

[pappy]

Dan, almost sounds like my when my cat came apart. Here is the thread and a couple of pics.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/nm-high-desert-cruisers/265775-no-powa.html

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Dan, almost sounds like my when my cat came apart. Here is the thread and a couple of pics.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/nm-high-desert-cruisers/265775-no-powa.html

That's what I'm thinking. I remember driving behind you and thinking about the lawn-mower-esque sound it made, which makes me think that's her problem. It's finally stopped raining in Fresno, so Kate is going to go knock on the cat (and muffler, in case the chunk got blown that far back) to see if there are any good sounds coming from it.

That said, it has started cold two times after that and both times it started normally.

Which leads me to believe it's something that is working it's way through the exhaust.

As to the D-plug: trust me guys, I've looked at every FSM for anything that might resemble this. It's simply not there. Marlin himself has been under there and not been able to find it as well, so I'm going to take that as confirmation that I'm not entirely blind. I think it was removed by someone for some odd reason (the same truck also had some holes in the roof fixed by gluing pennies to the roof (with Elmers glue). I love POs. Really.

I'll worry about the D-plug later. All I really see it's absence as hindering is the ability to short it to set the timing. Instead I set the timing once the engine was warm (which is what shorting it out simulates--I think--it's been a while).

Dan

 

[toy4xfun]

dan when you set the timing it has to be warm, the jumper disables the computers ability to advance and retard the timing. and if it is a clogged cat you might want to make sure the egr did not get clogged too. only if it has been driven a lot with a clogged cat.

 

[Rambrush]

If I recall the cat plug gets worse when hot, it will glow cherry red.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Ok, it's still acting up. No rattles or clunks from the exhaust.

But it seems pretty consistent: when it's wet it does it. So... What in the EFI system can cause the lower power, lawn mower sounds? Any ideas?

Dan

 

[pappy]

Ox sensor failing has done some pretty weird things on mine.

 

[miker]

Dan,
Any update on the problem with your daughter's truck?

My daughter has an 86 with 22re and she is describing to me similar symptoms with her truck. Starts and runs very rough when cold or during wet weather. The engine seems to barely have enough power to get the truck rolling. Once it warms up, it is much better - might not be 100% but much better. The problem started a couple weeks ago but it is intermittent. Does not always happen, but when it does, the truck is cold, or weather is wet.