First real post here, but I could use some second, third, fourth, etc. opinions on a nagging problem I'm having.
Earlier this year I was getting some engine sputtering under load and was burning a lot of oil. Also has some visible oil around the distributor (leak around the shaft). I had had a new distributor and new plugs put in along with a new valve cover gasket and cleaned the throttle body. Oil was leaking into the spark plug tubes. I haven't had any oil leaks since this fix and the LC consumes a lot less oil as well. Also fixed the knocking and pinging I was getting from the engine. A few weeks later I T-boned a truck who failed to stop at an intersection. Thought about just walking away from the LC, but went ahead and put in about $6,000 of work getting it repaired and at the same time taking the opportunity to fix some other issues (like that broken door handle!, new Iron Man bumper!). Then I moved...
Anyway, got my 97 back from Texas in Oct after sitting most of the summer waiting to assemble the parts and get the repair work done. Drove it back to SC. First day drove to Atl and no problem. Engine was humming. Second day I got some occasional engine sputtering. It would miss and felt like someone was pulling on a giant rope behind the Cruiser. Problem mysteriously went away. I thought maybe bad gas. Then it started happening occasionally, but not regularly. It's not predictable, nor does it always occur when I drive. When it happens it will sputter and drop revs under load several times, and then not happen again for miles and miles. Fuel grade doesn't seem to matter. I've run regular unleaded and ethanol-free.
Took it to a local mechanic upon recommendation from a longtime LC owner. They replaced the ignition wires, spark plugs (I didn't ask them if they were fouled), put in new distributor rotor and cap assembly and also adjusted the distributor as it was off a tooth. Cost was more than I expected. Mechanic said that the spark plug wires had small nick in them that was causing an arc and that the LC was fussy about plugs (even though I later checked and had replacement Toyota plugs installed in May) Everything seemed fine for the first couple hundred miles then the intermittent sputtering started again. It's still very intermittent, but seems to be getting more frequent.
I thought fuel pump, but mechanic seemed to think that a problem there would have led to outright failure. He thinks its a dirty fuel injector. If that is the case, wouldn't the problem be constant and not so in frequent? The Cruiser will also occasionally stall out when idling at an intersection. Idle seems to be low. I am thinking that with all of this electrical work, there has to be some problem with the fuel delivery. It almost seems like there is some random blockage I am not an expert, but will get my hands dirty to replace parts, etc. with good instructions. I plan on replacing the fuel pump myself just to rule that out.
One of my best friends just bought a Cruiser and is going all in to make it an off road beast. I can't hit the trails with him until this is fixed.
Earlier this year I was getting some engine sputtering under load and was burning a lot of oil. Also has some visible oil around the distributor (leak around the shaft). I had had a new distributor and new plugs put in along with a new valve cover gasket and cleaned the throttle body. Oil was leaking into the spark plug tubes. I haven't had any oil leaks since this fix and the LC consumes a lot less oil as well. Also fixed the knocking and pinging I was getting from the engine. A few weeks later I T-boned a truck who failed to stop at an intersection. Thought about just walking away from the LC, but went ahead and put in about $6,000 of work getting it repaired and at the same time taking the opportunity to fix some other issues (like that broken door handle!, new Iron Man bumper!). Then I moved...
Anyway, got my 97 back from Texas in Oct after sitting most of the summer waiting to assemble the parts and get the repair work done. Drove it back to SC. First day drove to Atl and no problem. Engine was humming. Second day I got some occasional engine sputtering. It would miss and felt like someone was pulling on a giant rope behind the Cruiser. Problem mysteriously went away. I thought maybe bad gas. Then it started happening occasionally, but not regularly. It's not predictable, nor does it always occur when I drive. When it happens it will sputter and drop revs under load several times, and then not happen again for miles and miles. Fuel grade doesn't seem to matter. I've run regular unleaded and ethanol-free.
Took it to a local mechanic upon recommendation from a longtime LC owner. They replaced the ignition wires, spark plugs (I didn't ask them if they were fouled), put in new distributor rotor and cap assembly and also adjusted the distributor as it was off a tooth. Cost was more than I expected. Mechanic said that the spark plug wires had small nick in them that was causing an arc and that the LC was fussy about plugs (even though I later checked and had replacement Toyota plugs installed in May) Everything seemed fine for the first couple hundred miles then the intermittent sputtering started again. It's still very intermittent, but seems to be getting more frequent.
I thought fuel pump, but mechanic seemed to think that a problem there would have led to outright failure. He thinks its a dirty fuel injector. If that is the case, wouldn't the problem be constant and not so in frequent? The Cruiser will also occasionally stall out when idling at an intersection. Idle seems to be low. I am thinking that with all of this electrical work, there has to be some problem with the fuel delivery. It almost seems like there is some random blockage I am not an expert, but will get my hands dirty to replace parts, etc. with good instructions. I plan on replacing the fuel pump myself just to rule that out.
One of my best friends just bought a Cruiser and is going all in to make it an off road beast. I can't hit the trails with him until this is fixed.
