I have a Toyota 4 runner model year 2007 that stalls after it hasn't been used for a few days. I live in the city, so i'm doing short drives. The first time it happen i hadn't used the car in 3 days, and today was the second time, i hadn't used the car in about a week. I brought it to the dealership, after the first time, but they couldn't find anything wrong with the car.
View 1 RepliesI have a 1997 Toyota Rav4. 2nd owner. No accidents. Regularly maintained at a mechanic. No issues until this one. I searched the forums looking for an answer, seen similar but not exactly my issue. The car has an intermittent starting problem. This never happens in the morning. It only happens when the car is driven a short distance. When the key is turned to start the car, the engine does not crank. All the electrical comes on. We had the starter rebuilt. I have had it towed to my mechanic five times. Each time, when it is unloaded from the tow truck, it starts right up. We have left it there overnight and all day. They cannot replicate the problem. I drove the car to a friend's house 1 mile from mine and it would not start for 24 hours so I had it towed to the mechanic. Again once it was unloaded it started right up. A couple months ago we did a major service with a timing chain/belt. It did not happen for a couple months. Now twice in a week it has happened. My mechanic will not do anything more until it fails completely.
View 2 RepliesI have a 1997 Toyota 4Runner SR5, 6 cylinder with 188,000 miles. I love my car, it's treated me well over the years. About 2 months ago it started stalling at stop lights, etc. Basically, any time I came to a stop and it was idling while in gear. I start it right back up and when my foot's on the gas, it doesn't stall. After 10 times or so I learned that if I took it out of gear the RPMs went up a little and it didn't stall. About 2 weeks later the "check engine" like went on so I figured, now it's time to take it somewhere. So I took it to a mechanic that I've been to before and trusted (here in San Francisco) and he said, "oh.. it's probably just an idle adjustment" so I think, great, no big deal.
After a few days he said wasn't the idle and that after testing he found that all 6 cylinders were randomly misfiring. So he needed to change the spark plugs cause they were down to a bare nub. I figured, ok, it's about time anyway. He said it could also be the ignitor?, he didn't sound 100% positive, but told me there's probably something wrong with it since it's pretty old too and that's all he could think of. So he changed all 6 spark plugs and the ingintor and the engine light was still on. It was stalling less frequently, but still randomly stalling.
He then said he was going to have his Toyota specialist friend look at it. His friend couldn't figure out what was wrong either. Then he sent to to the Toyota dealer, they checked everything they could think of, but couldn't diagnose the real cause either. Apparently they even checked the "Dynamic Balancer"? I'm not even sure my car has one of those. They might as well have told me it needed a new agonculator (totally made up word) for all I knew. So they had my car for 3 weeks and finally I said, enough is enough, these guys can't figure it out. After 3 weeks of hearing how much money they spent on other people to figure out it, I finally said, let's stop the bleeding. The car still runs and doesn't stall that much. The last thing they tried was 2 series of a fuel injection flush (decarbonize)? So they did that with not a whole lot of improvement. They also managed to run all the gas out of my car and by the time I picked it up, the fuel light was on and I took it immediately to a gas station. No joke, they burned about 1/2 tank of gas and didn't refill it.
After 3 weeks and $1000, they come up with "we don't know what's wrong, but use Premium gas and it might fix itself". In the end they told me they were down to only one misfire, cylider #4. Also, the "check engine" light is still on. Since I've gotten it back it hasn't stalled, so there's an improvement. But I'm no closer to figuring out what's wrong that's keeping the check engine light on. Needless to say, I'm not taking it back to these guys.
Last night my 2007 Toyota 4Runner started up on its own. The vehicle had been completely turned off, the keys were not in the ignition, and it doesn't even have a remote start. After a little while, the vehicle then turned itself off. It continued to turn itself on and off throughout the night. What could be wrong with my SUV?
View 10 RepliesIn my 4 runner when I slowly accelerate between 30 and 40 mph just as I can hear the car about to shift gear the car begins to shake when I than accelerate the shaking stops. Brought it to a shop and they changed a spark plug and coil they say was mis firing, but I pick the car up and the problem is still there. Their diagnostic shows no problems, yet the shaking is still there when slowly accelerating between 30-40, no check engine light has ever come on. While it shakes if I shift the car from D to 4 the shaking stops, and if I speed hard through 30- 40 it doesn't shake, just when I slowly accelerate.
View 5 RepliesI drive a 2007 Toyota 4Runner. Recently the weather has been nice enough to drive with the windows open. I've noticed a very strong ammonia smell from the exhaust - so strong at times, that I have to roll up the windows and use the a/c. I use Shell gas with no ethanol, but it has a nitrogen additive. Is it the gas I'm using, or is there something wrong with the vehicle? It's definitely ammonia, and I can only smell it while I'm driving.
View 12 RepliesSo, I have 100K miles on a 2007 4Runner (V6) and after having my radiator flushed at the Toyota dealership service dept, I get my car back and now hear a low rumbling noise coming from the engine compartment. I hear this noise every time I turn on the air conditioner, and sometimes even when it's off.
I took my car to Toyota today and after getting the service advisor to acknowledge the noise, I get a call 2 hours later saying, a) that no noise was identified by the technician; b) nothing wrong with my car; and c) I can come pick it up.
It ain't my imagination. Clearly, something is wrong. What it is? Should I take it to another service department? This kind of thing makes me crazy!
1990 Toyota Camry.4cyl Starts normally drives about 50 or so miles and dies. It will not immediately restart. Turn off the ignition key for a few minutes and it starts back up and may travel 1 mile or 10 miles before it dies again. It appears after the first failure the interval between stalls gets shorter and shorter until the car is left alone over night. the next day i get 40-50 miles and it stalls. I loosened the fuel line at the filter under the hood and during the period it wont start there doesn't appear to be any fuel pressure. Is there a more acurate way to test if the fuel pump is failing or the sensors that control it are?
View 4 RepliesI have a 2005 Chrysler town and country minivan. After filling it at the pump the van will go a short distance and die. It will have a hard time starting and then run fine, until I fill it again.
View 2 RepliesI have a 2000 Toyota Echo. Symptoms are, the car drives fine until warmed up. Once warmed up, about 10 min or so, there is surging, an inability to maintain idle, periodic loss of brake assist, all consistent with my p1349 code. This happened about two months after I changed my oil (the old oil was in there for an embarrassingly long time). I ran motor flush and again changed the oil; symptoms persist. I have removed the OCV and OCV screen; both look fairly clean. Here's the question: what checks can be done on the OCV itself before I call a bad OCV and replace it? The service manual was of only marginal quality in explaining any checks.
View 2 RepliesSo, I don't know if any of these problems are related but a few months ago, I accidentally put diesel fuel in my car. We got it flushed out (used some fuel injector cleaner and filled the tank up to dilute what fuel was left after i siphoned it) and my car was doing fine. Then my car started running really shitty, just taking forever to accelerate, revving really hard when I gassed, but not going fast at all, so we changed the spark plugs, oil, and transmission fluid and now it drives forward just fine, but will not reverse. all it does is move forward a bit then stop. It will drive in neutral up to 20-25 mph. What might be wrong??
View 3 Replies2000 4runner SR5. This problem has been going on for a while, it comes and goes. The truck will start stalling out, sputtering along, then pick right back up. It is like the engine is being choked for gas. It never totally fails, I just lose all engine power for a second or two, then it picks back up. Then, the check engine light will turn on.
I thought the light might be for a gas cap, so I checked that first. Unscrewed the gap and hear a very noticeable "whoosh" air noise, like air getting sucked into the gas tank. After I adjusted the gas cap, the truck starts working as normal, runs great. For a couple weeks or so. Then the same problem. And the same fix has always worked as well - the gas cap trick, thus far, has worked every time (about five times).
I took it to a mechanic and they said the codes are for the throttle and I need a new throttle body for $1500 freakin dollars. I don't doubt the throttle could probably use replacing, but I don't think that's is what is causing this issue. If the throttle was the problem, it doesn't seem like it would be a problem that comes and goes. And why does the gas cap fix work?
Things I have replaced in the few years - fuel filter about a year ago, air filter recently, evap, O2, cat, timing belt, water pump, gas cap (about a month ago). Needless to say, I got a lot of $ into it. Think it could be fuel pump?
I have 2007 explorer with the 4.6 V8....
Recently it started running horrible. Rough idle, drives badly, hesitation, etc. Check engine light is on, code P0171. I cannot find a vacuum leak, and i am pretty much at a loss. Before it started running poorly i replaced the thermostat, and flushed the coolant. I am assuming this is a coincidence.
I took my 2003 4Runner to the dealer and they sent pictures to toyota. I asked that the customer service rep contact me next time he was in the area. Toyota replaced the frame with me paying a 2500.00 deductible. Now I still have the car and will wait for the recall/class action suit that someone will file to get reimbursed. I hear it was due to the frames being dipped in Alabama.
View 2 RepliesI've got a friend with a 1990 Toyota 4Runner Manual transmission with ~170k miles on the clock. He's been having an issue for quite some time that he hasn't been able to be resolved. Basically he's got an issue with the vehicle erratically NOT starting when it is hot outside. The vehicle starts fine when it is cold outside, but when it is hot he erratically (only happens sometimes) get a "click" noise from the engine compartment with no engine turn over or anything. He is then at the mercy of the vehicle and sometimes just has to try multiple times or wait it out for awhile and try again. Sometimes just opening the hood, looking around a minute, closing it, and re-trying is able to get it to start, but other times not. Other times, and I quote from him, "sometimes i just get really upset and stomp on the clutch, get out of the truck and just shake/rock it, sometimes that'll do it." It happens if the engine is cold or hot, it only matters that it is hot outside, above ~90 degrees. Below is a list of stuff that has been done to try and resolve the issue, but hasn't really worked.
Steps taken:
Replace Battery
Replaced the Alternator 2 years ago
Replaced the Battery Connectors (some were corroded)
Possible Starter Replacement within the past 5 years (double checking paperwork)Rewired jumper wire from battery to starter
Seems sensor or solenoid related to me, but I'm unfamiliar with this vehicle/quirks.....
Every once in a while first thing in the morning my car will start and then die on me. It is random, but more likely to happen in damp weather and cooler weather ( cool for Florida), and when the gas is low (1/4 tank) but not consistently. I put in engine cleaner. Every mechanic I speak to says they need to see the car when it happens. This is not practical b/c it does not happen every day and only first thing in the morning.Recently, after driving 38 miles on the highway when I stop at DD for coffee and the car has been dying as I go through the drive through and the light after. Not sure if it is my imagination, but it seems to do better if I turn off the ac. The car is a '99 4Runner.
View 2 RepliesThe CEL on my 3.0l 93 4runner intermittently turns itself off and on. I have had it to a shop and got error code 25 and error code 26. (If the numbers are wrong the codes meant lean/rich mix. The first time this happened the shop replaced the O2 sensor. When the light came back on the shop said the problem was the "mass air flow (something)". The shop ordered a new MAF and after testing the new one and the old one decided the MAF was not the problem. At this point I'm just ignoring the light and driving the vehicle. The vehicle does seem to run just fine.
View 11 RepliesAlright, need to decide between a 2000 Passat 4motion with 108k miles, no maintenance history - OR - a 1997 Toyota 4runner, all maintenance history available, 150k, new breaks, timing and water pump just done. The VW is 1k more. I should add the 4runner has zero rust, and no frame rot.
Here is why I'm having a hard time.
1. I like VW's
2. MPG / Cost for gas is actually LESS for the 4runner... no premium, 4motion nets 17mpg avg - 4runner nets 16mpg avg (I drive 50/50 city highway).
The roads where I live are HORRIBLE - 1ft deep potholes are normal in the city, and unavoidable, expansion joints rise up to 4" at times- which feels like hitting a damn log.
I wrench my own cars, I've never gone to a mechanic or dealer ever. Had a mk2 gti, mk2 jetta, mk3 vr6 gti, a mk3 cabrio, and a mk4 jetta 1.8t in my past. Ive done timing belts, CV's, wheel bearings, control arms, struts, rebuilt heads. BUT- the Passat looks to be a complete PITA to work on (insane timing belt procedure, 8 front control arms, TCM water rot issues, etc). The 4runner appears on surface- to be much easier to wrench on - I could be wrong. I do have a VAGCOM, which supports a bit on the VW.
I love VW's - but I want AWD (or true 4x4), space, and something I can actually work on. The reason for AWD is I have family near the upper peninsula of MI I would like to visit year round.
I have a 93 4Runner, and it won't start all it will do is turn over, But won't start, my dad has tried everything we could think of It has gas, an new battery and new battery cables...
What is the location of the MASS AIRFLOW SENSOR, AND THE MAIN COMPUTER...
I have a 98 toyota 4runner. Limited, automatic transmission, 4wd, 6cly. 3.4L. Recently my 4runner was towed and after picking it up from the impound lot I went to test the 4wd. This model has a separate shifter for 4wd with an on the fly button which you press to engage 4hi. Well, when I went to test it the 4wd the light did not come on and I felt no "clunk" as I normally do when engaging the 4wd, (this is even after driving a few feet.) So I went to test the 4lo. I put the transmission in neutral and pushed the 4wd shifter forward to the neutral position as I tired to go one more to the 4lo position it began producing a horrible grinding sound. I didn't push the shifter all the way forward for fear of further damaging something so I went to put it back into 4hi and again this horrid grinding sound. Basically the 4runner was stuck with the transfer case in neutral? It wouldn't even go into park with out making this horrible sound, so I had to shut everything down and put it back into park and hi mode. When I turned it on again I tried it again and still the same result.The 4runner works just fine in 2wd. And eventually the 4wd light came on after driving a few blocks with the button pressed although, I'm not sure the 4wd was even engaged because I never felt the "clunk." It is still grinding when trying to shift into 4lo. Fluids are changed regularly and it is very well maintained. It has 228XXX miles.
View 3 RepliesI have a 1989 manual drive TOYOTA 4RUNNER, diesel. My mechanic has done everything, new head gasket, machined the head for warp, pressure tested the engine block, and the engine oil is still leaking into the radiator. My car used to have Air-condition but since it hasn't worked for over 5 years the compressor was removed, could this have caused the oil to leak after all those years.
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