HELP! I give up.

If you have one of those cheap little temperature guns, you can check the cats temperature compared to the rest of the system to see if it's clogged.
You can also check the temp on the intake/exhaust port etc...if you were throwing a misfire code on cylinder #3.
They really do come in handy.

 

That is a valve assy, vacuum switching, no.1 p/n 258600P010


I don't know what it does... I don't even own a second gen, but i used to be a parts guy for construction equipment and i miss pouring over parts breakdowns when a customer is frazzled like you are.

Hope you solve this soon

 

Update: So, still having the same issue. Checked the Cat and everything is normal. Even ran Cat cleaner through the system for added measure. No change. So, being exasperated I called the Toyota dealership and to my surprise the service manager told me that he couldn't help me if it wasn't throwing a code. Basically what he was saying is "I don't know how to fix a car unless the car is telling me what to fix". This is what we're facing in the future guys. True mechanics are a dying breed.
My next step: I am going to check the knock sensor wire at the harness plug to ensure that it has a good connection. It may be intermittent on the ground and not throwing a code but giving the computer false information. When I think about it, it did seem a little precarious when I plugged it up. I didn't hear or feel the click like you usually do when you plug a harness up. I will give it a good squeeze after I check the pins and then zip tie it together nice and tight. I'll let you guys know how this works.

 

Still having issues. I replaced my fuel pressure regulator and it had no effect so I changed it back to the old one and returned it because they are a bit pricey. I checked ALL my wiring and also made sure the knock sensor harness was plugged up good and I also zip tied it together for good measure. I have noticed something that may be an indicator to some of you about what might be the issue. The picture is of my tailpipe and soot all over my quarter panel. Washed, it is perfectly clean. This has got to be an air mixture issue right? NOTE: The soot is dry and powdery not oily. It's running rich for some reason.

 

Possibly, but not a true indicator of issue. The cats aren't plugged?? Maybe try removing them and see if it runs better, will be loud but would eliminate any back pressure they are providing.

 

My truck looks roughly like that. the 1GR runs pretty rich from the factory especially under higher load.

 

With all you've done to no avail; Is there a possibility that the creature chewed on some other wiring as well?
What are the chances that something may have fallen into the injector well while you had everything pulled apart? Or an o ring not seated properly.

I've read this thread and these are the only other things i can suggest. Ima shtumped!

Good luck I hope you finally figure it out.

 

Larzzzz!!!! You have me sitting here at my desk thinking. I am certain no other wires were chewed, I put new injector O-rings in and lubed them with oil.................however.......I made sure I had the intake ports protected by putting a shop towel in each one...but....that wouldn't protect the injector wells would it? If it has a little piece of trash floating around in there that would explain why it runs good sometimes and sometimes acts up. I made a small tube vacuum to hook to my shop vac and I cleaned out the intake ports but I never sucked out the injection wells. Hmmmmmm, damn you got me wanting to tear into this thing tonight!!! I have a bore scope. I will look in each one prior to sucking anything out to see if I can see any contamination. You've got me excited. I'll buy you dinner if this is what it is. I will feel like a dumbass but at this point, I don't care.

 

So, I've read this again because i too have an intermittent P0333 code. My daughter helped me replace the sensor last Sunday. There were no signs of damage to the wiring that i could see ala boroscope. Here it is Tuesday, and the code came back this morning...
I've read that perhaps a fuel pressure issue might cause this code; if true, why not codes for both banks?
I have scratched my head enough to enhance my already recedeing hairline.
@JSQ what's the status of your situation? Still got the code?

 

UPDATE: You guys are not going to believe this....well maybe you will. I think some might have been close to a correct diagnosis, but it's funny how I figured it out. Yes, I have figured it out. So here's the story. I took the truck to a local mechanic and he put the computer on it and went through an entire re-learn process and I had to run it through (7) drive cycles before it was supposed to run right. Well, I drove it and drove it and it still acted up. Sluggish on acceleration, missing on the interstate. I drove it like that for a while because I was just considering trading it in. I mean I was very, very close to trading it in. What changed? well, I bought a boat. I bought a 22 ft., 12 passenger pontoon boat. Dry weight on this boat is 2100 lbs. I'm assuming total transport weight with fuel and gear would be about 2300 lbs. I was a little, no, a lot concerned about my sick Tacoma pulling this thing out of the water or even up the interstate. Knowing that the rated towing on my truck is 3800 lbs. I felt like I might be okay if the truck was running right. Well, after leaving the marina with my new boat, we started home. She knew it was back there and she was running about 4000 rpm at times. I would back off and encourage her to shift to a higher gear to reduce the rpm because I didn't like it running that high. But she did stay at a steady 2500-3000 rpm most of the way home. This was a Friday. We went back to the lake on Saturday, then again on Sunday. On the way back from the lake on Sunday, it never did jump into 4000 rpm and ran very good. So, the whole weekend I drove my truck it had the boat hitched to it. Monday when I went to work I had to take a trip about 20 miles from the office on the interstate. This is the first time I've had her on the interstate since towing the boat. I was surprised that it ran great and has been ever since! No more missing and no more sluggish behavior. So, straining the engine and creating so much heat I believe that I burned of some carbon build up in the plenum. I have since been adding some SeaFoam to my fill-ups and burning fuel with Techron in it to encourage more clean-up. I think maybe because I only drive 3.5 miles to work and the fact that I had to drive it in safe mode for a while before I could repair the knock sensor wire, it built up a lot of carbon deposits and was choking my exhaust out at higher RPM. So pulling the boat was a Re-gen so to speak. I kept my eye on engine temp and it never ran hot and now it pulls the boat just fine. I'm glad it has resolved itself and I appreciate everyone's help and concern. This is a great forum and comforting to know that there are still strangers out there that are willing to help out.

 

See also: "Italian Tune Up". Congrats on getting it back to normal.