08 taco needs a mechanic recommendation

Having engine hesitations under acceleration. Idles fine, cruises fine. 90psi in 4 cylinders, 150psi in 2. Oil n water look clean. 190k. Changed the plugs but they looked used but fine, no steam cleaning or oil build up. The coils test fine. No engine light. I'm thinking head gasket. Any recommendations for Portland Oregon on a reasonably priced mechanic?

 

Before you bring it to a shop, try cleaning the maf sensor, it it hasn’t been done in awhile. Since you did spark plugs you probably have the tools and ability to do it yourself. I believe instructions are in the stickies.

When you swapped the plugs, you’re certain you didn’t get counterfeits? Gaped them?

 

This could be a fuel starvation issue.

 

It actually runs pretty crappy tooling along at 30, I can feel it hesitating. 1st thing i did was change the plugs. Put in NGK 1483 (LFR6CGP) and gapped them properly. One shop i went to, to see if he'd put a scope on it, said it's always the injectors, I change them all the time. Another higher end shop said it's rarely the injectors. So I got a set of rebuilt injectors from a recommended Tacoma World California shop. But after checking the compression I'm now unsure. It's a lot o work to get run out/changed. What is the MAF sensor? Thanks for your quick responses
Ray

 

MAF or fuel pump going out or clogged

 

It's in a running truck and I started the engine for the compression tests, one hole at a time

 

Mass airflow sensor. Get a can of crc maf sensor cleaner, follow instructions in the stickies to the letter. Don’t use carb cleaner or anything else. It’s easily damaged then it won’t work at all. Very easy to do so I’d start there. Then plan on testing fuel pressure next.

 

Hesitation like a miss or hesitation like a lack of throttle response?

 

Like its missing, slightly. Like when I mistakenly put Autolite plugs in it. Recap here- I did note the NGK plugs i recently installed which had no affect on the issue from my old 30k plugs.

 

I cleaned the MAF. It looked pretty clean when I took it out but sprayed it w the CRC MAF cleaner anyway. Didn't impact it very much, still stutters when driving. Did disconnect the battery and now it's idling about 400rpm. Did the key on start and pushed the throttle pedal down slowly and that helped a bit, now at 600.

 

Ah, I should have mentioned to take care of cleaning the throttle body at the same time.

 

Saw a video on that. Seems a simple task, even at 90deg today. I'll give it a shot

 

If you haven’t done it yet, hook up an obd reader, check for error codes, fuel trims. If there are error codes, write them down, hit erase, see if they come back. At least with mine, erase is like disconnecting the battery so it needs to relearn.

 

Were the old plugs fouled in anyway?

 

For reference what the parameters should be close to.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/perfect-data-list.772549/#post-27596821

 

If you get any P codes post them here and we will be able to help identify them. If they are P03 codes you have a misfire. Did you check the condition of your coils at all when you did the tune up? A hairline crack is enough to cause a misfire.

 

Haha, just realized we are assuming he has a scan tool at his disposal.

If not, any auto parts store will read your codes for you. But typically they won't clear them.

 

Used a scanner at O'Reilly. No code at all. If be nice to have access to a 911scanner like they use on my motorcycle. I cleaned the throttle body, pretty gooey in there. So the MAF and the bodies are good. The old plugs look normal except #6 which wasn't tight in the head. That cylinder has the best psi@ 150 and I replaced that coil thinking maybe it was bad. So...
Engine was running bad so I
Replaced the plugs
Replaced a coil (#6 plug)
Cleaned the MAF it looked clean
Cleaned throttle body- pretty gooey
Don't know how to test the coils other than to unclip when running.

 

I'm assuming number 6 is the one in the middle?