My 1999 Finally left me stranded

Just turned 246000+ miles today.
I went to leave work and when I started up the truck it was shaking really hard...
I turned it off and back on, same thing.
I drove around the parking lot and when I was sitting in neutral it was like I was hitting small speed bumps. running very rough.
The check engine light started flashing then came on solid.
I turned it off and am now waiting for AAA.

No idea what it is...

I'm going to get it towed home and buy a scan tool. Looks like I will be driving my 2021 until I get this figured out.

Are there scan tools that will work on a 1999 and a 2021 Tacoma?

Thanks

 

Most work from the late 80’s till now. Bummer about the truck.

 

Thanks, I might as well try and figure out what this issue is. I really don't want to dump a bunch of $ into it.

 

Let us know what you find out.

 

Gonna guess it's misfiring based off your description. Keep us posted

 

Agree with the above, sounds like misfiring, had the same issue with my 98 Runner. Did the plugs, coils, and wires. Ended up having to replace the fuel injector cylinder 4, which was of course the cylinder that the scanner was diagnosing as problematic.
Definitely get a scan tool, $20 online or many auto parts stores will do it for free. Once you determine the cylinder you can trouble shoot from there. Good luck hopefully it's just plugs/coils, even a fuel injector isn't too big of a job on these engines, even if you have to pay someone. Tons of videos/info out there.

 

Mine behaved similar when a spark plug thread gave out and I was left running on five cylinders. Hopefully something simple.

 

As to your scan tool question, yes*. The 99 might have difficulty with certain brands of scan tools and the 2021 is so sophisticated that even if the scan tool does work, the odds of you being able to fix it in the driveway are pretty small.

Pull the plugs and inspect them, if not obvious, crank her over and see if mist comes out of the spark plug holes, then run a compression test. If she is mechanically sound, i.e., compression is good and equal in all cylinders then further inspection is warranted. This is where the scan tool helps.

*There are 2 basic “scans”, a generic OBDII and manufacturer specific. The lower cost scan tools will only get you OBDII generic which is good enough to tell you that Cylinder X is misfiring. This will save time by going right to that cylinder. A scan tool is not “the” definitive answer, it will point you in the right direction 90% of the time.

 

When was last tune up? Plugs, coils, etc.

 

That's a bold statement w/o knowing the Problem or the OPs resources. You sound like the AC guy that came to my house wanting to charge me $700 to fix the unit. A little internet research and a $45 capacitor later and it's worked fine since. My Ranger did the same thing the OPs truck is doing, it was obvious there was a problem with one of the cylinders. pulling the stick coil on #3 made no difference so I drove down to the AP store bought a new stick coil and fixed the issue, the truck was running correctly within an hour of opening the hood. No special tools needed although I had them. I think there's a very good chance the OP figures it out, none of this is rocket science.

 

Something similar happened on my Oldsmobile cutlass supreme 91. 20 year ago. Cold humid day caused the engine to misfire badly. Sometime i where able to drive for maybe 2 minutes before the engine started to shake like crazy. Warm dry day no problem changed all the spark plug wiring and this never happened again. I think the insulation where broken on many wire (maybe when i worked previously on the car) and the humid day caused the spark to jump to ground, filling the exausht with unburn gas. It sounded very gun shot style when giving some gas when the problem occured.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was thinking misfiring as well. It's been about 50-60000 since the plugs were done. I need to check exactly what the mileage was. Appreciate the feedback on scan tools.
Looks like I have a job to do this weekend...

 

If you can get some codes pulled we can further assist you

 

Only 246k? Bummer, hopefully it's just something plug and play for you. Let us know what happened.

 

While plugs at that mileage are reasonable to change, it's more likely to be components feeding the plugs.

 

Yes, that could be too. My first time getting stranded was the ignition coil on my 94 Integra, which I miss driving it.

Just curious, what are those components feeding the plugs in the taco?

 

I changed the spark plug wires at the same time the plugs were changed. That was Jan 2020...

I just picked up a cheap scan tool from Autozone on my lunch break, hopefully I will have time tomorrow to scan the truck.

 

Got home and plugged in the scan tool:
PO301 (1/3) stored
Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
DTC severity 2 of 3

I started the truck up and it was running smooth... Need to do some research in the morning.

I'm going to crack a beer and chill for tonight!

 

Coil pack going out?

 

Swap cylinder 1 coil pack with another cylinder and see if the code follows or stays in #1 cylinder