Misfiring 05 tacoma 4x4

Hey there! Just recently joined taco world and was wondering if anyone could give me advice to my misfiring issue for when I start the vehicle. My car has recently hit 200,000 miles and was starting to have some small misfires occasionally when starting the vehicle. Typically the first crank of the day would be the most creating a misfiring for about 8-10 seconds and then settle back down. I recently have done my coil packs, spark plugs and fuel injectors and still occasionally having a misfire throwing a p0302 or p0304... any idea on what to check next?

 

Are you losing any coolant? If you are you may have a headgasket starting to fail, I'd pull the plugs on the suspect cylinders after it's sat overnight and check for coolant in them.

 

Sounds like a head gasket. I had the same issue on my 05. The head gasket design was bad and had since been updated

 

Sounds like a headgasket. Coolant is seeping into the cylinder(s) overnight and then it chokes on it for a few seconds before it burns out of there.

Slow loss of coolant with no external leaks is also a sign. The coolant is going somewhere, out the exhaust..

 

Thanks a lot for the help. Is it worth just getting the head gasket replaced? How many more miles could it really go after?

 

I'd want to verify that's what it is first, if that's what it is then weigh your options. A headgasket job isn't cheap unless you DIY, then with the mileage you have to consider what else you may want/need to replace while you are there.

 

I had the same issues on my 2005. Sitting at 197k miles. Replaced plugs and coils. My misfires were at bank 4 and bank 6. Compression on 6 was low. Blown head gasket. Currently have it in the shop for $3500. You can look at my post history and follow. There is a link in there for the history of problems on 2005-06 tacos.

 

I am waiting for my 05 to start in with the head gasket thing. I have been replacing my coolant every 8-10K miles to keep the chemistry fresh and see if I can hold it off. At least it is doing something whether it helps or not. Mine at 150K miles, it could let go at any time.

Some on this site have tackled the job on their own with great success. It is a daunting job for sure. My concern is what to do if I got in deep and ran into a problem that I couldn't overcome. Who would pick up the slack?

 

Recently did my head gaskets, it is for sure a long process but not particularly "hard". I used zip loc bags to organize all the bolts. Specialty tools would include the triple square allen key to remove head bolts, machinist straight edge to check head and block, also had access to a Toyota service manual. That I found online. The service manual is great, walks you through everything, has torque specs. Good videos on YouTube. I used 3m roloc wheels with little abrasive brushes to clean all surfaces before reinstall. Lots of brake parts cleaner. Installed water pump, belts and pulleys.

I did this by myself. I am a 35 year old dude who has tinkered with cars my whole life but never this deep. I too was worried if I messed something up. However this engine isn't overly complicated. It will consume a few good days of your life, you will wake up wondering if you torqued that bolt down correctly, but all worth it when that baby fires up first try.