Why Is My Tacoma So Slow and Gutless?

Ya, I cleaned my maf, my throttle body and replaced my spark plugs and wires with denso platinum. I also changed the oil to fully synthetic, and its still the same... slow.

 

Take a video of you accelerating onto a highway or similar road.

Then post it here.

 

Give us your 50-70 time in third gear. Video the speedo and we can get a really accurate number. Try to do it on a flat road.

 

Will do.

I bought an electric fan a couple months ago that I still haven't put in. I put an elec. fan in my 4runner and it gained me about 2mpg and a bit more power at the wheels.
Today I had the a/c on and the same 4% hill I drive every day at 70mph in 5th, I had to downshift to 4th and put it to the floor to maintain 70mph.
That belt driven fan is killin me, especially with the a/c on and the fan clutch constantly engaged.

 

Yeah, kinda. I guess id never really paid much attention to some of it. See even with the the muffler and intake the PART THROTTLE acceloration is great BUT MY OFF THE LINE and WOT is horrible. Any time I mash on the go pedal, nothing really happens. It just bogs down and is sluggish to accelorate. But when I'm at speed say 50mph and give it slight throttle she revs right up to 60 like nothing. Problem is that doesn't help me if I have to pass a rig or something. So I'm not sure what going on.

Here's what else....

I seafoamed the gas tank and got some maf cleaner and took it all apart and sprayed it per directions on can and am letting it dry real goon to ivy and see what happens in the am.

Someone else asked about my tranny... Well now that I pay attention to it here's what it does... When I leave my house and go thru the golf course road to get to the hwy, I do the 25-30mph resedental speeds. It goes from first to second them seems to hold 3rd for a long time if I'm at 25ishmph until I givit more gas then it goes into fourth. SO I'm not sure i that's normal or not. No I'm kinda concerned. I don't normally buy used vehicles and I'm beginning to see why. This thing has made me nervous since the day I bought it. Buyers remorse I guess, idk. Just a little discouraged.

 

Ok OOOOOOKAAAAYYYY! I think ima have to rethink what I just said. I couldn't wait till morning. I put everything back together and WHOA. That maf cleaning alone seemed like it did something. Not sure if its just in my head or what but it already feels way stronger! It kicks down and pulls...GOOD. WOW um thank you all for that tip. I think ima go ahead and see if I can clean the top of the pistons with that seafoam spray stuff maybe that will help even more! Thank you thank you thank you! Ima do that to my wife's car and my dads 05 taco and Buick enclave.

 

Well now don't get smug, I'm a speed freak so I still think a 4.56 gear or so is in order lol.

 

Just don't expect a 10 year old V6 pickup to perform like a Z06.

 

Why a truck if the need is speed? Seems counterproductive.

 

I can't speak for anyone else but myself but I'm not trying to turn my truck into a sports car, that's why I have a Lexus SC400.

I'm just annoyed at the fact that I have to downshift into 4th and put it to the floor to maintain 60/70mph any time my truck sees a hill. Not to mention, trying to pass someone on a 2 lane, mountain highway is nearly impossible.

I forgot to answer someone's question earlier, I said 190hp just isn't enough and they asked if I thought I actually had 190hp.
My answer is no, not even close. First of all, given the fact that I live at about 6,000ft elev. Then from all the carbon build up and what not I'd say its somewhere in the ballpark of 140-150hp at the crank.

 

Sorry Matt, I was referring to Fig.

 

I had the same issue coming from my 98 Tacoma, going to my 99 Tacoma. I bought my 98 used, with the v6, and it accelled great, lots of punch, I thought, although I was coming from a tercel,lol. It got frame recalled, so I got myself basically the identical model, only a 99. And compared to my 98, it was gutless. I tried plugs, air filter, higher octane gas, none of it made a difference. I just learned to live with it, although it always pissed me off, cause I really liked my 98.

 

The elevation certainly hurts, but I don't have any recent trips to higher elevation to use as reference. I drove my truck to Mammoth Lakes last winter with the fam and plenty of gear and didn't remember not being able to do the speed I wanted to do, although I definitely felt the impact on the engine.

So back to your original question, "Why is my Tacoma so slow and gutless", part of that is due to elevation but quantifying what percentage is from elevation is tough. If you can give us your 50-70 time at sea level that would help. But I bet that's not convenient, just like it's not convenient for me to give you my 50-70 time at 6,000 feet. Worse yet, finding a flat road at 6,000 feet around here is almost impossible.

 

Sc400 eh???!!! That 1UZ engine would be pretty sick in the taco...

 

It would be, but its pretty sick in my sc400 as well

 

I'm interested to know how you knew the timing belt was off.

I did the 120K service with timing belt, Denso plugs and wires, fuel filter, and water pump myself and put brand new 33x10.50 KM2's the next day. The truck ran (and still runs) like hell, but I figured it was the big tires. I threw a code for the MAF (P0171 is it?) last year and replaced it, then replaced the front 02 sensor cause that was original, but now I'm wondering if I effed up the timing belt job because with all that, the truck still runs pretty gutless.

So...how did you know your timing belt was off by 10%?

 

Check out this thread at the top of the 1st gen forum: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...y-how-thread-compiled-list-helpful-links.html

It really has a boatload of helpful links.

In it you'll find this: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/timing_belt/

They also provide pictures on how to align the timing belt.

 

Thanks much. I remember following the 4x4 Wire how-to when I did the service, but am going to double back and check the cam(s) alignment before I drop anymore coin on fixes (EGR, E-Fan, smaller tires-hahhaha)

 

Ok, this is getting ridiculous now. My truck is getting more gutless every week to the point that 5th gear has become pretty much useless unless I'm going down hill and my average gas mileage has dropped from about 16mpg to 14mpg.

Here's a list to reiterate what I've done and what my truck is equipped with.
-31.6" tires
-4.10 diff
-cleaned maf and throttle body AGAIN last week as well as entire air intake hose and box
-replaced the air filter again last week
-replaced spark plug wires and spark plugs with NGK premium wires and NGK platinum plugs
-changed the oil and filter using Mobil 1 fully synthetic

Over the past I've ran 85 (reg grade) 87 (mid grade) and 91 (premium) gas to see if that makes a difference, with no results.

Other than the 6" lift and the 1" over stock, size tires, the truck is bone stock. It is my daily driver and I've never changed my driving habits or daily routes since I've owned it.

The check engine light has never come on, the alignment is perfect, the clutch is solid and the only drivetrain problem it has is that the drive shaft center bearing is starting to get a little loose.
The truck has 109,000 miles on it and its an 03. This being my 5th Toyota, my 2nd Tacoma and having owned a 00 4runner, I am absolutely baffled that I'm having problems like this with this truck.
My next step is to replace the timing belt based on some of the responses here but please, for the love of god, someone help me!