2007 Tacoma Hesitation Problem

Hesitation in my 2007 Tacoma. Over the last year I have had this problem, but it went away for a while. Then recently it started doing it again. I did not want anyone to drive my truck. When crusing on the highway you would feel the vehicle just slow down and when you push on the pedal the RPM's would just stay at about 2000 even though you are pressing on the gas pedal.

I thought it was the fuel filter, but the vehicle was not starving for fuel. Then I thought it was the fuel Pump, but it still did not seem to be starving for fuel. It seem to be like the gas pedal lost the signal or you took your foot off the gas pedal, but fuel was still allowing the engine to run fine, just not to increase speed or maintain the present speed.

I have never had the engine die when this happens. I would let off on the gas pedal and press it again and then it would respond. Then I also notice my brake lights would sometimes come on after I turn the vehicle off. No keys in the ignition. I would come out of a store after checking them before I left and they would be on.

So every time the vehicle would hesitate I would lift up the brake pedal with my left foot and the vehicle would recover from the hesitation. I did this for 2 days to make sure.

I went to my local Toyota Parts department and bought a $27.00 Stop lamp brake switch that I put on in 2 minutes. Drove the vehicle for 2 hours and no hesitation problems so far and my brake lights are not coming on after I remove the keys like before.

I tried the Maf Cleaning and Throttle Body cleaning and injector cleaning, but nothing worked. The braking switch is a safety switch to allow you to shift out of park also. I do not have the circuit diagram, but I would think it ties into the Throttle Position Sensor. Oh I notice the connector wiring would also be a little warm. I think the switch had a intermittent short causing the wiring to get warm from switching on and off when it was not suppose to be on and causing the signal problem to the TPS or CPU. It is like the stop switch is sending a signal telling the throttle to shut off.

I hope this may help someone else. Maybe a Toyota Tech or someone with a wiring diagram could confirm that they may be tied together. I have viewed several Tacoma threads with this problem or something like this.

Drove the vehicle all day today and no more hesitation problems and no more brake lights staying on after the vehicle is parked and turned off. Part Number ( 84340-09070) I actually felt the pedal respond better today then the last 9 months. Opened the switch and it feels like the spring that allow the contacts to open and close feel worn. Over the years I have had 6 Toyota Trucks all 4X4's (upgrades since 1985). I still think they are the best built and most reliable truck made today.

Something that seemed strange today is the recall on the stop switch that came out on the other models today.

 

Thanks for the helpful post SAToytaco2007. I have been having the same issue with the power cutout and was narrowing it down to the Pedal Position Sensor or the MAF (or a combination of the 2 maybe). Just recently I noticed this issue with the break light, so I was intrigued to see you come to this conclusion. I was currently assuming they were 2 separate issues. So now I am wondering if this issue is still resolved from this fix or if you ever received any confirmation from anyone else on this being a known/common issue. Appreciate any suggestions, advice, or links to helpful threads. Thanks.

 

This was 4 years ago. I don't think the Original Poster is on the site anymore.

 

Thanks... I see now in his profile that he has not posted anything else since November 2012. Will have to keep scouring I guess unless someone else has something to chime in on the matter. At least I have a new direction to search in now.