Stuttering

Hello all,

I am a long time reader and relatively new poster... You all are a wealth of knowledge. I have a 2004 Tacoma DC 4x4 3.4 and it has been a great truck for the past year or so, but today something happened that concerns me.

I drove it once this morning to go out to breakfest, and it drove fine. Parked it, and went to work for a couple hours. I went to go down the street to Grainger to pick up a part, and my truck started stuttering and losing power. I turned around and drove home about a mile. It starts up fine but stutters at idle, and shutters as I accelerate it, and after a couple minutes, it starts to tic. The ticking sounds like it is coming from the top of the motor, but not really sure. I have not checked the codes, because I don't have a scanner. And the light has been on for awhile with a P0442 code, so I don't know it tripped a code when it started shuttering. I didn't hear any loud noises, just started shuttering a mile down the road. I know a lot about cars, but this one stumps me. I will try to check the codes. Also, the plugs are new, fuel filter is new, plug wires are new, I changed the oil Monday and it has 130,000 miles on it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

B

 

I just had a thought last night, could it possibly be the catalytic converter? I have been ignoring the P0442 code for awhile, could this have caused the CC to get clogged?

Any thoughts?

 

First thing I would do is another scan .
Its a computer controlled engine .
How To: Throttle body cleaning 2005+ V6http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/94203-how-throttle-body-cleaning-2005-v6.html
How to for 2.7 http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...o-throttle-body-intake-manifold-cleaning.html

 

The changing out of the plug wires has me wondering. Did the shuddering occur before that? I wonder if you have a cracked plug boot and are hearing the arcing of the spark?

Old time trick: Spray a mist of water around wires/coil packs in the dark with truck running to see if sparking occur.

 

vacuum leak, electrical issue. If a problem starts immediately after doing something, go back over everything that was done and see if it fixes things. From the description I'd also guess there's something screwy with the plugs/wires.

Shudder would be shaking. Shutter is something entirely else


For the engine code, any mainline shop will pull and clear usually for free. But in the future get a bluetooth OBDII module, about $10 on ebay. Then download torque lite, free (assuming you have an android phone). Besides its other functions you can pull/clear your own codes. If you don't have an android phone, you can usually get one just about free. I have an old droid in my car, just to run torque when I don't have my usual phone with me.

And I just spent the $5 it takes to get torque pro after using the free version for a couple years. Big difference from the free version and well worth the $5.

 

Noted. Shudder would be shaking. I started with Shudder, but then changed it to shutter...

I changed the plugs and plug wires, over a year ago and they have been fine. But could also have something to do with it. The only thing I have done recently is the oil change, and I don't think that could cause this. I am working on getting the codes read, but just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this problem. The ticking only starts a couple minutes after the car is started and rev'ed up a bit...

Any other comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Well, you were right Koditten! I had bad plugs and wires, they were arcing from one wire to the next. These plug wires and plugs were aftermarket, and only a year old. So, I guess it pays to use the right Toyota parts! DON'T USE AFTERMARKET PLUGS AND WIRES!

Thanks everyone for their help.

Cheers.

 

What brand wires were you using?

 

so new wires and plugs fixed it?

 

I don't know what kind they were, but I got them at O'Reilly's Autoparts. I want to say, they were AC Delco.

Yes, new plugs and wires fixed it. Runs great now!

Thanks again for all the help.

 

I wish I was as good at diagnosing my own problems as I am at guessing the issue on the internet

 

I guess I'll have to show this thread to the wife. I'm never right.