Stalling at stop after high RPM. Ideas?

Friends, a stalling problem has been discussed before, but the suspected problem/part(s) hasn't been clear to me, nor has it matched my exact experience.

• 2001 Tacoma V6, auto, 4x4 double cab at 150k miles.
• Second owner. Purchased at 75K miles.
• Nicely kept and well maintained per Toyota’s schedule (inc new fuel filter and mass air sensor last year). I turn my own wrench when possible.

Problem: Twice in the last year, the truck has stalled when going from highway speed (after throttle full to the floor for passing), to a full stop a mile or more later. It dies, but there is no subsequent OBD2 / check engine light. It will restart after a couple of cranks, but it dies as soon as I put it in drive. I start it again, and it does the same thing. The third time I start it, I hold one foot on the brake, put it in gear and start feathering the throttle about 1/2 open. Once I do that, and get going again, it drives perfectly fine as if nothing happened.

A few clues:

• Today I filled the gas tank a few miles before this happened (I can’t recall the time it stalled before if I had also filled it up). Note: until last year, I didn’t know it’s a bad idea to continue to fill after the pump kicks off the first time.
• Both times this stall has happened, I had just driven it hard at highway speeds to pass, ie, for a moment at full WFO throttle with transmission kick down to high RPM, then it shifts up.

Fuel pump? Charcoal canaster? Other?

I’d like to catch this before it gets any worse. (Had just come back from off-roading in the desert.) Thank you in advance for any relevant ideas or thoughts!

 

check the purge valve.

 

I had a some what similar issue.

55 mph on 4 lane Highway exit downhill ramp the engine would quit when I pushed in the clutch..

Happen a few times I never had any MIL the two cranks to start .

No idea I never really did things but regular maintenance . It just went away.

I seldom ran the fuel below 1/2 Tank.

Good luck , I can`t wait to see what you might discover.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. Could you give me a little bit more to go on please? For instance, how do I check it? Or am I just to replace it?

 

Not really feeling evap for this; any evap issue should set the MIL (It does work, doesn't it?), and it's hard to equate the symptoms to an evap cause; too irregular, and, IMO, unrelated. The hard start feels like a clue to me. The question is: Is this a lack of spark or lack of fuel? I'm guessing fuel as you say you need to feather the throttle for a bit to nurse it along. Fuel pump seems an unlikely culprit as the incidence is again, too infrequent. A slightly dodgy FPR could fit; after flowing maximum fuel, when you back off the throttle it "slams shut", sort of akin to a screen door which you pull open to the absolute maximum extent of the spring, and let go? It slams shut extra hard.

That said, do NOT go rushing off and buy a new FPR just because some unknown guy on the Internet suggested it (unless you have WAY more money than I do, in which case, can you send me some? ). What I would suggest is trying to recreate the issue. Once you know you can reasonably predict an occurrence, get your hands on a good scan tool with live data capability and monitor all the fuel pressure related PIDs and confirm.

 

Has the throttle body ever been cleaned? Might not hurt to clean it thoroughly. Maybe even pull it off so you can really dig into it.

 

Thanks for your reply. Yes I have cleaned the throttle body intake a few times over the years, although I have never taken it off the manifold.

 

Egr valve might be getting stuck open until restart.....
if thats the case it will only get worse.

 

I appreciate your thoughts. Since it happened the first time (maybe a year ago), I have occasionally tried to get it to happen again but have been uncessful. Until yesterday I had chalked it up as a one time occurrence.

Any other time, the engine starts and runs perfectly. I guess there have to be very specific factors in play. All I know is, that both times the engine died was when I was on the highway and needed to pass, ie, 1) going full throttle, 2) trans kickdown, 3) trans upshift at high RPM near redline, and 4) coming to a full stop at the offramp a few miles later.

The fact that yesterday I had just filled up the tank moments before may not have any relevance. (Shrug)

 

Thanks for the thought about EGRs. Does it matter that it drove just fine until I came to a complete stop a mile or more later where it died ... almost like when driving a manual and not taking it out of gear when you come to a stop.

 

And this is the problem with intermittent issues; they can be VERY difficult to trouble-shoot because when it works, it works.... if you can figure out how to recreate it/cause it, then you're half-way home! That really is the first step.

 

EGR should trigger a P0401/402 code (Insufficient/excessive flow) and MIL.

 

All you can do is recreate the high speed then to a stop see if you can cause it to occur .

Was the complete stop on level ground or down hill ramp to a stop?

 

Yup. FYI, there was no check engine light that appeared either time. If it had I would have used my Bluetooth OBD2 reader.

 

Just a very slight uphill incline. Maybe 10 to 15 degrees max.

 

Well, I'll throw this out there if you have an automatic transmission could be your torque converter clutch sticking inside converter.

 

Thanks for that. Interesting. Doing research*, I asked this question and got the following answer.

Q: What happens if the torque converter clutch does not release?
A: Stalling. If the torque converter clutch fails to release, the vehicle may stall when coming to a stop. The problem will feel much like a manual transmission vehicle stopping with the clutch engaged (pedal released).​

That is exactly how I describe it. I don't understand automatic transmissions enough to know why this might be related to the two times the truck stalled at a stop sign a few miles after passing, ie, going WFO throttle, trans kickdown, then upshift at high RPM. Other than those two times, the transmission seems to operate perfectly, and I can't seem to be able to recreate the symptom.

Can anyone elaborate a little? Thanks so much!

*PS: Also found this thread: www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bad-torque-converter.454646/

 

Yeah it was kinda funny how I surmised that. My goofy self was watching videos on YouTube about torque converter engineering and operation and that was one of the snipets of a video I watched right before I read your post LOL