Help needed- wire ground/battery/sluggish

Hello all! First time poster. My 2017 tacoma has been acting up recently. An example is I will get off work, get on the freeway and everything runs great until I exit and am taking side streets to home. Truck gets sluggish and sometimes feel like it wants to die. Have a check engine light that is throwing codes of p0201, p0301, p0441 and p0455.
On top of that, I went to replace my old battery today and when going to install the new one, I realized there was a ground wire that was connecting onto the positive terminal that was not connected to anything. I cannot see where it should be connected so would love to get thoughts on that as well as if anyone else has thoughts on how my truck is running that could help with diagnosis. Taking it to the dealer this week. From a very novice auto expert, I appreciate any insights. Thank you

 

It's a red wire which usually means hot or positive. Why do you think it's a ground wire? Probably something aftermarket a previous owner bought and disconnected and kept before selling.

 

i moved things around a bit to better make sense of what i'm replying to. the wiring is really a non-issue, so replying to that entirely separately.

just a note-- if you're out of warranty, all independent shops will use the same shop procedures to test and diagnose the truck as any toyota dealer will. but because they're not paying the 'mothership', their prices are usually much lower.

the good news is you've got engine codes. the bad news is you've got engine codes.

what is the mileage on the truck? there's really 3 area's that the codes are indicating issues. the emissions system(455,441), cylinder 1 misfire(301), and fuel injector 1 failure(201).

fuel injector failures are extremely odd in most modern vehicles, this likely contributed to the cylinder 1 misfire. the first culprit will be physical (animal) damage to the wiring leading to the injector.

but if you're anywhere near the 60,000 mile interval for spark plugs, it's also possible that the misfire is a spark plug related issue. also possible given the age is an spark plug coil issue--given the age, this could also be a potential issue. though plugs and coils are a distant possibility due to the injector failure code. plugs and coils typically result in a rough idle, with only a misfire code, not a injector code as well. there are documented cases where the motor heating up during use will cause the coils to malfunction(starting to fail, but not entirely), but otherwise run properly at startup.

the 400-series codes are emissions related, either indicating that you left your gas cap off, the seal within it failed, or the filler neck has an opening in it somewhere--evident by the gas smell when filling up. these codes i generally clear and then watch for them to get set off again to duplicate the problem. if it persists, first try a new gas cap before getting into more expensive solutions.

someone had an accessory connected to the battery. it's crappy of them to leave it like that, but not world-ending. this isn't going to be any part of your engine issues. disconnect, and verify your terminals are clean and tight. i highly recommend smearing some dielectric grease on the terminals to reduce the chance of 'fuzz' growing on the connection.

 

It’s an amplifier wire . Disconnect it and toss it in the trash .

 

How do you know it's not for a light bar?

 

he's amplifier-ist.

those good-for-nothing red wires always screwing up the neighborhood.

 

If the codes are really for the fuel injector, misfire, emissions. I'd say the failed fuel injector would cause a misfire and in turn that could mess with the emission systems. Or not. But probably. Maybe

 

Thanks everyone for the responses. Some great information so far. To provide some additional context, I have owned this truck from the beginning(80k miles on the truck) and have never done any upgrades such as light bar, sound system, or anything else. So that wire should be from a stock option?
Beyond that, i did have an accident a while back which body work had to be done and have had a check engine light since then but did replace the gas cap and that has had no effect.

 

if you're at 80k, you should have done plugs recently? i would re-check the work performed, it's possible something got jumbled during that job.

that wire is not stock. someone did something somewhere to add it. but it's not needed.

if you've already changed the gas cap, and the error persists, it means you have an air gap in your fueling system somewhere. the emissions system pulls vacuum on the tank during it's checks to look for leaks. if it can't pull that vacuum, it triggers the light(which is also why a missing/failed gas cap is the most common cause). outside of the gas cap, the more common causes is the filler neck straps breaking, rotting out, or the steel parts of the neck rotting out. it's also common for the seal for the fuel pump at the top of the tank to fail. but all of those require dropping the tank, and sometimes using a fogger machine to leak-test the tank. before bringing it anywhere to diagnose, be sure to be at less than 1/4 tank-- the techs will thank you. most people love trying to have tank issues troubleshot with full tanks, and then get pissed when the techs need to dispose of the gas to drop it and repair the tank...

 

Body work. What kind of body work? And if CEL came on after body work, why not immediately ask body shop what they did that might have caused CEL? You say you replaced the gas cap, with what? Some of the shit Chinese gas caps (fake Stant copies, for one) will cause CEL.

 

You've owned the truck since new and just now noticed the red wire?
You had body work done and a check engine light since but you didn't take it back to the shop for them to correct?
I would replace the battery. Get a reliable tech to do it if you can't. He could check the wire too.
The tech could also check your warning light. At the very least get the gas cap replaced with a new one from a Toyota dealer as others suggested.