'01 Taco stalls and wont start. Help!

I have a '01 3.4L Tacoma xtra cab with 120,000mi. All stock. No history of accidents or major problems.

I was driving a few days ago at about 40mph and suddenly lost power. The truck was still running but I got no response when I stepped on the accelerator pedal. No check engine light. I pulled into a turnout and my truck idled roughly then stalled. I waited for a couple of minutes and then it started again but about a mile down the road, same problem. This time it wouldn't start again. I had it towed home.

I'm not getting any check engine lights so I don't think it's a sensor or the cpu. The air filter's fine and I've got spark so I figure it's got to be a fuel problem. I checked all of my fuses and relays and they were all good. I had a friend turn the engine over while I listened at the back for the fuel pump and couldn't hear it so I thought I had a bad fuel pump (I've never noticed the fuel pump priming before btw).

I pulled the gas tank and the fuel pump. I hooked the pump up to the battery (briefly) and it turned on. I checked the fuel pump harness with a multimeter and it's getting power. I plugged the fuel pump back into the harness with the hoses disconnected, turned the key, and it pumped out a stream of fuel. So I put it all back together and tried starting the truck again to no avail.

Next I thought I'd check to see if I had fuel at the filter. I disconnected the fuel line on the engine side of the filter and turned the key and fuel started leaking out. I plugged the fuel line back in and tried starting the truck and it started! However I drove it down the street and it stalled out. After a minute it started again and I drove it home but it was running roughly.

I figured I might have a clogged fuel filter and when I unhooked it I shook some debris free. So I picked up a new filter, put it on and now the truck wont start at all...

I'm at wits end on this issue, I don't even know what else to check. Any ideas??

 

weird.

injectors maybe?

 

I don't know what to say except try plugging an obd scanner

 

Really weird. Plug in a scanner, maybe the CE light is out.

 

Plugged in a sensor and got no codes. After some furthet research i thought it could possibly be a dirty throttle body or maf. I thought i'd try turning it ovet once more and it started (i did have to rev it up a bit before it would idle). I drives up and down the block okay, but i'm afraid to drive it in case it breaks down again... I think i'll go ahead and clean those parts. Any ideas?

 

Pull off your intake duct and check to see whether there is something preventing the throttle plate from opening or an obstruction that could be mucking things up...

That's really weird though =/

Where are you located OP?

 

Santa cruz, ca

 

Our fuel pumps only prime while the engine is actively being cranked, I don't know why they did that. But since you've already ruled that out...

Dirty MAF wouldn't prevent the truck from running or stalling it but by all means, try to clean it and see what happens.

As well, do you have a standard or auto tranny?

I'm in Santa Clara so if you need an extra pair of hands it's only a couple minute drive (okay, 20, but still...)

 

Manual trans. TB & MAF were both pretty gunky. Just finished cleaning them and it's definitely running smoother...i'll keep you posted...

 

Good deal!

If it's not throwing a code, you can still have problematic O2 sensors as well that can become sluggish and cause problems too pending on when they were last replaced.

So just to confirm, the whole not running problem is gone? Now its running and starting to run better as you're tuning?