2007 sputtering and dying, help

2007 Tacoma 2.7l w/80k miles. I love this little baby. but she sputtered and had to be curbed today. Similar to this guy. Took off today. Tacoma ran fine. After 3 miles, it suddenly began to sputter and then died shortly thereafter. Not getting air, or not getting fuel. Checked online, I found this problem existed with Idle Air Control Valve on vehicles up to 2004, which my truck apparently doesn't have. Unsure what is causing it now. Got back in after it cooled off (if this mattered I'm unsure), got is to a sputter start, sounding really shatty and with no torque, I could get it up to 3k rpm and managed to go 3 miles to home. Friend says fuel. I have turned on without starter, I don't hear fuel pump, but unsure if I remember it was audible. Sorry, I know I'm a bad yoder father. Looking up a fix is difficult. any help? thanks.

 

Are you getting a check engine light? any codes?

 

I do not have obdii reader. but yes "check engine" light is on.

 

Take it to any auto parts store (AutoZone, Pep Boys, Oreilleys, etc.) and they'll read your code for free. It will more than likely point you in the direction you need to go in to solve this problem.

 

unfortunately, it's 12 miles and I have no way to get it to town.

 

Well..if you have time you could always order one from Amazon lol. I use an OBDII plug in that connects via WiFi to my phone, then I read codes and other info through the Torque app.

Anyway, it's possible it could be the fuel pump but a fuel pump will usually give you signs that it's going bad before it actually does. They whine, hiss and squeal usually when they start to go out (I know because that's what mine is doing now). Then before they die they general cause sputtering at higher speeds and RPMs. It's not common that it would just fail out of nowhere, but possible.

 

Check your vacuum lines and make sure everything is connected, if a major line came loose and created a bad air leak, it would make your truck stall out and not start up. Clean the MAF sensor and throttle body too, can't hurt anything and might help...easy to do yourself if you have the cleaners for it.

 

Hoses all seam fine. I'm going to break down and get a reader. Also clean the MAF and throttle body as has been suggested by someone else as well. A new pump should be here tomorrow.

 

Take a voltage reading across your battery. You are looking for 12 volts. Then take a reading with the truck running, should be about 14 volts.

 

I will do a voltage test when the new snow on the truck melts tomorrow. If it is out of the 14v range, what may this indicate?

 

If you are seeing less than 14 ish, you're looking at an alternator issue. Which if not discovered in time, will ruin your battery as it is not being recharged adequately.
But honestly the ODB code will likely shed more light on what's happening here.

 

10/4 misfit. I will be posting updates as I go.

 

got a new fancy obdii by centech. learning curve. with the key on, went to diagnostics which said it was in comm with vehicle. Only one stored fault code was listed which said "cylinder 1 misfire". Reset, then reacquired comms. Then attempted to start truck. It would not start but starter turned and turned. Checked diagnostics again which said the same. It seems to me that if it were only 1 of 4 cylinders not firing, that it would start, albeit very roughly.

 

Maybe check all the connections to that plug. Pull that plug and look at it?

 

the tank was not filled just before this but probably 50 to 100 miles before. so I have cut a hole in the bed of my truck that I will reinforce and restore. now with this access panel, I have the pump in my grasp. the center of this is the top of the pump, and this plastic gear looking ring is holding it down. how do I get it off? does it pop off, spin off? just attempting in an incorrect manner, I'm sure would destroy it as it is just plastic.

 

so once I noticed the tiny stopper nubs, I managed to removed this ring and replace the pump, which fixed nothing. I've checked the spark plugs which all have little corrosion and consistent carbon. my meter is dead too, so other tests of coils and battery will have to wait. The obdii also has only changed from "cyl 1 misfire" to "cyl 3 misfire". Someone mentioned how Dodge vehicles get vapor lock here in the rockies and I was reminded that the fuel cap had been off. One person used this truck during the 2 weeks I was gone, my mother. She believes that she put about 5 gallons of fuel into the truck but can't remember where. She also suffered a small stroke during this time which is why I returned earlier than planned. It's possible she had no clue and added either diesel or e85. With the gas cap off, I suppose something could have filtered into tank, but there really was no rain or snow over that period. Yet another factor makes me discount her putting wrong fuel because it's a dozen miles to the nearest gas station. So a bad fuel would have already been running in the engine. Whereas I got home, started, drove off and suddenly 3 miles later the engine lost all power and seemed to be gasping. I've now had 2 people suggest that someone could have siphoned gas, and refilled with water. Years ago, someone pulled hoses and drained a tank in one of the cars on the property when no one was around. Considering that I was not home, this also makes sense and that person is still living nearby. So I'm taking off work tomorrow, will get a meter to run tests, completely drain the tank and add some premium fuel to see results, and apply mass air flow sensor cleaner. Updates to come. Thanks everyone.

 

Wow, 6 days later, new fuel pump, OBD scanner and now a hole in your bed. I would have it sent to a shop or dealer at this point man.
I hope you get it licked soon!

 

Would have sent it to a shop too, but can't see spending $250+ on a tow from where I live, and considering ... etc. I drained the tank, put in 5 gal of premium. ohm tested the coils. from common to 3 leads, all 4 coils read consistently at 10, 4 and 3 ohms each. sprayed out MAF sensor which looked perfect beforehand to me. pulled off the air contraption and applied a couple of oz of injector/engine cleaner. put it all back together again and after 30 seconds of sputtering it started right up, with just a bit of an idle rumble from what seemed like only 1 cyl misfiring intermittently. I ran it for 5 minutes, revved it up, let it drop etc. pulled the air contraption off again and added a couple more oz of cleaner, put it all back on, started it and it ran like crap again. no consistent response from stepping on the gas, and seeming like a lot of misfires, or lack of fuel or air. I ran it this way for another 5 minutes thinking it would clear, but it didn't. Darkness falls, and I had to drive someone out, so I closed up and will look again tomorrow after work. I'm sure I put all tubes, hoses, wires etc back together. any ideas?

 

still have the same codes?

 

I have zero error codes now.