About to run this thing off a cliff!

I will try to make this short. My daughter was driving the 04 Pre-Runner V6 Auto. She call says the truck stopped. I go out took about a half hour to get to her. The truck starts right up i drive it home no issues. Two days later my wife goes to move it out of the driveway and she calls me and said there is no reverse. I get home go out the truck runs and drives perfectly. I take it to work the next day an hour each way no issues. The next day I drive to work again. I am about three miles from work and i lose forward momentum give it some more throttle the RPM's go way up truck will maintain speed but not accelerate much at all. the check engine light comes on and the temp gauge pegged and no reverse. I pull over turn off the truck sit for less than 5 minutes. I start the truck back up no issues except the check engine light, the temp gauge normal and reverse is working. I drive the rest of the way to work no issues. I checked the codes they were 02 sensor codes. I erased the codes and drove home and to work the next couple of day no issues. Third day same thing happened engine light (same codes) temp gauge pegged, no acceleration, and no reverse. I pulled over turned it off started back up immediately no more issues that day. It is very intermittent. I have checked every thing I can think of. I am at my wits end. Can anyone point me in a direction?
Thank you,
Slappy

 

smell the trans fluid & look at condition / color by any chance?

 

While I cant give you a magic bullet fix I can point you to some common things, will they "fix it", maybe.
On the intake manifold right by the DIAGNOSE plug there is a group of ground wires, these are for most of the computers electronics. Give each wire a wiggle and check for a loose eyelet.

Has it rained hard recently where you live?

 

Slater* the trans fluid was clean smelled fine. I am meticulous with maintenance. I did however drain and installed a new filter flushed lines and cooler. Thank you.

 

Glamisman* I will check that. When this first started happening rain was not a factor. Thank you.

 

Definitely sounds electrically controlled. Reminds me of an experiance in a 1988 pickup.

Although a much simpler year of basics it would intermittantly lack power, act up or often shut down completely, only to restart within a short time or even start up immediately. Felt electrical in nature. Could not find the issue forever. Some days my bi polar beast would be fine. Turned out @ 100k the neg. battery cable had internal corrosion. No visable signs, blue fuzzed or swollen. Once the artirial electrical blockage was removed by transplanting with a free flowing new cable she purred like a kitten with 9 more lives.

I was once told something that has served me well. An old timer mechanic claimed 90% of electrical issues can be traced back to a bad ground (or resistance). Cold wet weather brings out these gremlins. Another rule that had helped me anyway, I start with all known issue repairs first. Often the mystery issues are related and go away.

Hope this can help

 

+1 on the Intake Manifold Ground. Left that loose after a spark plug job once and the truck just randomly died on the highway. Took forever on the side of the road to figure out what the hell happened, but it was just that loose ground.

 

Could be the start of the dreaded A.P.P.S malfunctioning? Maybe multiple issues its an 04

 

Not sure what the APPS is. would you mind elaborating?
Thank you,
Slappy

 

I will give it a look.
Thank you,
Slappy

 

Accelerator pedal position sensor its on the throttle body.

 

Thank you. I have never heard it refered to as the APPS I have always called it a TPS Throttle Position Sensor
Slappy

 

2 different things

 

Okay, I'll look into that.
Thank you,
Slappy

 

Does the horn work? With the truck idling does the fan belt run smoothly? No strange noises?

 

Yes, yes, and no noise

Thank you,
Slappy

 

I see it has a sensor on both sides of the throttle body. Thank you.

Slappy

 

Maybe make sure someone’s left foot (sorry, other left foot) hasn’t pulled apart some wiring up under the dash

 

I can tell you that I just went through a similar situation with my Nephews 4Runner and I found a couple bad grounded wires under the hood and on the frame under the vehicle. After cleaning up all the grounds and tightening everything up he has not had anymore trouble. Hope this helps.

 

Yeah i went under there too

Thank you,

Slappy