Engine woes

Hey guys, I recently "stole" a '99 tacoma xcab 4x4 3.4L for $1200. Its not in mint condition by any means, the syncro's in the tranny have gone out in 1st gear, interior isn't clean and has some body damage, but the engine is my main concern.

I bought the truck with over 240k miles on it and they last oil change was due at 219k, and never got done. I have changed the oil, alternator and all belts, also the fuel filter. When I first cranked the truck before I bought it, it would idle at close to 3000 RPM, but if I manually pushed the throttle linkage under the hood towards the air intake, it would calm down to about 2000 RPM. I have read several sites and everyone is suggesting the TPS. There was a spare TPS inside the truck so I tried that one out to no avail. On the "spare" TPS, the magnet was actually pretty strong, on the one that was installed on the truck it wasn't sticking to anything. Not sure if the "spare" one is bad or not and haven't gotten a new one since they are $200+. I also noticed that the spring on the outter part of the throttle cable linkage is pretty much sprung. I can move it left and right with ease. I posted a little about my problem in a different section of this forum and know I need to replace that spring. I am not sure where to buy good parts cheaper than AutoZone or parts that they don't carry (like this spring)

Something that the truck has just started doing, before I took it for an oil change, is surging when the clutch is pressed in, or in neutral. The truck had been sitting for a while when I bought it so I put 93 octane in it when I got it home after running the old gas out. That seems when the surging started. Thought it was a fuel filter problem so got that replaced but didn't fix it. The airbag light came on today when it started surging also, and has done it once before. Could this be a sign of the computer going out?

Any suggestions??


Thanks guys!

I am also going to replace the timing belt because I am unsure when that was last changed, if ever.