New to the Forum, Engine running a little rough. Need idea's.

Just purchased a 96 Ext Cab 4x4 2.7L today. It's got about 101,000 miles and has been sitting on and off for a few months. The engine starts and runs just fine but does idle a little rough/vibrates. I'm going to do plugs tomorrow and I filled it up with some premium 93 and a bottle of complete cleaner today but have only put 50 miles or so on it since. Would it make sense that the truck just needs to be driven since it has been sitting? Any other idea's for maintaining or bringing this engine back to all its glory? Thanks in advance, Hayden.

P.S. I attached a picture of it. Paid $4400 and yes it is as clean as it looks. Driven by an older gentlemen, garage kept, all maintenance records. How did I do?

 

looking good! i would say maybe change your oil to a synthetic since its a older engine. plugs is a good start change out the air filter to a pro dry maybe look into doing the "deck plate mod" use the search button. it will help the 2.7 engine breathe better. those are just a few ideas im not a expert by any means but simple things that could help. oo and look into some "seafoam" again the search button is your friend lol.

 

Hi 96greengoblin. I'm new too. Welcome.

I'd use the search function and put "rough idle" in quotes.

On the blue bar up there ^^^:

Search --> Advanced Search --> Put "rough idle" in the Keyword(s): area using the quotes, I'd make sure under Search in Forum(s) is says Search All Open Forums. Or you can narrow it down by just searching on this 4 Cylinder one. Personally I like to Show Results as ------ Posts. Then spend a while reading what others have done. Looks like several hundred threads. You know more about what's going on so you'd know more if it applies to you.

That's a sweet truck. Running through a good tune up and maintenance couldn't hurt.

 

Might just need a tune up.

 

Looks like you hit a homerun

+1 on new plugs. Very likely they have been run well past their time. Replaced my plugs recently, idles smoother now.

and +1 on the high flow filter.

 

thanks for the replys everyone. 1 tank of 93, 1 tank of 87, plugs wires cap rotor and an oil change later she is running much better. however, im experiencing this "toyota tick" upon startup and it lingers a little even when the truck is warm. everyone says its lifters and not to worry about it... true? sounds a little diesel like.

 

It may be something that will clear up as you run it. I bought a jeep that spent some time setting and it sounded like crap for a few feul ups and oil changes. I to not endorse principles such as "mechanic in a can" but I ran to oil additives like Rislone and over te course of a year (5,000 miles) the engine ran quieter.

It may just need clean fluids and some miles on it.

 

thanks. i feel like the fact that the tick/knock noise is obviously temperature dependent (worse at low temps), the noise subsides as soon as i step on the accelerator and the fact that i havent noticed any loss of power or engine irregularities in terms of rpm's or funny behavior means that is nothing serious. would that be an ok assumption?

 

I don't think anyone has said this yet but I recommend cleaning the mass air flow sensor (MAF). Search for the how to on this site, it is a free and easy possible fix for a rough running taco.

 

Any thoughts on replacing the fuel filter? It should be an inline one outside the tank and fairly easy to do.

Dare to Seafoam it LOL?