Steering/floor vibes? Clean your MAF

Over the last 1200+ miles, since I did my battery disconnect, the ride has been smooth, idles smooth, and steering was like butter with only the faintest of engine feel in the 2k range.

This past weekend I noticed the engine was lugging more and required me to put it into ECT to keep from having to slam on the gas to accelerate (and thus drop down a couple of gears, hitting them at high RPMs) but at that time no other issues so I chalked up to the damn transmission learning…

Yesterday I started to notice more vibrations in the steering wheel - and more road vibrations in my steering wheel. Same routes, same speeds, conditions, and I previously felt next to NOTHING from the engine and absolutely no road vibrations unless I hit an obvious crack / pothole - even then faint. Then this morning it was a bit worse and seems to be reverting.

I’ve been logging data since my battery reset to see what trends may occur over time. Here’s what I can see as major differences in the last couple of days:

Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure
·Until yesterday, range predictably maintained between 10-36 “Hg
·Yesterday and today, range is wildly fluctuating between 7 up to 60+ “Hg

A/F O2 Sensors (tracking B1S1 and B2S1)
·Until yesterday, voltage range was always between 3.1-3.36v
·Yesterday and today, range is fluctuating wildly between 2-5v

I'm relatively certain that disconnecting the battery again will (for a period of time) get it back to the smooth drive, but would like to better diagnose whether this could be a sensor problem (perhaps incorrectly indicating lean/rich conditions). I'm technical my trade, but no mechanic so I can analyze data for days and learn the components behind it but hoping someone on here can shed some light. What else would you look at to figure out what could be causing this?

 

One other data element that I just noticed in my logs that has surfaced over the last few days.... surprise, surprise. Cylinder misfires 1-2 at a time generally on acceleration (i.e. likely the slight miss). Captured ZERO misfires for the first week of tracking and kind of quit looking at it as a result. I'll now start tracking at the cylinder level, but something has my money on a faulty O2, MAP, BAP, Atmospheric sensor that's feeding incorrect data to the ECU, incorrectly reading the lean/rich condition and causing many other issues in the process.

 

Funny... but clearly ain't that bad. Just an annoyance that distracts from the fun this truck CAN be to drive... But it is an annoyance that I have to figure out / fix. Sadly had to give up on taking it in with a nuanced issue they'll tell me is "normal" when I know damn well what "normal" feels like in MY truck and this degrading drive quality ain't it.

 

Latest tests on my drive home had my MAP reading over 600kPa (the atmospheric was ~99 at the time). It rarely exceeded 110 the week prior when it was driving incredible. Also smelled a rotten egg smell when I pulled into the garage. So at this point I have no clue whether it's a cat issue, O2 sensors, MAF, MAP, fuel injectors, etc.,

there used to be the days when you could take something like this into a dealer and let the "experts" help you. man what I'd give for that now

 

Sounds like a RICH fuel mixture going on there..!! Possibly a bad Cat..??

 

Indeed. Simplest solution first. And no, using the same station Citgo Top Tier midgrade. No changes in fuel type. When I had these issue some before I did the last reset I had experimented with 87, 89, 93, and 87E0 and somewhat felt like perhaps I confused the ECU (unlikely but...). I committed to put nothing but mid grade in it bc that seemed to be the best balance of cost and (at the time) I hadn't no slight miss feelings nor cricket chirps. All of which have returned using the same fuel...

 

Potentially... I've seen this test result before but it goes away and only shows up with a fail intermittently and no codes have ever been thrown so I'm pretty sure I take it to a dealer and they say "normal"

 

Constant with the same Citgo gas station? If so, go somewhere else, try Costco, Sam's, Kroger. Run to pretty much empty then fill up. Drive a few days and see how it goes.
If you keep getting the misfires on 1&2 with rotten egg smell. Take those logs to dealer. Consistent misfires are either bad plugs or coil packs, presumably.

 

Octane should have no bearing on the issues you are describing. No reason to go mid tier or premium on these trucks unless you have changed the ignition timing by chipping or remapping the ECU.

How many total miles does this truck have? As stated above, coil packs and different fuel are an obvious and relatively inexpensive item to rule out straightaway.

If that doesn't fix the problem, I am inclined to think based on what you have said above, that you are on the right track with a sensor failure. I have seen faulty MAFs cause this problem in other cars. The sensor sends intake air density readings to the ECU which then calculates how much fuel to provide as well as adjust timing based on other parameters. Excess fuel can foul plugs, leading to misfires and also ruin your catalytic converter.

Keep us posted here as you troubleshoot.

 

My 2017 TRD Sport has a very similar issue. I'm at 1900 miles now and have noticed an increasing vibration in the steering wheel/seats and also the engine seems to have gotten more sluggish and chugging when taking off from a stop when in Drive and getting up to speed.

Does resetting the ecu make this go away, at least for awhile?

 

It did go away

Truck only has 12,000 miles - in the last 7 months since I bought it new. First time I experienced these issues was back in March when it had about 7k on it. Odd thing (which makes me thing a sensor is the sculptor) is that in the past when I change octanes, to anything different, the symptoms generally go away for a tank or 2 before returning.

Will investigate the coils - any suggestions to diagnose that potential cause?

 

Short answer - not sure yet. The problem did go away for over 1,000 miles following my first reset of the ECU (by disconnecting the negative battery cable for a few minutes), but I haven't had the chance to do enough driving since I reset yesterday to confirm. will report back once I have at least another rep under my belt to confirm whether this did indeed resolve temporarily or was just a coincidence.

What you describe above though is EXACTY what I'm experiencing so it is highly likely we have the same issue IMO so let's stay connected as we figure this out. I feel like I'm doing damage to my truck driving it when it's like this...

 

I had a vehicle once that always showed a misfire always on only cylinder 5 and ran a little sluggish but not too bad. Long story short it was the cps. Was always focusing only on that cyl. in trying to fix it.

 

Swap the coils to see if your misfire moves to the new cylinders. Id pull your plugs as well to see if you are rich.

 

if you take your truck to the dealership they will analyze it to see if any CELs have been thrown and can look into the what potential CELs might be coming up, if none are shown then the truck is considered OK. if the MAP sensor atomospheric is not correct it means nothing to them, they look for evidence of parts malfunctioning and causing cel issues or drivability concerns. if the truck is truly misfiring then a cel light will go off.

 

Yep, I completely understand. And that's why I'm on my own to figure this out... It is an issue. Rough idling, harsh steering, etc., are NOT "characteristics" of the truck. I know how it is supposed to drive and I love it when it does. But alas, no CELs thrown to-date. Perhaps I have to just wait until it breaks something before I can get any help from a dealership.

 

No CEL doesn't mean no codes. It means no major codes. I bet you can get some info if you pull your codes.

 

Sounds great, it's unfortunate for you but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with the issue. The couple people I've told, including my wife, said I'm probably just paranoid LOL. This issue was present on my stock wheels but got worse when I installed new wheels with All Terrain tires, although this could be caused by increasing mileage and the issue getting worse, not so much because of the tires.

For the record my truck has the Transmission TSB installed (came that way from factory) and does not have the diff recall or Crank Position Sensor recall.

 

Same - mine was a 8/16 Baja build. Had the TSB v1 (end version) done soon after purchase, tranny was checked, no diff leak/recall, nor CPS. Haven't added anything suspension/wheels/tires/etc., - all stock except steps, racks, tonneau