Strange problem with engine

Those downhill ski jumps will bite you in the ass, haha, my buddy held the western U.S. downhill mnt biking thing for a couple years, he had cannondale sponsorships... All I know is if I was spending $3k & up on a bike, it'd better have a twist throttle...

 

First off, disconnect the battery for a bit to reset that CEL light.

Second, leave the cat alone. If you take it off you will have a constant CEL light that you will never be able to get rid of. If the truck is tuned decent, the cat will never be an issue.

But you got to get rid of the original CEL light. the truck is now running in "open loop". This means more fuel than needed is being put to the engine. What the engine can't use makes its way to the cat and will plug it. You do not want to have to replace a cat. They are stupid expensive.

 

Glad to hear it is running better. Obviously you found the correct plugs. But yes, Denso or NGK's with dual electrodes on the 3.4L. When I first changed mine I was surprised to see single electrode NGK's all the way around. I wonder who put those in there and how long it'd been like that :S Someone ignored all the stickers in the engine bay clearly telling them to use only dual electrodes.

 

Mine is also throwing the random misfire code. When going up a gradual incline it will balk or stutter around the 3/4 or 4/5 gear change. It seems more like a transmission or torque converter problem but I haven't changed the fuel/air/spark/wire in a while so I will try that.

 

New plugs/wires/fuel filter fixed my problem. No more CEL, no more stuttering/balking while going up a gradual incline. The plug electrodes were all pretty evenly worn but the gaps were pretty large. I can upload a pic if anyone is interested.

 

Please do, I'm going to be doing a tune up soon and would like to see the difference if you don't mind.

Much appreciated.

 

i think i have already thrown them away but they looked like this with both shoulders of the electrode worn off.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/133462-time-change-spark-plugs.html