Weird thing happened today

Ohhhhh I gotcha now. Yea that makes sense for sure. Sorry, I didn’t follow your logic at first.

 

I've got a bluedriver and it's awesome but also $100. Fusion seems to be a popular one if you want to run it as a second dashboard - there a thread on here with tips and tricks. Or you can get an MVCI cable off of ebay for $25 and download techstream (that requires a laptop not a phone though but does way more than reset codes).

 

So here Is the throttle body. The back was pretty gunky so I clean it up and put it all back together and it’s idling smooth at 1000 rpm. At first start up it went to about 1500 and stayed there for a bit then calmed down. I guess it didn’t know what to do with it being so clean again. Headed down to get some MAF cleaner and do that next.

 

You might have picked up some water in the tank. Run dry gas through the tank.

 

This is what I've been using along with my iPhone with inCarDoc throughout the past few years - for a total investment of less than $35 or so it's a good deal and lets you do the basic stuff most half way decent basic code readers do.

$22 Foseal OBD2 Scanner, WiFi Car Code Reader Check Engine Light Diagnostic Scan Tool for iOS and Android

https://www.amazon.com/Foseal-Improved-Version-Diagnostic-inCarDoc/dp/B077F8F6TB

Ultimately you'll have a much better idea of what might be the case with head scratchers like your rough start the more you know about your vehicle's electrical systems and keep tabs on what sensors are telling the ecu and battery voltage are around similar situations.

It will also allow you to see what kind of changes maintenance you've done to your truck are being seen by the ecu and smaller changes than the standard gauges on the dash show.

 

Cool. Thank you. I’ve been running around town today and it’s idling smoother at 1000 rpm and has more power on take off. Cruising around seems pretty much the same but it’s always had good power. The biggest change is in fire up it idles way up to 1500 for a sec then settles down to 1000. My wife’s exterra does that so maybe that how it’s supposed to be.

 

Finally got the codes pulled and this was the only one that popped

 

WTF!? Tire Pressure ECU would = Tire Pressure Engine Control Unit first of all. Last time I checked the Tire Pressure Monitoring system won't need an engine control unit...

Sigh, the ABS warning light would come down to a more specific problem with a reader that will give you specific info from the ABS module (NOT ECU) of why the light is on (is it on, on your dash?).

South Main Auto is a good channel on YouTube to follow for diagnosis procedures. It isn't vehicle specific like TW, but you see the general approach to doing a lot of electrical diagnosis. Even the owner of the channel would agree your intermittent problem is one of the hardest kinds of problems to solve, but getting a reader with live data from the ECU and other system modules is helpful in terms of keeping an eye on signs that a specific component is worth testing. Hopefully grabbing a decent live data code reader can help in pointing you in the direction of a failing part!

 

C2173 TOYOTA Possible Causes

• Faulty Combination Meter
• Faulty Tire Pressure Warning ECU
• Tire Pressure Warning ECU harness is open or shorted
• Tire Pressure Warning ECU circuit poor electrical connection

How is the C2173 TOYOTA code repair?
Start by checking the "Possible Causes" listed above. Visually inspect the related wiring harness and connectors. Check for damaged components and look for broken, bent, pushed out, or corroded connector's pins.

 

The abs light is not on. The TPMS light is on however but it has been on for more than a year. I assume one or more of the sensors went out a while back and I’m not too worried about it working to be honest. The code was read with a high end snap on code reader and that’s all it showed. We fired it up while connected and it showed everything was working as it should.

 

How's it been running since you cleaned the throttle body?

 

It's been running great.

 

That's a good idea. I had not thought about what might have happened with it sitting so much. It sits under a pecan tree with squirrels running up and down it and I've been here before with my wifes car when a squirrel chewed up part of the harness and had to be towed in.

Thanks man.

 

What’d the fuel trims look like when you had the scanner on it?

 

These are both correct, the computer will reset and cause the rough idle but it will sort itself back out.
I just had this problem last week, while I was backcountry camping of all places. Rough start, chug chug dead. Then no start at all. I went through all the steps you did (minus the tpms which I don't have). I had additional issues that my GST alarm contributed as well.
I cleaned the throttle body and MAF and used a jump pack to get it started and made it home. Ultimately it ended up being my battery, I pulled 8.4v on my mulitmeter and took it to zone and it tested bad after a full charge cycle.

If you haven't had your battery tested I would stop off and do that, and check your battery connections (especially your earthing connections), if not for posterity's sake.

 

Probably a good idea. It's three years old but it's an interstate. Ive never been a huge fan of them but I needed a battery and that's whatnot had in it so I went to interstate to see if it may still be under warranty and when it wasn't I just bought one there. I cleaned the terminals last weekend too. Inn going to explore the wiring this weekend and see if I find anything suspect. Our mechanic said if I got the battery for the tpms that he'd break down the tires and change the batts and re learn them for me so I may look onto that too. I wasn't aware you could change them. I though you had to buy the whole shebang.

Thanks man.


Edit: just looked them.up and the whole sensor is only $34 at parts geek. Probably the way to go.

 

Yeah, I don't think you can change just the batteries, has to be the whole unit.

 

This is a warmup cycle to heat up the engine on startup. Completely normal.

+1 for anyone who said have the battery tested (can’t hurt). Have whoever you take it to run a deep cycle test. Last battery I bought gave me weak starts and no-starts after a year of use. The “quick test” said it was fine, I was persistent, they did a deep cycle test and the core was bad. Luckily, mine was under warranty at my auto parts store.

Good luck OP.

 

While I was talking to the wife and telling her I had a three-day weekend she said get your ass home so I'm gonna run by the interstate batteries store and have them test it and if it's below where it should be make them replace it.

 

Can’t hurt. Three day weekend sounds nice and you gotta keep the wife happy. Just know the long test is typically a couple hours and I’m not sure if they can do it with the battery still on the truck. Maybe call ahead.