choking and gagging toyota

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fishtailrook1 (?)
okay, guys. I wanna comfirm this.

my 4runner is now gagging and dying while idling in gear when it's warm. the tach bounces off of idle, and stalls if it bounces too far.

someone has told me that my Catalitic Converter is now plugged , which would explain my oil problem, the back pressure might be blowing the oil out any gaps :P

some things might be wishfull thinking, BUT...
 
check ignition system first, when was the last time you did plugs and wires? Does it use distributor or coils?
 
I hate to say it, but it probably is the cat. Though I can't see that having much to do with an oil problem. It could be an O2 sensor (or both) but the cat has probably crapped out. As they age, the ceramic honeycombs can break up and plug the outlet.
 
Heh, I read the thread title and expected a rant against Toyota…
 
If it's legal, get a straight pipe put in place of the cat(s); if it fixes the problem, good, if not... Oh well, it won't go bad now and you're only out 20-30 bucks max.
 
Rotary Junkie
If it's legal, get a straight pipe put in place of the cat(s); if it fixes the problem, good, if not... Oh well, it won't go bad now and you're only out 20-30 bucks max.
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Don't forget you get raw engine sound too!

For the love of god I hope you have a V8 in that 4Runner.
 
LSA: I'm finding it hard to tell...looks like a cross between the two, actually. shoulda seen the Denso's that came out of it! totally gone. I put NGK's in so it was still Japanese plugs. i know it needs a full tune. 250k is a lot of miles, even for a replacement engine. problem is, everybody wants to put in Platinums!

Boss: if it's the ox sensor...the car's for the junkyard. costs more for the sensor than what I paid for it two years ago!

'stang: dude, first and second gen 4runners are Hi-Lux based. max engine is a 3VZE. sides, the 4.3 Vortec in my blazer sounded cooler. most of my vehicles blow a hole in their exhause or resonators, somewhere...

Rotary: a straight pipe is leagal almost NO-WHERE
 
Duke
I hate to say it, but it probably is the cat. Though I can't see that having much to do with an oil problem. It could be an O2 sensor (or both) but the cat has probably crapped out. As they age, the ceramic honeycombs can break up and plug the outlet.
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I was thinking the same thing. The oil issue can develop because the change in back pressure can cause oil blow by, thus his mention of the oil issue.

Sage
Heh, I read the thread title and expected a rant against Toyota…
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Ditto
 
depending on Penn.'s laws you might just want to remove the cat from the equation, can you register it as historic so you don't have to worry about inspection or emissions? I don't know how the engine is laid out but you might be able to check the cat by unbolting the down pipe and sliding something down to see if it stops. Think is I had a problem with one of my 300Es that everyone swore up and down was cat rot that turned out to be a bad cap.

EDIT sorry for the DP
 
Sniffs
LSA: I'm finding it hard to tell...looks like a cross between the two, actually. shoulda seen the Denso's that came out of it! totally gone. I put NGK's in so it was still Japanese plugs. i know it needs a full tune. 250k is a lot of miles, even for a replacement engine. problem is, everybody wants to put in Platinums!

Boss: if it's the ox sensor...the car's for the junkyard. costs more for the sensor than what I paid for it two years ago!

'stang: dude, first and second gen 4runners are Hi-Lux based. max engine is a 3VZE. sides, the 4.3 Vortec in my blazer sounded cooler. most of my vehicles blow a hole in their exhause or resonators, somewhere...

Rotary: a straight pipe is leagal almost NO-WHERE
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I didn't mean completely open exhaust, I just meant cutting the cat out and putting a pipe in its place. That, or gutting it.

I know that at least around here, cats get dumped the instant they go, not replaced, unless the car is under warranty. Then again, so long as your car isn't loud enough to get pulled over, anything goes just about. Ahh, Michigan.

The home of no smog testing and no yearly vehicle inspection. For better or for worse.
 
the 3VZE is a 3 litre V6, and is the max size for the old Japanese market made. this is technically a COMPACT SUV

Azuremen: THANK you! i knew the back pressure was probably part of my oil loss problems. looks like it's leaking out of the gap between the bell housing...but the tranny itself is running fine. it's behaving better, as a matter of fact. when I looked once, some boob had overfilled the tranny. probably this blow-by has pushed out the ecess tranny fluid

LSA: I've yet to see a 4runner around here that isn't an SR5 V6. I'll hear an occasional third gen Taco plate with the 4 pot, but I've seen only two other second gen 4's around here. everybody else has a third gen or the Taco itself.
'sides, a 4 pot wouldn't move the beast. it barely gets up hills NOW (the engine is 80's econobox tuned and the whole thing is Japanese import, not a US made), and it maxes weight at 3500 with a 145 hp/~100 kw engine

rotary: depends on the inspectors around here. most of them have been caught sneaking stickers, so now they all go very thorough on their lookie-loos. especially the guys I use. they found one hole in my tailpipe tip, and damn near had to replace the entire exhaust. I'm NOT gonna get away with a banged out cat, because no matter how small the garage, they've got scheduels, and the state is very rigid about inspections.
oh, and smog tests are required in this state in urban and suburban areas, plus, a lot of towns won't let truckers use their Jakes, or most motorcycles through. noise pollution is a big issue.
 
Sniffs
Azuremen: THANK you! i knew the back pressure was probably part of my oil loss problems. looks like it's leaking out of the gap between the bell housing...but the tranny itself is running fine. it's behaving better, as a matter of fact. when I looked once, some boob had overfilled the tranny. probably this blow-by has pushed out the ecess tranny fluid
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Wait, are you losing transmission fluid or oil?

Blow-by would mean you'd be BURNING oil - blue/white smoke at the exhaust, that lingers in a cloud behind the car. It wouldn't cause leaking - and it especially wouldn't be causing leaking transmission fluid.

If it's leaking ATF, that's an unrelated issue. Probably related to overfilling the transmission, as you mention, but it could just be that the main seal has failed.

And an O2 sensor should be under $100 - did you pay that little for the car? If it's the cat, it's going to be twice that for a cheap replacement cat, and forget a real Toyota part.
 
it's only burning oil on startup. the engine is set to fast idle at 2000 RPM for about 10 minutes, with hte basic idle around 750 if I remember the emissions sticker correctly. I'd be more worried if the smoke was blue.

what i was saying was that I think the blow-by may have pushed out some of my excess tranny fluid. the tranny was hanging up in first (and a broken feedback circut for the odometer/speedo doesn't help).

my boss at the time paid for the vehicle. 1700 bucks cash. unfortunately, here, the attitude is that if you have to pay for any parts whatsoever for a vehicle more than a couple years old, just throw it away and buy another junker. even muscle cars are rare and pitted up here, because they are simply sold for scrap to get them out of the way. for example, the oldest vehicle I've ever seen for sale was a badly repained 50 Plymouth Business coupe.

i think I will start posting pictures of this old bugger.
 
Sniffs
iwhat i was saying was that I think the blow-by may have pushed out some of my excess tranny fluid.
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And what I'm getting at is that blow-by will not pressurize the transmission.

Blow-by oil burning happens when compression leaks past the rings into the crank case, pressurizing the oil more than normal. This cause the oil to puke out through the PCV breather, whereupon it finds itself in the intake air stream. The oil is then ingested with air/fuel, burned, and farted out the exhaust pipe.

But there is a bulkhead separating the engine from the transmission, so there is no way that blow-by compression is affecting the transmission fluid pressure.
 
out the PCV breather? hmm. I'll have a look. there IS a question about my main seal, though.
 
*injects the thread with the T Virus*

i had the 4Runner at a muffler shop, Thursday (14 Aug). the exhaust is fine (though there is a hole in the tailpipe), so it looks like Duke was right;it needs a tuneup.
unfortunatly, the exhaust would have needed replaced from the headers back...for 350 bucks/£175/€300+(?).

they gave me the same price on a fix for my way overdue for repairs front suspension. it never sat right and wouldn't stop popping on turns. I pounced on it. 5 hours (and a "your gonna have to pick up my guys" call) later, i finally drive away...and with proper tires on the front (and Yokohamas, to boot).

450 bucks!

I've got part of the gagging solution. I've been having to put 89 in, and that makes it stall way less. be jealous, we're down to 3.69 a gallon...with 10 miles away from me down to only 3.50!
 
Naaaaawt jealous in the least. Prices are the same out here in Cornland, and I only have a 10 gallon tank. :3

The majority of your cost is in that cat. On my Nova, It'd cost upwards of $150. from most places, that is.

If you still need to look for parts, and you don't mind doing things yourself, http://www.rockauto.com/ is all you need. We've used these guys for parts for our stuff, and they've got really good prices for anything you need, for just about any car imaginable.
 
I have the recipts. they left my exhaust inquiries on the sheet (I also asked about rear brakes)

here's the breakdown.
tailpipe--85
exh pipe--94
clamps 4.60
gaskets 11.99
hardware 5.95
muffler 148

the damn brake drums were listed at 200 bucks apiece!

and they didn't even give me an estimate on the cat!

btw, this is a Monro shop
 
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geez, that's a little steep for brake drums.

'89 4-runner V6 4WD, right? Let's see what we come up with from RockAuto.

Brake Drums (Rear)
Least Expensive: Beck/Arnley, $37.99
Most Expensive: ACDelco Durastop W/4WD, $122.79

Exhaust pipe
Around the same price for each component.

Muffler:

Most expensive: $104.89 - This is a Rear Silencer, with the pipe that goes over the rear axle.

Cat:
Least expensive for a Direct Fit converter: Walker, $102.79
Most Expensive: Bosal, (not California legal) $124.79

Cat-Back Exhaust with Dynomax muffler (Does not include intermediate pipe)
$122.79
Front pipe runs about $85
 

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