TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:30 am

As the subject says. Wifes 4runner is throwing o2 codes, can't remember what they were. I don't much like working on OBD cars so we sent it to a mechanic. He sent it back, says it's probably a vacuum leak, he couldn't find it with carb cleaner. I did clean the MAF with electronics cleaner and put it back together, cleared the codes by disconnecting the battery. She says the car ran better but the lite came back on in 70 miles.

The question....Is there a common place for a 2000 3400 4 cam to develop a vacuum leak? Or is anyone a Toyota tech. Or does anyone know a Toyota website comparable to thesamba?

thanks Bill

Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:52 am

The WWW at your fingertips: http://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+car+forums&a...=firefox-a

Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:30 pm

http://www.toyotanation.com/ I had good luck here with a question I had, but it doesn't even come close to being thesamba.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:13 pm

dquattlebum wrote: The WWW at your fingertips: http://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+car+forums&a...=firefox-a

Tried that and got a plethora of hits. Started surfing through them and found that a lot of them had few posts and little traffic. I was hoping that some one with Toyota interests would be able to point me in the right direction because they had found a site comparable to this. Thanks for your help Capt Obvious.

Bill

Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:24 pm

Bill,

Toyotanation is probably the best you will get on this topic.

One additional site to consider is Tundrasolutions.com. Although mainly for trucks, most members are die hard Toyota and Tundrasolutions also allows access directly to the official Toyota documentation for TSB information etc.

Try soapy water on the vacuume lines running to and from the intake. Also characteristic of the 4runner intake is to listen for a sucking sound while at idle coming from the intake. have someone else shut off the engine while you are listening to see if the sound continues for a second of two after the engine shuts off. Could be as simple as a gasket as well.

Last resort try customtacos.com...... A little more "tuner-ish", but there are some 4runner engine savvy folks over there..

Also the year and engine model would help. ?z?

Whatever you do, don't ever get rid of it.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:19 pm

Thanks for the replies. Found Toyota Nation helpful as they had a link to Toyota Tech where I found a list of codes, including Toyota specific codes. As in my first post it is a 2000 4runner with the 3400 4 cam engine. I'm gonna get it scanned again and see what I can find out. I really thought I had it with the MAF sensor cleaning, it was black. Maybe it'll throw a more specific code with the MAF cleaned and operating correctly. A lean condition on OBDII doesn't always mean a vacuum leak, sometimes it's 2 sensors contradicting each other. Thats what happens when the MAF is dirty. The dirt insulates the hot wire making it require less voltage to hold temp against the incoming air. so the ECU think less air is going in than really is. The O2 sensor tells the ECU the mixture is lean. The ECU corrects the lean condition within its set limits, when the limits are exceeded you engine light comes on and you get a lean condition code. No vacuum leaks, no detectable malfunction by the ECU, just conflicting signals between the MAF and the O2.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:27 pm

Have you tried borrowing an OBD tester from your local Autozone or equivalent? Most of them let you use them for free, it's very simple and quick.

Doesn't sound like you took it to much of a mechanic. You may have better luck looking into it yourself. Get the code and go from there, may not even be vacuum related. I know they like to eat oxygen sensors. Good luck.

Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:38 pm

That what I'm doing at this point. I think yer right about the mech. He's more a nuts and bolts mech. Been diddling with this for a while now. I hate inconclusive scan codes, was hoping it would just be an O2 sensor and we could pay some one to get dirt and rust in there eyes. I only like it when old VW's drop stuff in my eyes! :D

Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:21 pm

vdubyah73 wrote: dquattlebum wrote: The WWW at your fingertips: http://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+car+forums&a...=firefox-a

Tried that and got a plethora of hits. Started surfing through them and found that a lot of them had few posts and little traffic. I was hoping that some one with Toyota interests would be able to point me in the right direction because they had found a site comparable to this. Thanks for your help Capt Obvious.

Bill

Capt'n OBVIOUS is right... use google and expect to have to dig 5-15 pages deep ( due to their advertising etc.) and actually try to read around the FUCKING REDIRECT BULLSHIT and find a site and thread that might help you...

Kinda like the samba search feature.. it works if you learn how to use it...

:wink:

Nothing or not much is going to show on the first few pages.... you have to dig to want it.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:47 pm

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/

I know the name of the site is misleading, but they cover all toyotas trucks in pretty good detail. Check it out.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:27 pm

Cleaned MAF sensor with brake cleaner. Ran better but not right, CEL came on again after 75 miles. Cat code, can't remember the code #. Asked a mech that knows a lot more than me and He suggested a couple cans of throttle body cleaner through the big vacuum line at the throttle body, Fixed it got the sticker and a few hundred miles later still no CEL. So put this in your memory banks for future reference. If you get inconclusive codes for an O2 sensor clean the MAF, if you get a cat malfunction code and there are no exhaust leaks between the O2 sensors try the throttle body cleaner.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:28 pm

keifernet wrote: vdubyah73 wrote: dquattlebum wrote: The WWW at your fingertips: http://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+car+forums&a...=firefox-a

Tried that and got a plethora of hits. Started surfing through them and found that a lot of them had few posts and little traffic. I was hoping that some one with Toyota interests would be able to point me in the right direction because they had found a site comparable to this. Thanks for your help Capt Obvious.

Bill

Capt'n OBVIOUS is right... use google and expect to have to dig 5-15 pages deep ( due to their advertising etc.) and actually try to read around the FUCKING REDIRECT BULLSHIT and find a site and thread that might help you...

Kinda like the samba search feature.. it works if you learn how to use it...

:wink:

Nothing or not much is going to show on the first few pages.... you have to dig to want it.

If you're tired of google, try cuil.
http://www.cuil.com/search?q=toyota%204runner%20forums&sl=long

Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:23 am

vdubyah73 wrote: That what I'm doing at this point. I think yer right about the mech. He's more a nuts and bolts mech. Been diddling with this for a while now. I hate inconclusive scan codes, was hoping it would just be an O2 sensor and we could pay some one to get dirt and rust in there eyes. I only like it when old VW's drop stuff in my eyes! :D

I don't trust codes so bought a carchip. Besides time tracking when a code is thrown, it also lets you record levels from some of the sensors and some of the other things the engine is doing.
Without it, I'd be blind as to what's going on.