on a 98 4runner. i am getting sputtering while driving. usually up hills, but not always.?

Question

i have changed the fuel filter. also the spark plugs and wires seem fine. the sputtering isnt severe. when you press the gas down all the way it dosnt do it. it feels like maybe bad gas, but we have filled the tank up a few times since the sputtering started. it seems to be getting worse. The first time i noticed it we were on a 1500 mile road trip and it only did it a few times the whole trip. now a month or so later it does it almost the whole way into town(10 miles). what should i look for, or what could be causing this. thanks.

Answer 1

I may be delivering some bad news with this response. My wife and I used to own a 96 4-Runner and my sister and her hubby did and still have a 96 4-Runner. We learned that there was a bad batch of 4-Runners that came off the assembly line and the Head Gaskets are prone to blowing blow on them. If they do causing potentially BAD problems by destroying a lot of other components under the hood. I do not know if the 98 version has the same problem BUT you may want to check….and see if there are any recalls on that car.



Now, to answer your question more directly. When we had our 4-Runner we tried to drive it up to Lake Tahoe a few times and we frequently thought we would not make it up the hills due to the "Sputter" that you write about. The vehicle had no balls, if I can put it that crude. My sister's had the same problem. We really found that there was NO cure for the problem except to get rid of it once we learned that the Head Gasket was about to blow. My sister was forced to get their head gasket fixed before it went out on them. You may want to Google search your 1998 version and see what comes up.



***Please note that I am NOT saying your car's hear gasket will blow, I am saying you may want to look into it because years prior to that definitely did (I have heard it was 1990-1996 only, which means you would be OK). Either way though, it would not surprise me about the sputtering, those cars jsut seem to be weak. Best of luck with that car. Most Toyotas are quality, several years of the 4-Runner were horrible. Hopefully yours is ok.

Answer 2

ok, no jokes about Fords.... because the mild got here on there's a hardship code interior the computing gadget which tells what the mission is. How do you get that code out? An OBD II code reader will do the trick in minutes and also you seem up the code for available motives. OBD is particularly reliable. If there's a foul spark plug, it's going to inform you which ones one- how's that. something incorrect with gas, air, or spark can make a sputter.

Answer 3

i have a 93 runner and the gaskets were bad, but because it was recalled toyota replaced all the damaged part for free and paid for my rental. since thr replacement i have put an additional 120,000 or so miles on my truck which has 220,000 on it. go to hte toyota website and check for recalls it'll let you know, if not go to the dealership and ask the service mgr.

Answer 4

It's possible that your fuel pump is weak and the pressure is low. A mechanic can check fuel pressure.