Toyota not getting fuel... what now?

bigd9247 · Feb 26, 2008

My 1989 Toyota pickup with the 3.0 V6 isn't running right. I fired it up this morning and it fired/idled just like normal. Then I pulled out of my parking garage and drove about 10-20 feet up the street... then the truck started sputtering and trying to stall. I pulled over and the truck idled fine. I revved the engine and it starts sputtering again.

Long story short, my truck idles perfect but as soon as you start to rev the engine it sputters and tries to stall. But here's the catch, it doesn't always do it... when I was troubleshooting today, the truck fired up and I was able to drive it around the block no problem. Then I parked it and now it's doing the same thing again.

During troubleshooting I unhooked the fuel filter (between the pump and filter) and turned the fuel pump on and it does run (fuel sprayed and I could here it run). I also did the whole diagnostic thing and counted the blinks of the check engine light... only code 51 flashed.

So any ideas for what to fix or further troubleshooting?

Mayday · Feb 27, 2008

did you check to see if the filter was clogged?

bigd9247 · Feb 27, 2008

Mayday said:
did you check to see if the filter was clogged?

Not yet, I'm planning to replace it tomorrow and see if that helps. But I don't see how it could be the fuel filter if sometimes my truck will run and drive fine, but then other times it will sputter... that would be like the filter unclogging and re-clogging over and over. :corn:

but who knows maybe that's all my issue is..........

Bunk1 · Feb 27, 2008

I had a fuel filter that did that crap. Maintenance is a good thing. Also, Its common knowledge that toyota 3.0's have headgasket/head cracking problems.

crazybluerider1 · Feb 27, 2008

An air leak in the fuel system will also do this. I found the hard way

kingkrawler · Feb 27, 2008

TPS contacts off?
MAFS not working properly?

I dunno, it kinda sounds electrical. :eeek:

angelfly · Feb 27, 2008

you ready to go wheeling this weekend?????

God dammit get ready cause you are coming!!!!!!

bigd9247 · Feb 27, 2008

angelfly said:
you ready to go wheeling this weekend?????

God dammit get ready cause you are coming!!!!!!

haha yeah it should be ready to go for Sunday. I took it out for a test run last weekend and the power steering hose broke and I fried the relay for my electric fan... so I've got to get that stuff fixed before I can wheel it. But before I can fix my wheeling rig, I need to get my daily driver running so........ hopefully I can figure this problem out ASAP.

To everyone else, thanks for all the suggestions. I will start checking this stuff out this afternoon or tomorrow and see if I can't figure this problem out.

NotMatt · Feb 27, 2008

Some other thoughts: I had a 88 3.0 truck that did something similar... it turned out to be a clogged pickup screen in the tank. At first it would drive fine for a bit and start sputtering and coughing like you say, then quit. I could usually restart it after a minute or two and carry on my way. However, it kept getting worse and worse until I finally couldn't even back it out of the garage with a little light throttle before it would start coughing and dying.

I know the thought of dropping the tank is shitty, so I would suggest exploring your other options first. Like everyone else said, slap a new fuel filter in there. Also, since the AFM controls when the fuel pump runs and when it doesn't, you might rule it out by jumping the fuel pump test connectors and driving it around a bit. I don't know exactly which pins to jump on the diagnostic connector, but I'm sure with a little GoogleFu or looking in a service manual you could find out.

Good luck.

juggalo_wa · Feb 27, 2008

i would go with a new filter and check to see if your choke is sticking maybe

Toyotanut · Feb 27, 2008

it still could be the pump going out since it's under load when it's not running right

zukkev · Feb 27, 2008

Check to make sure you don't have something silly like a coil wire arching intermittantly, or another plug wire....check the connections to your coil/ignitor assy; check the MAF sensor connector(Vain airflow meter as toy calls it); Sure sounds like something more electrical than fuel....

zukkev · Feb 27, 2008

juggalo_wa said:
i would go with a new filter and check to see if your choke is sticking maybe

there is no 'choke' on a Toy 3.0....it's fuel injected.

bigd9247 · Feb 27, 2008

hey thanks for all the ideas... i'm going to start checking **** out tomorrow afternoon (i didn't have time today). hopefully i'll figure it out

skrause · Feb 28, 2008

NotMatt said:
Also, since the AFM controls when the fuel pump runs and when it doesn't, you might rule it out by jumping the fuel pump test connectors and driving it around a bit. I don't know exactly which pins to jump on the diagnostic connector, but I'm sure with a little GoogleFu or looking in a service manual you could find out.

Good luck.

x2, if this checks out do a diag on the TPS as it can cause similar issues as well.