83 Toyota pickup stalling

[dragonflyspit]

My 83 Toyota pickup suddenly began stalling yesterday every time I slowed down for a light. The engine sounds rough and/or slow. I can keep it running by running the RPM up a bit.

I don't know whether it has anything to do with filling the gas tank just minutes before this happened. Nothing unusual at the pump, just regular. I also don't know if it is related to a sort of hesitation I felt on the freeway a few weeks ago. I drive very little, and almost all in town. A few weeks ago I was on the freeway and it felt like it would just slow a hair every now and then, like some giant, invisible hand was pulling on the bumper for a second. I didn't really notice it in town at slower speeds, so I promptly forgot about it.

I'm in a bit of a jam with this old beast because I don't get around well anymore to work on many things myself, but I'm on a truly puny fixed income, so I don't have the money to pay someone else either. With that in mind, I'm hoping some of you guys have some ideas for cheap and easy things I can do myself. I figure plugs and wires are likely a good place to start. I don't dare try carburetor cleaner since that almost paralyzed it a few months ago. The carburetor is absolutely filthy.

Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I hope it'll run well enough to get my ancient, sick cat to the vet tomorrow. I'm probably going to have to put him down, and it would not be a good time to be stranded on the side of the freeway.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I like that engine! One of the classic good ones. On the other side, I recommended a farmer get one for well pumping into his olive orchard. He bought the entire wrecked pickup. Uses the differential as a 90 degree angle and the driveshaft to connect the pump. Trouble-free and long lasting.

[Stefonius]

Good point, Mexicowanderer. The 22R engine probably has about 18 feet of vacuum lines. 33 year old, rock hard vacuum lines.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Ignition systems work 500% harder the deeper the gas pedal is pushed. It would be incredible to have an older non-computer vehicle have the OP's posted symptoms lie with the ignition system i.e. starts OK runs OK at higher speeds but stalls on deceleration or idle and have it due to ignition.

Tucson Jim gave one heck of a good answer. About twenty years ago I had a lady show up on a late Sunday afternoon. It was pouring rain, and windy. A Toyota. Same symptoms. It took about ten minutes of diagnostics to determine the obvious vacuum leak was exactly as Tucson Jim described. Lucky for me I had a flex shaft screwdriver which I fitted a # 2 Phillips to, and tightened all the screws. It cured the problem. The woman was astonished. I told her I was an electrician not a general mechanic so there would be no charge. She put her hands on her hips and declared "Nonsense!" She was hauling three lasagna casseroles huge casseroles, and she demanded I take one. "My parents are from the old country and I would be insulted if you refused!" The taste! The best lasagna I have ever tasted. About five pounds worth. What a nice memory.

The OP's problem lies within the carburetor/manifold. Some of the older carburetors had anti-dieseling throttle solenoids that held idle then retracted and totally closed the throttle idle when the key was shut off. An unplugged or failed solenoid should not be overlooked. Nor any of the multitude of tiny vacuum hoses and diaphragms that connect to the carb.

[Stefonius]

I drove early 80's Toyotas for a very long time. I would suspect that your accelerator pump diaphragm is rock hard and possibly leaking. Cheap and easy fix.

[dragonflyspit]

Flyfasteddie wrote:
When you say you used carb cleaner, is that the spray-on type stuff?

If it were me, the first thing I'd do is run some Seafoam or Berryman B12 through it.

Sorry to hear about your cat. Losing those little guys is rough.

Yep, a few months ago, I sprayed carb cleaner directly into the intake. There was (is) so much black goo on the sides of the bowl(?) that it impeded the choke. I didn't clean it all off because it barely ran after just a minute or so of spraying it. Apparently some goo moved from carb to plugs. It burned off eventually. I haven't attempted to clean it since. If I use a gas additive like Seafoam, am I less likely to have a problem like that repeat itself?

Thanks for the condolences. He's a good old cat. Travelled the country with me every bit as contentedly as a dog. I hate to lose him.

Artum Snowbird wrote:
You might try just turning up the idle speed a bit. If that keeps you going, then it's likely a jet in the carb that allows only a trickle of gas through might be plugging. If you can get to the adjustments, find the low speed jet and carefully screw in, counting the turns, then turn out again to the same spot.

It's kinda like electrical sometimes. Move and jiggle, then put back to exactly the same spot and see if it works better.

Do the same with the plug wires, checking each end, before you spend any money. If you get to the plugs, they could be out of gap too, and that would make it come to a halt easier than normal for sure. Set them right before you spend money on new ones if you have the time but no money unless it's obvious they are well worn.

That's good advice. I will do that. Might get lucky.

[j-d]

If this pump pic on RockAuto is correct, notice it has three connections. Our Mitsu pump (mounted on the head, driven by the overhead camshaft) also had three. I messed them up on re-install, and it didn't run right. Luckily an on-line friend had the right info to get it connected properly again. So IF you have the pump off, tag the hoses and take a picture.

[j-d]

Picking up on what Tom_M said... We had an '88 Mitsubishi pickup with a Mikuni carburetor with a diaphragm that broke apart and caused us problems. It was long enough ago that there was still a shop with "Carburetor" in its name and a man there who knew something about...carburetors. Sold me the part and told me how to install it. I remember it was what I'll call "external to the carb itself." I didn't have to take the carb off or even that far apart, to install the new diaphragm.
That Mitsu had a clear plastic fuel filter. Easy to inspect for water and debris, Cheap to buy, Simple to replace.
I found the fuel filter and a part called "Choke Pull-Off" on rockauto.com looking at 1983 Toyota Pickup 2.4L-4cyl. Filter looked just like the one on the Mitsu. The Pull-Off that looked like a diaphragm with a rod coming out of it reminded me of what I put in the Mitsu. I know it says "Choke" and not "Pump." The carb specialist told me that a failed one causes a leak that causes problems by misdirecting either Fuel or Vacuum (and I forget which, this was 15-years ago).

[fourthclassC]

another suggestion: If you can relate the problem to immediately following a fillup, it may be water in the gas. I have gotten bad gas before.... Change the fuel filter just to rule that out. If you can.

[fourthclassC]

another suggestion: If you can relate the problem to immediately following a fillup, it may be water in the gas. I have gotten bad gas before.... Change the fuel filter just to rule that out. If you can.

[Tom_M1]

I had a similar problem. If it's the same as mine, the carburetor has two accelerator pumps. One is mechanical and the other is vacuum. The diaphragm in the vacuum actuated pump disintegrated and allowed raw gas to be sucked through the vacuum hose into the intake manifold making the engine run very rich. I pulled the hose off the diaphragm and plugged the end of the hose. This cured the problem. I don't know what the vacuum pump is for, but I didn't notice any difference in performance.

[TucsonJim]

I've rebuilt over 100 Toyota carbs in my days as a mechanic. Here's an easy check on this one:

With the engine shut off, remove the air cleaner. While looking down on the carburetor, grab the top and give a firm rotational twist to the carb in both directions. If you see any movement the screws between the baseplate, the mid-body or the top of the carb have become loose. This would cause the kind of symptoms you are seeing, and is a common problem. The solution is to remove the carburetor, and tighten up the screws between the sections.

If you're in the Tucson area, I'd be happy to check it out for you.

Jim

[mrquacker]

I had an 87 Toyota PU that had similar problems, would be going along just fine then felt like someone stepped on the breaks. Turned out to be the wire from coil to distributor.

[Artum_Snowbird]

You might try just turning up the idle speed a bit. If that keeps you going, then it's likely a jet in the carb that allows only a trickle of gas through might be plugging. If you can get to the adjustments, find the low speed jet and carefully screw in, counting the turns, then turn out again to the same spot.

It's kinda like electrical sometimes. Move and jiggle, then put back to exactly the same spot and see if it works better.

Do the same with the plug wires, checking each end, before you spend any money. If you get to the plugs, they could be out of gap too, and that would make it come to a halt easier than normal for sure. Set them right before you spend money on new ones if you have the time but no money unless it's obvious they are well worn.

[Flyfasteddie]

When you say you used carb cleaner, is that the spray-on type stuff? If spraying that in the carb caused more problems then the carb sounds like the issue.

If it were me, the first thing I'd do is run some Seafoam or Berryman B12 through it. If your issue is carb related, this should help at least a little, and maybe a lot.

Sorry to hear about your cat. Losing those little guys is rough.