V8 Tundra Will Not Hold Idle

[ventura67]

Hi all,

My 2000 Tundra w/ V8 & 147,000 miles will not hold an idle. When stopped it falls below the normal idle mark on the tach, the lights go dim, and the engine barely keeps running. Often it will stall.

No check engine light has come on (in over 3 years) and I could not find any lose vaccume lines

Simple sensor/selenoid replacement that I can do myself, or something more sinister?

Thanks, Nick

[Big_Al1]

try cleaning the throttle plate and the maf sensor located on top of the air box.

[mostsleek]

As Big_Al1 said clean the TB and MAF first, it is easy to do. I had the same extremely low idle on my 2000 V8 and it would feel as if it would stall at stop lights. It might have stalled once or twice but I can not recall. The fix was getting the timing belt job done. I was at about 90k miles and had it replaced. Now I am back to normal idle. One advantage to the low idle is that you are using less gas . I dont know how the timing belt would have affected the idle, except for maybe being to stretched out and the timing was off. Besides that I go with the Bermuda Triangle theory .

[ventura67]

Thanks guys,

Do I clean the TB and MAF with plain old carb & choke cleaner, or something else?

[Big_Al1]

Throttle body cleaner are carb will work for the tb.But for the maf I use the crc brand maf sensor cleaner made specifically for the job since they are easy to damage just spray it on let dry and your done takes less than 5 min.

[goose8651]

Just make sure that when you spray for the MAF, the sprayer is somewhat far away. I have read sometimes that the pressure from the can has damaged the MAF.
When I did it to my truck I bought a throttle body cleaner and brake cleaner (dont know the name, it was in a red bottle) for the MAF. I got this at Autozone for less than $10.00.
If you do a google search I found somewhere (sorry no link) that had step by step (with pictures) of how to do this.

[PapaPS]

Make sure that you open the butterfly in the throtle body and clean around the edges of it and where it meets to close........mine was sticking there......clean this with engine off......spray on rag and wipe clean

[sr5mike]

Originally Posted by PapaPS

Make sure that you open the butterfly in the throtle body and clean around the edges of it and where it meets to close........mine was sticking there......clean this with engine off......spray on rag and wipe clean

I think he meant to say clean this with the engine off. Use throttle body cleaner it can be found at any auto parts store.

[Sandinmytires]

Checked your air filter lately? After all of the above, I would consider changing the fuel filter. (Assuming you have not done that already.)

[ventura67]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I've not had time to do any of them but the appt. is made for the timing belt and I'll hit the shop in the next day or two for cleaning supplies.

On the air cleaner- been using a K&N filter for 4 years (love those things!) and I last cleaned it a month or two ago, no correlation between that cleaning and this problem.

Since I posted this I have an update: The day after the problem first arrived it became intermittent- it would idle good until it warmed up and then the problem reappeared. However today I drove it all day and it idled perfectly ! Does this lend credibilty to the dirty MAF, TP or EGR theories, as opposed to the timing belt or any sensor/selenoids?

[Sandinmytires]

Sudden onset, then intermittent, then disappears. Sounds like water in gas. Been getting more rain than usual in your area?

[ventura67]

Seems possible- but it has been running perfectly otherwise, acceleration, cruising all seem to be unaffected. This is all happening on the same tank of gas so far.

[PapaPS]

Clean your MAF and your throttle body, clean good where the butterfly closes at. My 2003 has done this twice in over 100,000 miles.

I use to have a k&n in it........got dirty alot quicker.