Question Idle Issues

[TonkaToy25]

I have a 2000 Tundra 4X4 and am having idling issues. I had to tighten up my throttle cable to keep it idling and running. once i disconnected the battery to instal an after market head unit i yet again had to adjust the throttle cable just to get it to start and stay running. could this be a bad throttle cable or throttle body? any and all inputs is greatly appreciated.

[kovawa]

Raising the idle speed by "tightening" the throttle cable is not the correct course of action. you need to inspect the engine for any loose vacuum hoses, wiring connctions ect.. Try cleaning out the thottle body and the mass airflow sensor, either of those could be causing the problem. Your engine may also have a problem with the Idle Air control motor. If you can't find the problem yourself take the truck to a shop you can trust, and let them fix it for you.

[ICON]

I'd try cleaning the TB, MAF, and IAC(idle air control) and that should take care of it. Adjusting the cable is only taking the slack out of the cable since the TB utilizes a motor to actually open the throttle based on the TPS. A little trick which might help is to disconnect the battery while cleaning and when you're done and everything's back together, before you start the truck turn the key to "run" and slowly depress the gas pedal to the floor and release. This should set the TPS range. Chevy's had to do this but i'm not sure Toyotas need this as well but i did when i cleaned the TB on my truck and i never had an issue like this. Without codes getting throw some toyota techs will not know what to do since troubleshotting is getting rarer and rarer these days.

[NoLaTUNDRA]

Originally Posted by ICON

Without codes getting throw some toyota techs will not know what to do since troubleshotting is getting rarer and rarer these days.

AMEN BROTHER! LOL... with my ongoing saga of the mysteriously stumbling engine, I changed the plugs with the DENSO K20R-U plugs that are standard for the '02 Tundra. While I was at the dealer picking them up, the parts guy swore to me that they were pre-gapped for the truck. Yeah I think we all know not to trust the gap. So when I got home, I checked them. Toyota says gap them at .031. The Denso site says .035. These were gapped less than .030. I couldn't get the .030 wire in between the electrode and ground. SO during all of this I went back over there and picked up a PCV valve. I saw two techs standing there doing nothing so I asked them about the plugs. I simply asked "when you all change spark plugs in a vehicle and you get them from your parts department, do you all check the gap or are those plugs pre-gapped?" They both looked at me and mumbled "I don't know."

So apparently the techs at my local dealer can change parts but during the process have no idea what it is they are actually doing. "Remove screw "A" and place in parts tray. Remove screw "B"and place in parts tray. Count how many screws are in the parts tray. Please insert disk 2 of the instructional video titled "How to Change a MAF Sensor."

[ICON]

What gets me is that these mechanics are refered to as "techs" nowadays. They're mechanics working on mechanical things and although computers and electronics have change vehicles greatly, they're still only replacing parts, while on occasion they actually need to troubleshoot and use diagnostic equipment. I wouldn't mind calling them techs if they actually knew more about vehicles than i do since they're the ones who've actually been schooled while i'm a shadetree and learned by getting my hands dirty. That's why i much rather bring my vehicles to the local mechanics who know their stuff and can troubleshoot.