1. Welcome to 4Runners.com!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all 4Runner discussion topics
    • Transfer over your build thread from a different forum to this one
    • Communicate privately with other 4Runner owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

Losing power while driving

Discussion in '3rd Gen 4Runners (1996-2002)' started by Withrow96, Mar 7, 2022.

  1. Apr 17, 2022 at 7:57 PM
    #31
    standard

    standard New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2022
    Member:
    #26512
    Messages:
    83
    Gender:
    Male
    Pacific Northwest
    Vehicle:
    1999 4Runner SR5 4WD
    stock so far, what could he possibly need
  2. Apr 17, 2022 at 8:12 PM
    #32
    negusm

    negusm New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2019
    Member:
    #11745
    Messages:
    2,095
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    2002 4Runner SR5 4WD
    Knowing what I know about opening up the TPS on my old throttle body, none of that looks promising. The TPS is a simple potentiometer on our rigs from what I saw. It can't be reset. It's a passive device. It has moving parts that simply wear out the connections.

    What can be reset is the ECU. Disconnecting the battery for a half hour and touching the leads to remove any charge in the ECU may make it relearn and it will try to compensate for a bad TPS. But it's not a fix. You've still got a bad TPS. The TPS will continue to get worse and the ECU will have trouble again.

    Regardless, none of those directions in the link will hurt anything.
     
  3. Feb 15, 2024 at 9:08 AM
    #33
    ALutcza

    ALutcza New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2024
    Member:
    #38540
    Messages:
    2
    Gender:
    Male
    Any update on this? I too am having issues when driving/parked.

    While the vehicle is on, any additional electric charge causes the car to sputter and almost shut off.

    Including: turning on headlights, using the heat/ac, applying the brake lights, applying the blinker, etc.

    Car starts up fine, battery voltage reads 12.54v. Just seems any additional electric output causes a short?
     
  4. Feb 15, 2024 at 9:15 AM
    #34
    negusm

    negusm New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2019
    Member:
    #11745
    Messages:
    2,095
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    2002 4Runner SR5 4WD
    What is the battery voltage when the car is running?

    It almost sounds almost like you have a bad alternator and the battery is getting close to depletion.
     
  5. Feb 15, 2024 at 9:39 AM
    #35
    ALutcza

    ALutcza New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2024
    Member:
    #38540
    Messages:
    2
    Gender:
    Male
    Battery voltage is 12.56 when off and 13.80 when running.

    On another forum someone with the same issue replaced both his battery and alternator and that didn’t fix the issue, so I am reluctant to address those first.

    The issue is intermittent, sometimes everything works fine, sometimes while driving the vehicle tries to sputter out and all electronics shut off but come right back on, including headlights.
     
  6. Feb 15, 2024 at 11:40 AM
    #36
    negusm

    negusm New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2019
    Member:
    #11745
    Messages:
    2,095
    Gender:
    Male
    Vehicle:
    2002 4Runner SR5 4WD
    Alternator sounds healthy.
     

Products Discussed in

To Top