Help! Total Power loss while driving

If anyone words could not express my gratitude

so.. last week driving in traffic about 40 miles an hour, slightly let off the gas just keeping up with traffic and then went to accelerate again, truck lost almost all power, it regained power after several seconds of total power loss. I of course was totally shocked and had no idea what was going on. Within another minute it happened again, and then the third time a total power loss altogether. Luckily was able to use momentum to merge into traffic and then into a business center off the side of the road. Turned truck off, back on and was able to get it home. I immediately plugged in my OB2 Scanner expecting it to light up with codes but there was not a single code. I called the Toyota dealership and they said to get it to them ASAP. The dealership was about 8 miles away and the same phenomenon happened four times on the way.

Thinking for sure they’re big dealership scanner would instantly see something it did not show a single failure of any type. I described to them the exact conditions on how I got it to have the power failure they went out and tried it and sure enough they got the power loss. But again no kind of codes in the computer. Their mechanic suggested spark plugs and throttle body cleaning . I knew that would fix the problem but figured we we’re gonna have to start throwing parts at it anyway so went for it. As I suspected it did not fix the problem.

The service advisor was a former Toyota mechanic and he said he wanted to try resetting the computer that connects the transmission to the engine? I guess relays speeds etc. He did that and sure enough it appeared to fix the power loss at 40 mile an hour problem.

So of course I was ecstatic and drove it home happy as could be. When I got home I hooked up my scanner to it just to see if anything was on there and no codes except the flashing EV. I realized they hadn’t reset that but figured I will have that fixed next time I have the oil changed since I don’t have emissions due for a while.

So, me thinking everything is good, As of today waiting to pick up a friend at the airport so idling in the cell phone lot, then all the sudden, the idle starts dropping and dropping, right before the engine dies it shoots back up and then repeats, gets lower lower and then shoots up etc. at that point I did the idle recalibrate procedure. (I don’t have it right in front of me but it’s something to the effect of turn the ignition off twice, then on the third attempt let the engine start, put it in drive with the parking brake on and just let it sit for five minutes I believe). It seemed better at the time However by the time I got home 20 minutes later it was still wanting to die at idle. As of today now I still get the idle problem but the engine starts shuttering for a good 10 seconds and then fails.

Once again, no engine code of any sort. Still have the flashing EV

The problem definitely seems to be exacerbated in the heat of the Arizona afternoon.

Has all new hoses from only a year and a half back or so and all the vacuum lines look good.

I am at a total loss. I know taking it to the dealership without any codes to be read is just throwing money in the wind.

I would sincerely appreciate if anyone has any input!

 

Fuel filter, clogged Jets, bad pick up in the gas tank??? Without any codes showing up those are possibly some problems that might not trigger a code.

 

I’m wondering if I got a tank of bad gas…it was a small station I’ve never used before .

 

Try some fuel additive and a fresh tank

 

Yep.. that’s the plan. Was supposed to drop it back off at dealership tomorrow, but may try additive and a fresh tank first. Thanks for input. This truck has been nearly flawless for 117000 miles. Disappointing

 

I got 134k on my '13. Love it, had a '12 that I ran to about 140k, But had electrical problem today, headlight and high beam switch seem to be messing with the electronics on the dashboard.

 

When it was initially loosing power, did the engine just smoothly go to idle?

Problems with brake lights or a miss-adjusted brake light switch can cause the ECU to cut all throttle - that’s the brake override programming meant to solve the “unintended acceleration” events that were a big deal on multiple Toyota vehicles around 2009, with recalls, etc.

Basically, if the ECU is getting a signal that that brakes are applied after the throttle pedal is pressed, it will ignore the throttle pedal input and you’ll get idle, and no fault codes, since it thinks it’s working as it should.

Check that all three brake lights are working, are not aftermarket LED bulbs, and that it takes more than a wiggle of the brake pedal for them to illuminate.

 

Instant loss of power when it happens..

AND… I had a Snugtop shell installed recently that had a brake light wired into the system…

And… I’m sure it’s an LED brake light that’s mounted in the top rear of the Snugtop camper shell

 

Unplug that ASAP and try it.

I doubt the idle issue is related, but after a TB cleaning and idle reset, it does take multiple trips to relearn.

 

I will do that FIRST thing in the morning…

if that’s the problem.. words can not thank you enough. I’ll follow back up with you tomorrow. Thank you regardless!!

I’ve got my fingers crossed!!

 

I vote bad gas, or fuel pump related. Good luck finding this solution as phantom problems are incredibly frustrating!

 

I was recently on the Rubicon Trail and there were these 3 Jeeps passing through. We wanted to watch them go up Cadillac Hill so we walked up following them. We noticed that the lead Jeep Cherokee would just stop every once in awhile. We finally catch up to him to ask what was going on. Guy said his vehicle would just sometimes die, or it would slowly die. My mechanic buddy pops the hood and starts looking around. I go straight to the battery and start fiddling with the wiring. Although what seemed tight I was able to wiggle the negative terminal - although it took some effort to do so. Told the owner to tighten it with a wrench, because he had a wingnut on it, so that it would stop any movement. He insisted it was tight, while tightening it with his hand. Told him it doesn’t hurt to use a wrench, so he finally did. His Jeep ran fine after that. Thanked us and that was the last time we saw him.

Check all of your wiring on the battery - both ends of the cables. See if there’s any play.

 

Will do this morning! Thanks for the idea. I’ll take all the advice I can get

 

Hello all who took time to reply! So this morning first checked tightness of the battery cables in the ground cable. All good, then tried unplugging that third LED brake light on the camper shell and went for a drive. No markable difference but since they reset the ECU I had not been having issues at anything above idle so Didn’t see any changes there but I will definitely keep that in mind if the power failing at high power settings come back.

Next went home and disconnected the battery for 10 minutes And then reconnected and started up. After a few seconds of a rough idle which I know is expected it started up normally. Next ran the tank almost completely out of gas, put 40 ounces of sea foam with 13 gallons of chevron supreme. I’ll be driving it a lot for the next couple days so hopefully something work!

Thanks again for everyone who took time to give input and I’m always happy to get any new advice

 

I had something similar happening to my truck. You cruise around 40, then try adding more gas and power gets lost, you keep pushing gas more, feels even worse with some distant "gargling" sound, then power comes back after certain period when gas pedal gets even more buried.

It was no codes, so I learned to live with it, sorta. One day I got trac light and some other light, don't remember - limping mode. I took truck to dealer next day and they said its secondary air injection pump failure. There was a recall for them. After they did the repair, free of charge, truck was fine ever since. That was in 2016 and I haven't had this issue anymore.

2010 tundra 4x2 4.6v8 d.cab long bed, base model, tow pkg. 128k miles.

 

Photo, here's what the invoice said.

 

YES!!! That describes it exactly!!

 

I dug up the letter for the recall in case you missed it in the mail.

 

i disconnected / reconnected the battery a few days ago and everything SEEMS back to normal…

BUT .. if it happens again that’s the first thing I’ll look at! THANK YOU