Toyota experts. 4AGE silvertop VOODOO.

guider1, Jun 21, 7:31am
The Levin I bought for a work hack has some sort of voodoo goin on. it randomly loses power but then all of a sudden goes like hell.
Any ideas Toyota experts!
I've fitted a new fuel filter just in case it had a blockage but no different.
Next on my list is to fit a fuel pressure gauge to see if the pressure is dropping when it loses power, just in case something is floating around in the tank (yes I have an EFI fuel pressure gauge that does up to 100psi).
Only other thing I can think of is maybe a faulty sensor sending bad vibes to the ECU & telling it to retard the timing.
jasongroves, Jun 21, 8:00am
Auto or manual!
Im interested too as a mate of mine has an auto one with exactly the same symptoms.
Quite often just dies too for no apparent reason!
pollymay, Jun 21, 12:25pm
Check and clean the connection to the AFM (was my issue when this happened) then pull the codes from the ecu by leaving the key off then jumpering TE1 and E1 in the engine bay diagnostic terminal plug. Turn the key to ON and leave it there and count the check engine flashes, it'll do a series of codes based on flashes and pauses (ie iirc 42 or something is O2) repeating over and over or just blink fast if there are no codes cause it's OBD1.

Now after that by losing power do you mean totally cuts out or it just falls on its face power wise! Cause power loss and sputtering can be a dying O2 sensor and a bad TPS can also produce bad symptoms like this and to test for those just unplug them then go for a blast down the road and see if it clears.

Also good to have a good set of plugs, leads, dizzy cap and rotor. Also clogged cat and bad coolant sensor can make weird things happen but first off describe the power cut a little better. I've worked on these motors a lot and done a couple conversions and wire ups for people with them into various cars.
grangies, Jun 21, 12:32pm
A Sphincter says what!
hutchk, Jun 21, 1:20pm
You should keep drinking dude. It brings out the best in you.
andy61, Jun 21, 2:04pm
The ECU are known to play up,giving all sorts of issues,open up the ECU and check .
guider1, Jun 21, 5:11pm
pollymay. It's an auto. It has never cut out/died/stopped; just loses power to the point where it changes gear early/at low revs when pedal to the floor (when it's going good it doesnt change gear til 7500 when pedal to the floor).
It gives the feeling of having the handbrake partially on. very sluggish.
Funny you should mention the AFM.the previous owner has fitted a pod filter & just left the whole AFM/filter deal floating around (by floating around I mean it's now not mounted/fixed to anything; it's just lying on the wiring bouncing around I would imagine).
I did wonder about the cat, but it's only done 123000km whereas my Commodore has done over twice the mileage & still has the cat in it with no probs. But I guess not all cars are the same.
andy61. I stopped at Toyota yesterday & the service dude also mentioned to open up the ECU & look for discoloured patches on the board.
pollymay, Jun 21, 11:04pm
^ Try pulling those codes, also the afm doesn't like being on an angle cause it's a flappy door type of afm so it can affect the car.

That is mostly blacktop, they burn out the vvti transistor usually.
doubletrouble62, Jun 22, 4:20am
My levin use to do it all the time turn out to be knock sensor. It die a few weeks after being check. And ive never got round to geting it fix its still siting in the back yard waiting.
guider1, Jun 22, 7:19am
Ok, i'll make a mount to hold the AFM steady. travelling 90km every day in it doing this is driving me insane!
guider1, Jun 22, 7:20am
Where is the knock sensor located! and will it still run if I unplug it to take it for a drive!
Cheers.
pollymay, Jun 22, 7:50am
Under the intake on the block, if it's faulty it will cut timing erratically.
moosie_21, Jul 16, 6:55am
Yup, and you''ll have highly fluctuating idle which will sometimes die. Best bet is to do a scan and see if any fault codes appear, and definitely get that AFM re-working properly!