Well, I haven't posted in a while due to work and other commitments. However, my son's 1996 Tacoma X-cab 4 x 4 with 3.4L and 5 speed has a fuel issue. We have had it for 4-1/2 years.
It started acting up about 2 weeks ago, when he was a highway trip. He had filled up the gas tank before leaving, and a little later his truck was losing power and sputtering on hills. He called me and I said that he might have some water in the gas and find a parts store and get some water remover. He did, and it seemed to be better for a while. However, on his return trip, it started acting up again. So when he got home, the next day I replaced the fuel filter. I had replaced it before, about 12K miles earlier.
The gas that came out of removed filter's inlet (tank side) had a lot of trash in it when I turned it up to drain it. Well, about a week later, same symptoms with the new filter installed, again while on a highway trip, and after filling up again, but at a gas station I use for all our vehicles. When he got home, after a few days (rained here) I removed the new filter, and just like the previous one, lots of trash when I drained it and blew through it backwards. I siphoned out his tank (BTW, unleaded tastes different than leaded, which says how long it's been since I siphoned gas). Anyway, I drained some gas into a white 5-gallon bucket. Almost immediately I saw a lot of black crud. After pouring this gas through a coffee filter into another container, I tested the crud with a magnet, but it isn't magnetic. When dry, it feels like very fine black sand. I finished siphoning out all the gas that I could, and filtered it all twice before putting back into the tank. I blew out the filter backwards several times after filling it with gas. Put everything back together today and let him drive it. Okay for about 10 miles and then back to the sputtering again. I guess I should have replaced the filter again, but I'm trying to figure out what this crud is.
I don't think it's charcoal from the evap canister because it doesn't break down when I rub it between my fingers, and charcoal would leave a smear / stain on my fingers. I don't think that it's sugar or other granular fine put in it due to vandalism, because he has a locking fuel door.
I guess I'll siphon out as much as I can, and change the fuel filter again. I read another forum about emptying the fuel tank, where someone said that I could turn on the ignition, and the fuel pump would run. I tried this, but didn't get much fuel out of the line. Is there a trick to this? I had the gas cap off when I tried.
It started acting up about 2 weeks ago, when he was a highway trip. He had filled up the gas tank before leaving, and a little later his truck was losing power and sputtering on hills. He called me and I said that he might have some water in the gas and find a parts store and get some water remover. He did, and it seemed to be better for a while. However, on his return trip, it started acting up again. So when he got home, the next day I replaced the fuel filter. I had replaced it before, about 12K miles earlier.
The gas that came out of removed filter's inlet (tank side) had a lot of trash in it when I turned it up to drain it. Well, about a week later, same symptoms with the new filter installed, again while on a highway trip, and after filling up again, but at a gas station I use for all our vehicles. When he got home, after a few days (rained here) I removed the new filter, and just like the previous one, lots of trash when I drained it and blew through it backwards. I siphoned out his tank (BTW, unleaded tastes different than leaded, which says how long it's been since I siphoned gas). Anyway, I drained some gas into a white 5-gallon bucket. Almost immediately I saw a lot of black crud. After pouring this gas through a coffee filter into another container, I tested the crud with a magnet, but it isn't magnetic. When dry, it feels like very fine black sand. I finished siphoning out all the gas that I could, and filtered it all twice before putting back into the tank. I blew out the filter backwards several times after filling it with gas. Put everything back together today and let him drive it. Okay for about 10 miles and then back to the sputtering again. I guess I should have replaced the filter again, but I'm trying to figure out what this crud is.
I don't think it's charcoal from the evap canister because it doesn't break down when I rub it between my fingers, and charcoal would leave a smear / stain on my fingers. I don't think that it's sugar or other granular fine put in it due to vandalism, because he has a locking fuel door.
I guess I'll siphon out as much as I can, and change the fuel filter again. I read another forum about emptying the fuel tank, where someone said that I could turn on the ignition, and the fuel pump would run. I tried this, but didn't get much fuel out of the line. Is there a trick to this? I had the gas cap off when I tried.