Power flatspot

[toafrica]

Hi Guys,

My KDJ95 seems to be having an intermittant problem, well two actually, but the worst one first....
It seems that sometimes when I am going downhill at about 30mph and floor the accelerator, sometimes I get no response except a very weak pickup of revs, and other times, it kicks down and hoofs it.
It's pretty concerning as driving in the Transkei is risky enough without having a flatspot as you pull out to overtake something and find you are chugging along with taxis coming at you like they are at Le Mans.

Any idea - the local Toyota dealer has said they will stick diags on it, but my problem is that it is intermittent, and the R1500 they are going to charge will probably just go down the toilet.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Beau]

Hi Guys,

My KDJ95 seems to be having an intermittant problem, well two actually, but the worst one first....
It seems that sometimes when I am going downhill at about 30mph and floor the accelerator, sometimes I get no response except a very weak pickup of revs, and other times, it kicks down and hoofs it.
It's pretty concerning as driving in the Transkei is risky enough without having a flatspot as you pull out to overtake something and find you are chugging along with taxis coming at you like they are at Le Mans.

Any idea - the local Toyota dealer has said they will stick diags on it, but my problem is that it is intermittent, and the R1500 they are going to charge will probably just go down the toilet.

Cheers
Andrew

Sounds like the engine isn't getting enough fuel. Around about this age, the fuel filters inside the main tank tends to get blocked up quite badly and the engine doesn't suck enough fuel through the system, hence when you call for that "little" bit more power from the engine it doesn't respond well. I would try this first as it doesn't cost anything and is a quick Job if you're good with some spanners.

 

[grantw]

Could it be a faulty kick down swtich? Assuming it's an automatic. Does it pick up if you change down gears manually?

 

[toafrica]

Hi Grant,
It is an auto, and my first suspect was the gearbox, so I flushed the oil, and changed the oil strainer as well, things seemed to improve for a while, but it is doing it again. I did try the manual shift down, but it didnt seems to make a difference, maybe I was going to fast.
I will see if it does it on the school run tomorrow, just have to remember to do it, and not get distracted looking for whales and dolphins on the way there - it's a tough school run out here!!!

 

[grantw]

Hi Grant,
It is an auto, and my first suspect was the gearbox, so I flushed the oil, and changed the oil strainer as well, things seemed to improve for a while, but it is doing it again. I did try the manual shift down, but it didnt seems to make a difference, maybe I was going to fast.
I will see if it does it on the school run tomorrow, just have to remember to do it, and not get distracted looking for whales and dolphins on the way there - it's a tough school run out here!!!

If your not getting any pick up when manually shifting down then I'd start with Beau's suggestions above.

 

[toafrica]

OK, tested it this morning, when I manually shift down, I still dont get a surge, so going to take a look at the filter in the tank, as I changed the fuel filter about 1000 miles ago when I did the gearbox oil/strainer change..

 

[Shayne]

Whip this off and give everything a clean , i found Wynn's EGR cleaner spray good stuff .