Well i asked where i should post this in Chit Chat, but the only response i got was not really helpfull. It suggested i post this in the toyota truck forum, but i didnt want to piss those guys off by posting a questions about a 76 2wd which according to the forum description, my DD doesnt fit. So i figured i couldnt really do too bad for myself posting in newbie.

Anyways, on to the problem. I have a '76 toyota 2wd SR5 long bed with a 20r. The history of the truck was it got abandoned at a friends shop and sat for about 3 years. It was given to me because my friend was tired of looking at it. I picket it up and it started up with relative ease and i drove it home. But now after only putting about 10 miles on it, it likes to sputter and lose power until it dies.

If you go out in the morning, or anytime and just fire it up, it will run great. It starts right up and purrs smooth. Then if you try and drive it around the neighborhood, as soon as you get about 100 ft down the street, just cruising, it will jerk a few times, start sputtering and then just die. If you push in the clutch and tap and prod at the gas pedal you can kind of keep it running for longer but it will still die out and it doesnt have enough power to even move the truck or anything. Then if you stop, key off and wait a few min. it will fire right back up and purr and the process repeats.

When i got the truck, i pulled and cleaned the plugs, replaced the air filter, changed every oil and fluid, and cleaned up some hoakey sterio wiring, and stuck in a new muffler and tailpipe to get rid of the rusted out heap that came with it.

The truck does have an electric fuel pump thats mounted inline under the hood, i dont know if thats stock or not, also after the pump, there is an inline filter. One of the clear plastic ones where you can see the fuel level and the paper element iniside, and there is always a constant dribble of fuel in and the level inside stays pretty constant. So it looks like the engine is getting fuel.

Other than checking the fuel systems and plugs i dont know engines well enough to diagnose it. I was thinking maybe a spark issue, but i dont know why it would run good at first then die out.

One other thing i forgot to mention. A friend suggested to me it was a vapor lock where the tank wasent venting and causing a vaccuum buildup in the tank restricting fuel delivery. So i pulled the gas cap off and drove it with no change at all.



Any help anyone can give me would be much apreciated.

yea... try the fuel cut solenoid.... its screwed into the back of the carb... it maybe be closing on u.... if u turn the ignition on then go to the engine bay and unplug the harness clip from the fuel cut soleniod u should be able to hear it click ( open- close) also start the truck up with it connected and then disconnect the clip/ harness to it...it should die.... and when it does.... does it sound the same way as when it dies when ur driving it??.... im having the same thing happen in my truck too... except i can keep it running... im trying to figure out y its closing on me tho.... i read there is a " emissions computer" located on the kick panel on the driverside that controls this " fuel cut solenoid" .... there is a quick fix tho... u can run direct power to it from the battery to keep it in the open position... i would say try that first and if it doesnt die... then ur having the same problem as me which is that it is closing on u.... and killing the motor.....im looking into wut to do about the situation right now for a perminant fix.... but try the troubleshooting way and see if it works for u ... :)

How long will it idle for?


have you done anything to the carb? ........ spray a can or two of carb cleaner down it.