I've been having trouble with my 88 toyota 4runner because when I drive it the exaust manifold is glowing orange and it won't idle without cutting off and seems to have lost a lot of power. People have told me it could be the cat but I've checked that out and its not, I was thinking it could be a vaccume line or something having to do with air flow. Anyone know?

That sucka is getting really hot....

I know thats what a lot of people tell me but the only thing that gets hot is the exaust manifold mainly and the truck has a brand new cooling system and everything. Another thing that happens is when I give it gas this thing right above the air filter makes a bad knocking sound. i dont know whats wrong

if the manifold is glowing orange it sounds like your engine is running lean and i wouldnt drive it too much till you work out the prob or you will melt a valve cause if the cast exhast manifold is glowing then i bet the valves are too.

The cat might be backed up. Can you smell anything funny, like sweet smelling exhaust. My friends cat got all backed up and the manifold had justed started to glow, replaced it, no more problem

Check the timing. Pull your plugs an "read" them they should be a goldish brown, if they are white it is to lean. Check your "Cat" again and your muffler it could be clogged also.:D

you say you checked the cat and it's ok. how do you know it's ok ?

- jack

sounds like your cat is plugged

Originally posted by morpheus
you say you checked the cat and it's ok. how do you know it's ok ?

- jack I can tell when my Cat is plugged, he makes some weird noises, oh that is a different kind of Cat!!!!:rolleyes:

I took the cat off and rode around the block and still had the same problems. If the motor is too lean what should I do to fix it?

Originally posted by OOP'S
Check the timing. Pull your plugs an "read" them they should be a goldish brown, if they are white it is to lean. Check your "Cat" again and your muffler it could be clogged also.:D

Also check your timing curve....even if the base timing is set correctly you could have a problem with the advance curve.:flipoff2:

Try checking the t chain....if your valve timing is way off it could also be the prob.......hence the clicking noise you described.

You either have a major vacuum leak causing the lean condition, or really retarded ignition timing.

You didn't say what motor or if it was EFI. You need to start there.

Do you have good exhaust flow out the tailpipe? You should because a clogged cat will usually glow, NOT the manifold.

Check the hose connections between the mass Airflow Sensor(air filter) and the intake manifold. Mine got a crack in the bottom of the hose connection, closest to the intake. It was really hard to find because it was on the bottom. The way that I found it was to move the intake plumbing around while the engine was ideling. Every time I moved that hose, the motor would die.

I have a 22re efi 4cyl. Thanks for all the advice and help I will try some of these things.

could it be a blown head gasket? Could a really bad oil leak effect it?

It's an 88... Have you ever changed the timing chain? I definitly wouldn't drive it if I were you...

Originally posted by 88 krawler
I've been having trouble with my 88 toyota 4runner because when I drive it the exaust manifold is glowing orange and it won't idle without cutting off and seems to have lost a lot of power. People have told me it could be the cat but I've checked that out and its not, I was thinking it could be a vaccume line or something having to do with air flow. Anyone know?

My 84 Toyota I did a EFI swap on, use to get my header red hot.. Thats usually would only mean one thing, Its running lean.

The timing chain has not been changed to my knowledge and i've been told that efi motors don't have the problem of running lean but i don't know

Originally posted by 88 krawler
The timing chain has not been changed to my knowledge and i've been told that efi motors don't have the problem of running lean but i don't know I replaced my injectors when I rebuilt the motor, and got two out of four injectors bad - motor behaved this same way.

You are running seriously lean. You said noise was coming from the AFM - are you getting a "check engine" light? If so, what code? Do you know how to read the codes?