Hesitation and Surging

[LateOnTheBrakes]

Anyone experience their trucks hesitating and surging at low RPM in first or second gear? My truck has about 105,000 miles and I am starting to think I have an electrical gremlin, maybe the pedal itself. I will be holding the accelerator steady and the truck will start to stumble and then surge. The power loss feels similar to the AC compressor kicking on and off (it is not on).

The problem has been around a few weeks so this past weekend I tried cleaning and oiling the air filter, cleaned the MAF sensor, cleaned the throttle body, unplugged the battery to let the ECU relearn the fuel map, and had Autozone try to pull any hidden codes that may be stored in the OBD2 system. I perform maintenance religiously on the truck, the spark plugs only have 15,000 miles on them, I put Techron fuel injector cleaner about once a month, and the check engine light has never turned on in my truck. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[kwigs160966]

Might be loosing an ignition coil or o2 sensor going bad those are the main issues that I have run into with what you described

 

[autobodyX]

Plus one on a coil or two going. Heavy throttle in a high gear make it lug and it will misfire bad proving its a coil. If not look for vacuum leak.

 

[madtrucker]

What about the fuel filter? They start clogging up after about 90,000 miles. I always get suspicious of it when surging happens.

 

[justin13703]

What about the fuel filter? They start clogging up after about 90,000 miles. I always get suspicious of it when surging happens.

Probably not the fuel filter since he said it happens at low rpms at steady throttle. A clogged fuel filter will usually give poor performance consistently, or at mostly higher throttle positions. Either way a quick check of pressure at the fuel rail will be able to point toward a fuel issue or not.

 

[Torspd]

That many miles on the stock fuel filter?

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

I have never changed the fuel filter. I think I jinxed myself after saying the truck has never thrown a code. This weekend I got the check engine light and the "slip indicator" light. The code was a P0012 suggesting the timing is over-retarded on bank "A". I did some reading on a few other forums and it sounds like it could be a slew of things including cam position sensors, variable valve timing solenoids, timing chain gears skipping a cog or two, etc.

The truck is continuing the hesitation, but has not thrown a code again since I cleared it. Anyone have any insight into the check engine light and slip indicator coming on at the same time or in conjunction with the P0012 code?

My subscription to this thread is set to instant email, but I did not get an email about any of your replies. Sorry for not checking earlier.

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

To follow up on my previous statements it tends to stumble in the 1000-2000 RPM rev range. Does anyone know what RPM the VVT kicks in. I assume it's a two-stage cam like the older VTEC designs. I hope they haven't come up with a constantly varying cam profile or some other complicated bullshit.

 

[xtrapsi]

Mine has done this since day one. This is the single most annoying issue about the truck at this point.
It is an RPM for me, right around 1500, but is most noticable in 1st or 2nd gear.
Putting throught the neighborhood is so aggravating.

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

It's only in 1st and 2nd for me. But I bought the truck brand new in 2009 and have put 100,000 miles on it without an issue.

 

[Torspd]

Only the intake cam phases. Not sure how it would skip a tooth. That is very hard with this design. VVT-I is around 3500 RPMs.

When is the last time you: cleaned behind the throttle valve, changed your spark plugs, cleaned your MAF sensor?

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

I listed all the maintenance I did in my first post. The quick summary is did everything last weekend, spark plugs are a few months old with 15,000 miles on them.

 

[Torspd]

Sorry about that. Been a while since I've read the first post.

I do remember a time when another member was getting a stumbling issue. His was in high RPM's though. Ended up that his fuel filter was to clogged. Had about 130k on the ticker. Like what Justin was saying earlier. I do also recommend trying his suggestion as well. Check the fuel pressure. If at least to rule it out.

 

[Limitless]

Had something similar happen to mine, if I kept it at constant throttle it would jump a little like it had air in the gas, the AFR would go lean for a quick second and recover. And when I would go WOT it would work fine. Still don't know the true cause but here were I few things I did to check.

-Did you do any aftermarket wiring stuff such as extend the MAF wires or install the non plug in play MAF Cal? If so check the connections.

-Run a lot of fuel system cleaner through it, that seamed to help. One of my initial thoughts was bad gas since it would only happen under certain conditions. I try to avoid certain gas stations now and it seems to run better.

-Change spark plugs, I know it wasn't the case for me because that would have caused it to go rich but it never hurts.

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

No mods on the MAF other than my TRD intake and the way it is relocated. I also cleaned the MAF less than two weeks ago.

I run a bottle of Techron through the tank at least once or twice a month.

I only get gas from Shell and BP. No discount gasoline for my truck.

The spark plugs are like three months old with 15,000 miles and I get the Denso iridiums so I know they aren't the problem.

I guess I will have to look into how to remove the bed to get at the fuel filter. I don't have the tool to hook up to the fuel rail to check the pressure of know the values it should be reading.

 

[justin13703]

For some reason I'm leaning towards the maf sensor. Mine developed issues with the maf sensor before i sold it and it was causing bucking and surging like that. It may not be the problem, but I'd go to Napa or autozone and get one, don't give them yours as a core. If it doesn't fix the problem just take it back and say you didn't need it. If it does fix the problem, take it back anyway and order an oem denso one from URD.

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

I'm guessing it has something to do with timing as the P0012 code tripped again today.

Has anyone removed/cleaned the oil control valves on these trucks? Do the valve covers have to come off?

 

[sonic555u]

I got my throtle body ported and its doing it at idle, revs up and down 1000 rpm to 2000rpms, then I changed the spark plugs now the engine calm down and its doing it less. I'm thinking I need to get URD MAF Sensor Calibrator.

 

[LateOnTheBrakes]

Well I bought a new OEM Denso MAF sensor from Gadget. Still hesitates and surges. I've seen a few places say the fuel filter should be changed before 100,000 miles on this truck?

 

[Torspd]

30k is a good number to change it at. 100k, and you'd be surprised at the color of the fuel that comes out of the filter. The 1GR Hilux, and probably quite a few other models have OEM external fuel filters. So they can be changed easily at regular intervals. U.S. models do not.

Change it and you'll be surprised how much power the engine gains back.