Supercharger surge...???? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Lance Sewell · 09-08-2004, 09:27 PM

I have a question, about a 5 days ago my 2003 tacoma, with a TRD supercharger, aftermarket cold air intake started surging and would go over 20-30 mph. I took it to the dealer and they told me that it was caused by the cold air intake which had been on it for about 3 months with no problems encountered. Upon further time at Superstitution Springs Toyota dealership they called and told me to put on the old air box drive it for 10-15 miles and it would reset the ECM and things would be fine, didn't work. So I took it back and today they informed me that the SC was bad and it was caused by the air intake. Later in the day after I complained saying it couldn't be the supercharger and I was going for a 2nd opinion, they called me back, saying they spoke with the TRD rep for the area and told me that my CATS were melted and the SC was fine, charge would be $1800 for new CATS. Ouch! Has anyone else had any problems and are there any remedies anyone can suggest???? Please someone give me some GOOD advice, I am lost!

alltrac165 · 09-09-2004, 08:37 PM

Sounds like they don't know what they are doing. Find another mechanic, quick. Can't really help with your problem as the description isn't very clear. Tell us what exactly the truck is doing. I don't know what you mean by surging and go over 20-30 mph. Do you mean that it just goes that fast by itself with no throttle? If so, I think you have a vacuum leak somewhere, it's getting too much air, adding fuel to compensate and away it goes. That happened to my brothers truck. Thing would only idle at about 2500 rpm. Fixed the broken vacuum line, and all was good. A melted or clogged cat will cause a huge loss of power, but shouldn't cause surging.

Lance Sewell · 09-09-2004, 09:37 PM

I talked with the Head of Service! they spoke with the TRD rep and are telling me that because we increased the amount of air thru the new air intake (by the slightly larger dia.? aftermarker) it made the ECM read differently and leaned out the motor, thus melting the cats. My question then to them was why didn't I have a check engine light on it, when that happened??? They couldn't give me an answer today! So now they want to replace both cats and say that will correct the problem. So what do I do? I asked them is I could replace them with TRD hi-perf exhaust system, they couldn't tell me. My opinion is that the tech does not have a clue on S/C engines. Any suggestions!!!

TRD is really putting the blame on the new air intake, but is looks to be the same size, only smoother air flow, larger air filter, but the air comes in from the same area as the air box drew from before, and all the hoses were connected to the intake and the MAF was installed correctly. I just don't get it or understand.

Oh I owe you answers on my 1st thread. Everything on this truck had been working great for the last year till about a 2 day time period, when I started to notice a bleed off of power and some lag. I also couldn't get the truck to go above about 25-30 mph. If you accelerated then it had some slight rod knock, and would pull 7 lbs. of boost and would try to die. As long as you wouldn't put the engine under a load it would stay lit and was drivable, barely. Drove it straight to Toyota (slowly) and put it in the shop. There is where it sits, with idiots in charge of the asyllum.

I will await your response!

alltrac165 · 09-11-2004, 01:24 AM

Ok, that is totally different than surge. Surge is where the engine tries to accellerate on it's own somewhat. Those symptoms you describe now do sound like a clogged or melted cat. If the exhaust can't get out, then everything backs up and you can't get air into the engine. It chokes under load and rpm and wants to stall. If you want to use the TRD performance exhaust you can do that. It's WAY spendy. Good quality, from what I've read, but very spendy. You can get an aftermarket OBD2 legal cat from Magnaflow for around $200. You can get headers from Downey which are made by Doug Thorley for around 400. I think Edelbrock makes them for your application too, but I don't recommend them due to build quality issues. Have a mandrel bent 2.5" exhaust put in and you should be quite happy with the performance gain. Also, from what I've read on the S/C by people who have hit the dyno, they run lean on top no matter what intake is on it. I can't remember how they got around it, whether they increased rail pressure or used bigger injectors. I'll try to find one of the links. You can do a google search for Toyota V6 header reviews. I think that's how I found one of the links to the S/C dyno tuning site. I think a substantial gain in power is possible by tuning the fuel curve.

Lance Sewell · 09-11-2004, 11:44 PM

Thank you for the advice!!!! I have taken it from Toyota and I am going to install new hi flow magnaflow cats (2) on Mon. and I am going to try and order the Downey headers if I can find them for my truck. I really appreciate you advice and hope this cleans it up!!! I will keep you informed of the results! Anything else you can think of please advise!!!

Toysrme · 09-11-2004, 11:53 PM

http://www.gadgetonline.com/fuel.htm

alltrac165 · 09-13-2004, 07:59 PM

^

Yep, that's one of the sites I visited. Pretty thorough fuel system analysis with dyno results. Go back to his 4Runner page and then look at the header/exhaust section for pics and installation tips on headers.
Good find, toysrme.

s/creamin 3.4 · 09-14-2004, 09:47 PM

i agree, gadgetonline.com is a really good source for information in regards to almost anything dealing with the 3.4l toyota engine. through my process of installing the s/c on my truck i have found that everything he mentioned was right. i didn't have any problems with the exhaust system, but i did with the fuel system. the truck ran pretty badly to tell the truth with just the supercharger under any boost condition. as soon as you get your exhaust problem under control look into upgrading your fuel supply so nothing else gets torched from running too lean. one easy fuel kit, rather pricey tho, is available from www.urdusa.com and it has made a world of difference. i found it really easy to install, just took some time, and the fact that it has an unlimited range of tuning if you have a computer nearby is just phenominal. hope everything turns out alright with your truck, once its smoothed out you will no doubt love that supercharger!!!!

snobdrblinkchik · 09-17-2004, 11:57 PM

your truck is runnin' lean....my buddy's did the exact same thing...melted his cats...you need to get more fuel to the engine....go for the URD kit....Gadget knows his stuff....also you might want to get a EGT(Exhaust gas temperature) guage....when you run lean, your EGT's go way up, thus melting the cats closed which caused the loss of power...