Toyota Tundra Engine Throttle Troubleshooting

The Toyota Tundra regular-size pickup evolved from its early-model introduction in 2001 after the T100 to its 2010 version. Th truck model has had issues over its history. One of those has been problems with the gas throttle. Some understanding of how to troubleshoot for problems can help find fixes.

The Engine Dies Out

  • One problem with the Tundra throttle is the engine stalling in idle, park, or low speeds. This is a common problem in many vehicles that use fuel injection as the mode of fuel delivery to the engine. The issue can be caused by two areas: a dirty throttle body or dirty fuel injectors. Both areas get gummed up with residue over time, particularly from cheap quality gas. The vehicle will sputter and die out, or when gas is applied, it finally surges in RPMs from the additional fuel load suddenly applied. The immediate fix is for the mechanic to open up these parts and clean them out. Then the consumer can help prevent the re-occurrence by using fuel injector cleaner regularly and also using higher quality gas with cleaning agents included.

The Throttle Gets Stuck in Acceleration

  • The “sticking throttle” issue has been a relatively new one, appearing in Tundra’s made after 2007. At first the assumption was that the floor mat was blocking the accelerator pedal. However, this is not such a common occurrence in the truck versus other Toyota vehicles because the pedal is up higher. The problems often are, instead, isolated to friction points in the pedal assembly, causing a sticking and acceleration situation. Toyota has issued a recall for all Tundras affected by this problem. Consumers should notify their local Toyota dealer immediately to get the repair done on their truck.

Revving Inconsistent with Torque

  • One the minor, annoying features in the early automatic transmission Tundra was that when the truck was first started and began moving, the driver could accelerate and the truck would not respond in kind. It would move forward, but the revving would seem higher than the actual movement result. The engine, when cold, tends to respond accordingly until it reaches a high enough gearing to switch to the next speed level. The problem goes away as the engine gets warmer and has been driven more than 5 miles.

Future Fix on the Horizon

  • Toyota has discussed plans, as of 2010, to modify computer programming in its vehicles with an override instruction that when the throttle has problems with acceleration the brake will take over and stop the vehicle. Such a fix can improve safety, but it won’t solve what’s causing the throttle problem.

Recommendations

  • A problem with a vehicle throttle, regardless of whether it is a truck or any other vehicle, directly affects the ability to drive safely and needs to be addressed immediately.