Passenger side of engine not firing

Ok I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say my ecm is toast lol. One whole side is not firing it seems. What do you guys think. Look at the plugs I pull. Top is driver side. And bottom is passenger side. And who the hell puts autolites in a Toyota lol. I’ve got denso on the way. If you all can see the pic let me know what you think. Anyone seen this before? ECM fried?

 

The drivers side is soot covered ones but they are not wet, correct? Passenger side is not wet and very clean and white?

 

The gap is really wide on the top plug that is clean. Looks to be .100 looks rich on the other bank. The ECM would not be my first thought. I'd get some correct heat range ND plugs and gap them and start over.

 

No neither of the sides were wet. And yes the gap is way off on many of these. But the truck ran good at low rpms. But when you tried to gas it it would hesitate and surge. Passenger side sounded like a dual exhaust system which it does not have. Now I know why it was sounding like that. It was never firing. No cel until after 3000 rpms under load. Stomping the gas in park sounded perfect it reved good. This was so weird. After 3000 rpm still no cel but when I hook up the code reader I get random misfire codes.

 

Yes you are correct. The white clean ones came out of the passenger side. Looks like they never fired for a long while. I just bought the truck a month ago. But I never really floored the gas or tried to accelerate heavily. I wish I had to see the faults on this thing. Live and learn from now on.

 

No way its running in any kind of reasonable shape at any RPM with one side not firing. Start over with new plugs all around.

 

It idled good. I’m telling you I had no clue. I just kept feeling a surge while under acceleration. And then if I gassed it it bogged down and made like a really hollow sound almost as if I had dual exhaust. And yet I DONT LOL. I’m replacing all plugs with Densos and new coil packs. As well as new injection pump valves too. Not sure if those are bad or not but they look horrible. Had moisture in them and all rusted. So I’m gonna replace them too. In the mean time I’m ordering a new Ecu. I’m almost positive it’s the ecu is the issue. So far in parts almost $600. Whew this truck is expensive to fix. Not to mention $300 for the ecu once I order it.

 

Once I put a new set of proper plugs with the correct gap I would drain some or all depending how much was in it of the fuel and take a hard look at it and the filter. Bad gas or wrong fuel type can cause some really freaky stuff. I would hold off on the ECM until I looked everything over good

 

Check the compression especially on the left bank and check the cam timing / timing belt.

You might be a tooth or two out of time, or there may have been a previous belt failure with damaged valves.

 

I thought about the timing being off. But still those plugs should have some soot on them. So to me that tells me they are not firing at all. Right before I pulled the plugs I let the truck idle a couple of minutes.

 

The sooty black plugs are the one’s I’d be more concerned about.

 

Haha they are only sooty because they are doing all the work. But the plugs and coils will be here Saturday. So I’ll see what difference it makes. Rock auto was the cheapest for quality parts. Then the Ecu will be here maybe Sunday or Monday hopefully. Either way it will be the last item replaced. But it will be interesting to see if quality plugs make a difference but I still doubt it will fire on that side.

 

Au contraire sir, those 4 plugs are covered in black soot because of incomplete / partial combustion, be it a rich mixture, low compression, or a severe restriction on the exhaust.

Which brings up another possibility. A plugged cat.

 

I had the cats cut out and they were perfect so it’s not the cats. I replaced the fuel pump. The cam angle sensor. Now I’m doing the plugs and coils. Which is what I found. Nothing else worked. So new Ecu is on order with the plugs and coils.

 

Did you find any codes. Thats where i would start. Their white because its to lean. Yes they are firing you will notice if one is not firing. The engine would shake like crazy trust me i know. Been there done that. I would say o2 sensor if i would guess. You need fuel,air and compression to start an engine. Looks like you have fuel on drivers side. Air is probably there and compression these engines are really strong. Pretty sure theres compression. Or you have clogged fuel injectors. Its most definitely computer related though

 

I agree that the ECM is doing what it's told. Something is telling it the wrong thing. I will add that any 12 volt system must be well grounded

 

Nope no shaking until you reach a certain rpm. Then the truck lurches and stumbles trying to get to the right speed/rpm.
Once parts arrive I will install them before the ECM even gets here to see what difference that makes. But I’m replacing the ECM regardless. the cel light doesn’t even come on. But I ran my scanner several times clearing the misfire codes each time. I’m getting random misfire code only. But not until it reaches the 3500 rpm area and starts acting up.

 

Does the cel self test? The previous owner could have taken it out when they were selling the truck. Unfortunately, I have seen that before. The scanner should tell you if the cel is on even if the bulb does not light up.

 

No the cel light doesn’t come on with the misfire codes. but yes my scanner showed me all the codes each time.

 

Whats the codes

 

Random misfire. Cylinder 5 misfire and one other cylinder. I don’t remember which. Doesn’t make any difference tho. Something is definitely causing this. And I doubt one whole side that is not firing correctly which leads me to the ecu failing. I read on some other forums. And YouTube others have had this issue with the ecu as well causing similar symptoms

 

Does the CEL come on at all when you turn the ignition to on without starting the engine?

 

Yes the cel light comes on when you turn the key on.

 

Ok coils, denso plugs (already gaped correctly) and 2 injection pump valves. All came in and I installed in the truck yesterday. And guess what. It did NOT fix anything lol. Waiting on ecu to come in now. Hopefully this does the trick. I will update.

 

Did you replace all the coils and plugs

 

Yes all plugs and coils replaced. Same symptoms. No change what so ever.

 

Did you fix it