1999 Toyota 4RUNNER: sudden loss of power

6 of the 330 complaints about the 1999 Toyota 4RUNNER describe sudden loss of power.

owner complaints: 6
of this car's complaints: 2%
typical mileage: 90,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 4 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Sudden loss of power by model year

2025
2
2018
2
2017
1
2015
2
2014
1
2013
1
2008
1
2006
2
2005
2
2003
3
2002
7
2001
2
2000
3
1999
6
1998
3
1997
1
1995
5
1994
3
1992
1
1990
2

What owners say

Filed Jan 14, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 180,000 miles · MD

The vehicle stalls, incosistently, but, on a frequent basis, at any given time, then will be fine for a long period of time. It eats batteries. I've had to replace the battery every year. A local automotive electrical specialist replaced the b+ cable from the battery to the starter, and the problem went away for a year, but, has since returned. I recently upgraded to a battery with more cranking watts, and have een improvement. However. There's the issue of the hesitation, jerking, and loss of power, when taking off after 1st start of the day, replaced plugs, and battery and did a tune - up, but, it made no difference. Very dangerous and have almost been involved in accidents multiple times, as a result, including dying while towing a trailer, smack dab in the middle of a 4-way intersection of a traffic - choked coastal highway in the middle of a popular beach resort, featuring over 200 outlet shops and malls, mid-day, on the 4th of july weekend, and a saturday at that,, and having to contact roadside assistance 5 times, to get it going again, to get to my destination, less than 6 miles away, and having to drive on the road's shoulder the whole way, in case of another break-down,

Filed Feb 15, 2010 · Electrical, Fuel system · 90,000 miles · PA

Sudden loss of power when driving 1999 toyota 4runner sr5. Fuel gauge reads full and vehicle stalls due to no fuel in tank. I have been able to verify that this is a known issue to toyota and that they have refused to correct the problem under warranty even though they have acknowledged that a problem with the part as delivered in this vehicle and they issued tsb:el010-00 titled "fuel gauge inaccuracy" to fix the problem only under warranty. This is not a warranty issue, but a safety issue as vehicle can run out of fuel and stall without warning at high rates of speed on congested highways. This issue has not been resolved. I have had to use the odometer to guess how much fuel is remaining the fuel tank at any given time. Factors such as highway conditions, weather, necessary use of 4wd can impact the number of miles achieved in a single tank of gas. Also, fuel tank must be filled to top when refueling to most accurately guess number of miles that can be driven before the vehicle stalls.

Filed May 20, 2009 · Fuel system · 53,000 miles · PA

While driving on interstate during rush hour, in the passing lane at 70 MPH, the vehicles engine quit, lost all power steering, brakes, etc. Very dangerous for me and my family. Was able to drift to a turn around. Bottom line, vehicle had run out of gas, even though fuel gauge showed a little over 1/2 tank. This is very dangerous.

Filed Apr 11, 2009 · Fuel system · 54,500 miles · PA

Driving on I-79 in passing lane at 65 MPH, the engine quit, complete loss of power steering and brakes..rush hour. Most dangerous that has ever happened to me. Coasted to side of road, towed to garage, engine will not start, shows a little over 1/2 tank on fuel gage..ends up, was out of fuel ! Gauge gave false reading. The vehicle has only 54,000 miles on it. I did find a toyota tsb el010-00 that addresses this exact problem, but I was never notified of it. My vehicle was bought from a toyota dealer with my name as the new owner on record. This is the most dangerous thing to happen, no indication of low fuel level, no fuel low warning light,,gauge was showing a little over 1/2 tank. This needs to be addressed as a recall.

Filed Jun 19, 2005 · Fuel system · 104,000 miles · MD

I was driving my 1999 toyota 4runner which I had just purchased with 104,000 miles on it. I was driving in the fast lane on I-695 when the car started losing power and slowing down very fast. I barely crossed three lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder. The gas guage read just under 1/2 full, but according to a tsb, the guage and sender unit should have been replaced. I had no warning from the car to tell me my gas tank was full. Running out of gas on the highway is dangerous. I don't understand why this isn't a recall - why this isn't considered a defective product. The dealer wants to charge me to fix it, but I can't afford it. I was using my odometer to keep track, but the other day, I ran out again while driving in my neighborhood. I think with the A/C on, it must use more gas. I'm very upset.

Filed Oct 17, 2001 · Suspension · MN · crash

Was traveling 55mph when vehicle started shaking, and was hard to control, had noticed left front end going into a ditch. Vehicle dropped down, and lost power steering and brake control.*ak consumer stated all bolts broke at spindle so axle was still attached to tire when it flew off the vehicle.