[ronyzeran]

Hello everyone! First of all, Thank you & I am so grateful to be a part of this forum!

I Own a 2014 Fj cruiser, GCC Specs, about 2 weeks back, my battery died on me, and i had no one to help me jump start the car as i was stuck in a basement, so i disconnected my battery, got myself a new Varta battery and connected it myself, so during the process of the battery replacement the car was switched off (Big Mistake), right after the replacement, i switched on the car and felt like half of the car was dead, the A/C wasn't cooling, only the fan was working, i tried driving the car and it would jerk and switch off automatically, but somehow i managed to get it out of the basement, the next day i took it to the car service center, and they told the issue is with the throttle body, so they cleaned it and it felt much better, but later on i noticed there was a terrible drop in the performance of the vehicle, so I took it to Toyota Service center, they told me to clean the Throttle body and Fuel injectors, but I m still worried what if this issue won't get resolved!!
I somehow want it to perform like how it was before, its in stock condition, no mods or upgrades yet!

Has anyone had such an experience in the past, what else do you think is the problem.

Kindly help me with your thoughts!

Thank you

 

[Sparky of NWO]

How many miles have you driven it since you put in the new battery?

 

[ronyzeran]

The issues happened right after installing the new battery, but after cleaning the Throttle body, i drove around 600-700kms, but the performance is really bad and its lagging alot, like i can feel my fj struggling to catch up.

 

[Sparky of NWO]

That kills my idea that the computer had to "re-learn", who's next?

 

[ronyzeran]

i have no idea what to do now

 

[STLFJC]

My only thought would be is to check your battery cables. Bad ground, unseen corrosion.

 

[fireball]

Since your issues started with a dead battery, there is one thing that's imperative and I hope one of the shops has done it already. Physically remove both battery cables. Use a wire brush battery terminal cleaner, clean both the lug and terminal mating surfaces to shiny bright. Reconnect and tighten clamps (not just twisting the terminal onto lug by hand). Back in the day as a MasterTech, I've seen numerous mysterious driveability issues resolved just by ensuring clean tight battery connections.

Once that is sorted a couple of other thoughts.

You said its got 700km, but how many actual drive cycles has it been through since the replacement? Depending on driving habits, it can take several till the computer gets sorted.

Is the driveability issue when the engine is cold, warm, or both?

Borrow a decent code scanner and see if any pending codes. Good ones can also read live data which really helps making a diagnosis on difficult cases.

 

[Sparky of NWO]

He has enough connection surface at the battery to turn the starter. You guys talking about that as a possibility are possibly correct but very unlikely being the problem with this condition. Time is better spent elsewhere.

 

[REEL-M-N]

That kills my idea that the computer had to "re-learn", who's next?

I do think there is something to the "Re-learn " Process. Unfortunately, doing something to the throttle body has added a new element to this. So the throttle body had not been touched prior to the battery being replaced and everything was fine? When the throttle body is touched (a simple cleaning) I have read about a variety of issues that pop up and it appears a re-learn process takes place over time to hopefully correct the issue or the physical cleaning did not disrupt something. Back to the battery...This is what I would do other folks may chime in... I would start over dis-connect the negative on the battery then the positive. Let it sit for a while then connect the positive then the negative and let it sit for a while before starting. The FJ has a variety of sensors and processes that it goes through to ensure things are operating properly, depending on the sensor it may even cause a dash light. I have read on the forum where folks have installed a battery, started to drive away and the FJ cut off. My guess is the FJ was running its diagnostics and caused an interuption. Once you start your FJ I would let it idle for 5-10 minutes. I have not read anything about my process but it makes sense to me as I would want the initial diagnostics run under an idle than a load. As you continue to drive the FJ the FJ may make internal adjustments over time.

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[ronyzeran]

Thank you for your valuable comments, as i was driving today, it kinda seems better than before, but i still have to wait and see if its perfectly fine, I shall update about it soon. Thank you all once again

 

[FatMatt]

Did you ever get those injectors cleaned? Couldn't hurt any. If the first service center just sprayed some cleaner into the TB, all that gunk could have clogged up the injectors. I can only guess, but I would think that if they were clogged up that the default air/fuel ratio values may be a bit off and could cause a performance hit.

 

[dedhed]

Different approach, Have you checked your belt and pulleys? Could be slipping from bad pulley and not charging your battery properly and would explain air con problem

 

[FJtest]

I think all the talk about dirty throttle body, dirty fuel injectors, slipping belts, etc. are all red herrings, as absolutely none of these conditions would suddenly have been 'created' when simply replacing a battery. The question is, what could have been disturbed during the battery swap that could have any affect on engine operation?

Because it's quick and easy, I'd go back and check all the connections in the intake tract between throttle body and MAF sensor to make sure there isn't an air leak that would allow air to bypass the MAF and create a lean fuel-air mixture, which would affect throttle response and engine power.

Remember that some of the engine and transmission operating parameters are 'learned' values and are stored in volatile memory. These values are erased when battery power is removed. The next time the engine is started, the ECM reverts to stored default values, which have typically been selected for maximum efficiency and fuel economy.. These values are then 're-learned' over a few drive cycles if the driver's driving style differs significantly from the default values. Subtle engine parameters like ignition timing advance (based on fuel knock characteristics) may not be extremely obvious to the seat of the pants, but transmission upshift and downshift points might be, which would give the perception of sluggishness and lack of response.

600-700 kms of driving should have provided ample time for the ECU to 're-learn' any driver-related or fuel-related parameters, and you'd assume that 600-700 kms would include several driving cycles.

The OP stated that "it kinda seems better than before", but that doesn't seem very definitive.

An OBD scan tool would allow monitoring fuel-air ratio and ignition timing advance, and would reveal anything obviously amiss.

(Any gunk pulled into the intake tract from cleaning the throttle body would have little chance of 'clogging' the fuel injectors as the only thing flowing through them is clean fuel.)

 

[ronyzeran]

As of now, i think its almost sorted out by itself, as you all told, i think after number of drive cycles, the engine is acting normal now, my engine belt was already replaced, so that's working fine now, anyway i am planning to get my fuel injectors cleaned asap, now the only thing bothering me is a pop sound when i open left side door, anyone knows what might be the issue?

Thank you once again

 

[norm356]

"pop sound when i open left side door,"

confirm that the bolt holding your door check arm to the A pillar is tight, if it is loose it'll make that kind of a noise

 

[rlaggren]

When I put a new batt in a month ago, I also had a disruption. In my case, I fired up the car a couple minutes after the final connection and the christmas tree on the dash lit up and stayed lit. Freaked me out. Turned it off and tried again a minute later. About half the dash lights stayed lit. Progress. Gave it about three minutes and tried again. Eureka! No christmas tree lights. Looks like this engine needs a little time to have it's coffee and wake up after going without power... I didn't notice anything real obvious about performance after that. Guessing if I had left it five minutes or so after connecting the battery, would have been same 'ol same 'ol and I'd never have had a second thought. Or maybe it was the multiple off/on cycles.

Regards,
Rufus

 

[ronyzeran]

"pop sound when i open left side door,"

confirm that the bolt holding your door check arm to the A pillar is tight, if it is loose it'll make that kind of a noise

Everything is tight but its still making that noise

 

[norm356]

If the fasteners are not loose, then there's a second possibility but its very rare: could the plastic over-mold on the door check arm be cracked? If it cracked it could then move back/forth when the door is operated, creating an annoying noise.

If that is the case, a new door check would be the solution.

One thing we didn't confirm: there isn't any door trim or fender sheet metal interfering when you open the door, is there? Previous accident damage, or fitting of aftermarket body trim could have less clearance than design and if there is a rub during opening it can make a noise.

 

[K.I.T.T._FJ]

Everything is tight but its still making that noise

My rig makes the same noise on the drivers door at full open. Annoying.

 

[johnnydrummer]

My rig makes the same noise on the drivers door at full open. Annoying.

Hey buddy! This is the first thing I fixed on my FJ the day I got it. I wish I had a pic for ya, but as you open the door, look for a small black bracket with 2, 10mm nuts on it. Mine were loose, and as I opened the door slowly, one nut actually popped off alerting me to the problem. I tightened them and the
'knocking noise' went away. Best of luck. Johnny