About 6 years ago, the dealer had to repair the throttle body as the vehicle ran radically, sporadically.
Also, one of the seat recliner levers broke; what's to be expected of cheap di-cast construction? For the most part, it has been a fairly decent small truck with inexpensive maintenance.
As far as comfort goes, the seats cannot recline in the standard cab as they hit the rear window.
The original exhaust system lasted 156,000+ miles and almost 9 years. Not bad. It cost over $500 to replace.
It has been running very flat (low power) and the new cat-converter glows red after only a couple of miles. I found a mouse nest under the air filter and cleaned it out, but it didn't correct the problem.
I replaced oxygen sensors, CKP sensor, both ignition coils, plugs and wires. The code reader cleared, but the problem persists.
Last hope lies in bad gas (the vehicle sat idle for months). May be in the dry gas which was methanol, the owners manual says "No-No" to this. I read it after the fact. A good truck, yet a dilemma. Sound familiar to anyone?
Yes, allowing the truck to sit for months will do several things, including causing the gas to degenerate. Without oil moving through the system regularly, the seals and gaskets have a tendency to "freeze" or harden up. The oil protects these seals and gaskets during normal driving by keeping them lubricated, and now they are drying up just sitting there. Its never a good idea to let a car sit for more than a few weeks at a time, they are machines and need to be run. If you absolutely must store your car, drain the fuel from the tank and put synthetic oil in your engine with some type of oil additive to keep all your parts lubricated while the engine sits.
Another reason for your drop in power just may be the fact that you have a tiny engine in a relatively heavy (3500+lbs.) vehicle. And that tiny engine has over 150,000 miles.
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