2000 Camry - slow acceleration/miss during cruise

holmem · 06-18-2009, 01:19 PM

My first post here, but not before many hours of reading through the FAC, past posts, and all service bulletins and service manual.
I'm a very detailed person, maybe a bit too much, so I don't want to over do this, so if I leave out some needed detail, just ask! Thanks in advance for your help...

I have the LE model, 4 cylinder 2.2L engine. Bought it used with 100K miles, now has 132K.
Work I've done - cleaned inside of throttle body (while still on engine) to correct sticking accelerator pedal.
Recently: Engine overheated, pulled over immediately, found coolant had leaked dangerously low. Added water to get home. My mechanic found coolant coming from weep hole in water pump, so I had him replace with aftermarket pump and replace timing belt at same time. One month later, overheated again, same low coolant - mechanic found the new pump blew seal, and was replaced at no charge. Two months later, overheated again, same low coolant - mechanic found 2nd pump had blown seal, so put on OEM water pump at no charge to me. No more overheating, but I notice that my top radiator hose that goes to the block gets sucked down and collapses every time engine cools off. I remove the radiator cap, and it hose returns to normal shape.

For the last repair, my mechanic repaired it in a hurry due to I needed the car the next day for trip. I can tell he was hurried due to re-routing the crankshaft sensor harness in a different way, and not using the cable clamps, etc. A couple of other bolts to the chassis were left loose, but I didn't see these until recently.
My reason for telling all this detail is more in the form of a question to you guys: Could the mechanic have possible put my timing belt back on with a cog "off" the correct alignment, and my car still be drivable?

Here are the current issues:
1. Almost no power on take off from stand-still, no matter how much I press the accelerator. The only way any power band is reached is once the RPM's get high enough, and then the transmission shifts hard in each gear.
2. Now while interstate driving, the slightest inclines cause first a shift from overdrive, followed by a shift to 2nd to be able to keep the speed up. This is in the 65-70 mph range. And, once it reaches the crest of the incline, it seems to have a hard time deciding when to shift up again, with hard shifts again when it finally does (usually directly to overdrive from 2nd).
3. When driving at any speed, once reaching a point that the RPM's drop into the 1500 to 2000 range during a "cruise", the misfires and slight surges begin. From what I can tell, even the slightest acceleration seems to end the misfires, until a cruise status is reached again. Even though I can sense them, only the worse of the misfires actually cause a dip in the tach reading.
4. I had an O'Reily clerk read my codes, and there are zero codes listed.

Before I went back to the mechanic, I wanted to eliminate some electrical type of things just in case it was all coincidental. So I replaced the spark plugs with Denso PK20TR11's (3253) dual ground electrode-type, and checked the wire resistance per the service manual. All the wires fall well within range. The plugs did exhibit some white crusted deposit on all electrodes, but not excessive. This engine has dual coil packs, and so no cap or rotor to check/replace. After the plug replacement, absolutely no change in either performance or condition.

I am currently on the final bit of gas with Lucas gas treatment added to it.

So, back to my main question - can this have been cause by something the mechanic did while replacing the water pump the last time?

My thinking is the timing is retarded, and the ECU along with all the sensors is doing a major compensation for it by keeping the engine running, albeit poorly. The only other thing I was considering is the crankshaft position sensor being either damaged or flaky wiring, but having no codes is what puzzles me.

All the other sensors, and cleaning the EGR are candidates, but everyone keeps saying they get some type of code issued when these fail.

Any suggestions (take back to my mechanic) or further tests I could run would be greatly appreciated!

javatrooper · 06-18-2009, 02:39 PM

You have a couple of problems here. First the overheating. I don't think you had bum pumps, something else is wrong. My guess would be a head gasket leak and or thermostat. You can buy a test kit to test your antifreeze for signs of exhaust/crank case gases. If the test is positive you need a new head gasket and or your head machined if it got warped.

You sound like you definitely have timing issues. If it ran fine before the last repair, I think you may be right about being one tooth off of the timing belt or the crank sensor is off.

Have your mechanic check it out. He sounds like he is trying but you may need to find someone else. Top mechanics are rare and hard to find. I find doing my own work is about the only way it gets done right. But I understand not everyone has that option.

Good luck.

RIP · 06-18-2009, 02:59 PM

There is a procedure for checking the timing adjustment using a scanner and timing light in the "Factory Service Manuals" thread at the top of the forum.

holmem · 06-19-2009, 09:11 AM

Thanks for the reply from both of you.
I think I'll go ahead and replace the thermostat - I had issues once a year ago that pointed to it, but the condition went away. I'll start there...
Also, I'll check into this test you mentioned - sure hope the head isn't the problem. Do you know if the temperature sensor is stategically placed so that if coolant gets low, its the first thing to see the rise in temps? What I'm getting at is this - each time my internal temp guage suddenly shot up to "H", and I would stop as quickly as I could, it would only take less than a pint of water to bring the level back up to the top of the radiator. I was hoping that maybe the actual internal engine parts weren't really exposed to the high temps before I got it cooled down. Can anyone confirm my theory on that?
Regarding the timing - I do have a timing light, but don't have either the scanner or other test device mentioned. I did hook up the light and looked where the mark was (without jumpering anything), and it was hanging out around 8 degrees at idle, and would advance pretty quickly when raising the RPM.
I will report back - meanwhile, any other brainstorms are welcome!

Brian R. · 06-19-2009, 10:43 AM

It is possible your mechanic damaged the crank angle sensor on the crank timing pulley. All it takes is a serious scratch...

RIP · 06-19-2009, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holmem

Regarding the timing - I do have a timing light, but don't have either the scanner or other test device mentioned. I did hook up the light and looked where the mark was (without jumpering anything), and it was hanging out around 8 degrees at idle, and would advance pretty quickly when raising the RPM.

They call the jumper tool some acronym but, a paper clip works fine.

holmem · 09-04-2009, 08:06 AM

Hello again,
Wanted to be a good steward of this great site and report back the resulting fix for this issue.
Turns out my suspicions were correct - on the last water pump replacement, the mechanic misaligned my timing belt by one tooth on one or more of the sprockets. I'm just sorry I waited nearly two months before going back to him. But I was amazed at all the ways this affected my car's performance. So for those of you who manage this site and keep troubleshooting records, read through my first post and notice items 1, 2, and 3.
Regarding the collapsed radiator hose, I've got a thermostat sitting on my workbench waiting to be installed, along with a can of Seafoam. Maybe this weekend...
Thanks for all the responses, and for a great site...
Mike

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