95 Camry Stalls When Cold Start

My 95 Camry (4 cyl, 98,000 miles) stalls after start when it is cold. It has been 50-60's F here in SoCal and the engine cranks fine. I will need to keep the foot on the gas just a little to keep it going. Once it starts and warms up for 10 to 15 seconds it runs fine for rest of the day.

I took it to my dealer and they want to replace the ISV valve for $380 (again). I had the same problem and they replace the valve about 18,000 miles ago, 19 months ago. I also had the fuel injector/T. Body serviced about 10,000 miles ago.

Any help would be appreciated. If it is the ISV valve, is it something I can replace myself for less $? Alternatively I can just live with it. The car runs fine. I just need to remember to step on the gas a little when I start the car in the morning.

CC

Your iac valve is sticking, and easily remedied.
A rubber tube goes from air filter to throttle body.
Loosen the clamp at the throttle body end and slide the tube off.
Apply some injector cleaner inside the throttle body with a toothbrush. Don't use anything metal to do this. Keep a rag at the end, under the
throttle body to catch any cleaner that dribbles out.
At the bottom of the throttle body near the end facing you, is a square hole.
Squirt some injector cleaner in there and start the car.
The car will stall, but after a few squirts it should be okay.
If not, there's another thing you van do but this should fix you up.
I'd recommend a new pcv valve while you're in there (cheap)

I forgot to add that, if you'd rather, there are shops around that do this sort of thing -throttle body cleaning, if you don't feel like it's something
you want to attempt. Go for the pcv though

Your iac valve is sticking, and easily remedied.
A rubber tube goes from air filter to throttle body.

Thanks for the info. A few more questions on the IAC Valve. Is it part of the Throttle Body? I just did a complete fuel injector/throttle body service pack at the dealer 10,000 miles ago. Does it get dirty that fast?

Go for the pcv though

I know it is a studpid question- where is the PCV valve?

CC

It should be running fine after on 10K miles.
The iac is below the throttle body. It's a square plastic device with wires coming to it.
I have not done this, but know several people who have and they
are happy.
Do the things I mentioned, but have someone run the engine for ya.
Loosen the wire block from the iac, and while the engine's running, squirt cleaner into the square hole and quickly yank away the wire block
and replace it. This will suck cleaner down into the iac and really clean it out! It takes doing, but it's not impossible. On some cars the engine will want to quit, which necessitates an engine-teaser while you do this.

Or - remove the iac and slosh it around in a can of cleaner and blow it out - GENTLY. No air hose, unless you have low-pressure nozzle on it.
You will need a new gasket if you go this route.
Look over the engine room and you'll see the pcv up on top of the engine with a neck on it, and below the rubber tube you'll see the
square plastic iac .
As I mentioned, I'm giving this to you 2nd hand, but if my Camry didn't work right after the 1st method, I'd certainly try this.

It should be running fine after on 10K miles.

I have been going to the dealer for service from mile 0. Lately, they have just adding on repair after repair and not fixing the problem.

I am not sure they cleaned the throttle body well with the last service.

Any suggestion on a repair book? I think it is time that I start doing some minor repairs myself. Thanks again for your suggestions.

CC

Popular Mechanics auto repairs book is superb - well-drawn, large illustrations in a big book you can lay across an engine, if you have to.
Next best - Haynes, for specific makes.
The PM repair book has an excellent throttle-body cleaning section, so drop hints around the lady of the house......
Merry Christmas

Gotta add a clarification, I did do the throttle body cleaning outlined in the 1st forum, it worked beautifully.
I have not done the 2nd.
Didn't want you to think I didn't do any of this.
Best