[thehpgreg]

This is my first time working with this forum, but I've got a real riddle with my 1990 Camry DX sedan, and I'm hoping someone out there can help me figure out what's wrong.

I just bought this car a couple of months ago (had 195K miles on it). It had a bad oil leak when I bought it (I had the seals and gaskets replaced and changed the oil -- oil leak seems mostly fixed now), and it didn't look like it had been run a whole lot prior to my purchasing it (i.e. spider/cob webs under the hood). It runs good overall, but some days has problems on take-off from a dead stop and intermitantly while driving on the highway. Best way to describe it is that it feels like its either not getting any gas and/or its trying to start up in too high a gear when I press the accelerator (car has automatic transmission, 2.0L 4 cyl eng) -- really sluggish and acts like it is going to stall (and actually has stalled once). Solution up to now has been to floor the gas pedal with hopes of the car coming right before it dies. Problem usually resolves when I do this, but the problem resurfaces as soon as I stop and start again (this pattern keeps happening until I have been able to drive the car around for awhile without stopping--then it goes away). On the highway, it acts similarly, though it hasn't completely failed/stalled while driving -- usually feels more like a car would if it had water in the gas -- a little jerking and sputtering (have added HEET and a fuel enhancement additive to take care of any water and bad gas effects, but doesn't seem to fix the problem). Also, I notice that if I can keep the car going for about a half hour or so on the highway, the problem goes away completely for the rest of the day -- and here's the weird part -- it isn't continuous (only happens intermittantly) AND it doesn't come back again on any regular basis -- sometimes goes away for as much as a week or so before coming back--kinda like a bad dream--when I least expect it. Doesn't seem to make too much difference whether the car has had a chance to warm up or not. Car also seems to have to really work to get up to speed -- might just be the small engine for the car size(?) Had the spark plugs checked - fine. Changed spark plug wires and distributors. Transmission oil replaced as well. Changing gears from OD to drive to one of the lower gears doesn't change anything. Can't get the problem to present itself when my mechanic looks at it -- he suspects it may be the fuel pump, distrib coil, transmission solenoids, O2 sensor, and a list of other stuff -- if only it would have the problem when he's driving it -- DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM WITH THEIR CAMRY!? If so, what have you done to fix it?