Cold Start up car doesnt idle right

[ksack001]

I have change the distributor, rotor, cap, wires, plugs, cleaned the TB, and anything else you can think of. Now sometimes at a cold start up the idle is rough like up and down for a few seconds, but if I give it gas a few times and it goes away and runs fine, any ideas? I changed all this because it needed it anyway and I was hoping this would fix the problem but it seemed fine for a few days and then came back. My next step is the fuel filter. Its like i start it up and feels like if I don't give it gas it will almost die, but like I said I step on the pedal give it some fuel and away it goes till the car is cold again. Help please, other than that the car runs fine. Thank you

[Mike Gerber]

When asking for help it is best to give more information about your car. Year, engine (I4 or V6), current mileage, along with the recent maintenance and repair information, which you did give.

That said, I would try a more thorough cleaning of the idle air control valve. You can try spraying more cleaner liberally through the hole in the base of the throttle body and letting that soak for 15 or 20 minutes. If that doesn't help, you may have to remove the idle air control valve for a more thorough cleaning. The next thing that comes to mind is the engine coolant temperature sensor. It may be out of range and not telling the ECU the car is cold. This would result in too lean a mixture to properly start and idle a cold engine. You will need a digital volt/ohmeter and the specs from any manual to test this. If you don't have a manual you can download a Toyota factory service manual for your generation at the top of this forum's home page. Generations 1 and 2 used what is called a Cold Start Time Switch to activate an extra injector in the intake plenum to facilitate a smooth cold start and smooth cold idle. If you have a gneration 1 or 2 Camry you will have to check that too.

Mike

[ksack001]

yes it would help if I posted more information, I forgot. It's a 95 Camry 4cyl with 145k on it. The entire coolant system has been changed, inuding water pump, and a timing belt change while I was in there. I didn't replace any of the coolant sensors though. The distributor, rotor, cap, wires, and plugs have also been change as I stated before, as well as the PVC. I took the TB off and cleaned it or good, however I neglected to get the IAC valve as well as the TB itself. I'll take it all apart this weekend and try again. The new distinutor cap I bought, a Bosch, has two of the wire connectors really close to each other and the wires touch a bit and almost overlap and it's installed correctly since the locks at the end of the wires only allow it to connect to the cap one way, is this ok? It doesn't seem o misfire and this problem was occuring before I did all this maintainence. It's only at a cold start up it idles rough, and it's not everytine either. The idle goes up and down so I got to step on the pedal once or twice to correct it and it's fine the rest of the day. I will also replace the fuel filter which seems to be the original one that came with the car I'm sure that will make a difference in something. I will do as you stated and let you k ow what happens.

[Mike Gerber]

"The new distinutor cap I bought, a Bosch, has two of the wire connectors really close to each other and the wires touch a bit and almost overlap and it's installed correctly since the locks at the end of the wires only allow it to connect to the cap one way, is this ok? It doesn't seem o misfire and this problem was occuring before I did all this maintainence."

The distributor cap is probably OK, but my personal preference for ignition system parts is to stick with Toyota OEM. I replaced the cap and rotor on my 94 Camry 4 cylinder about a year ago with Toyota OEM parts as maintenance. I have 93,000 miles on that car. The wires are still fine and they are 16 years old. I guess that's a testimate to Toyota OEM quality back then. I would just use the cap and rotor you bought, since you already have them and most places will not take returns on anything electrical. You can ignore the cold start time switch as they were not used on the generations 3 (1992-1996) Camrys. I would start with that idle air control valve, as per my previous post. That usually solves the problem you are describing.

Mike

[munchie1125]

I wanted to add a little bit to this post. I have a friend of my son's who just purchased a 1992 Camry I4 2.2L with 180,000 miles on it less than 1 week ago...the car ran fine when he test drove it and then only 4 days later the car began displaying the exact things that were going on with your 95. I followed Mike's info about cleaning the throttle body and Idle Air Control Valve with carb cleaner. I replaced the engine coolant temperature sensor and I also cleaned the PCV valve as well (since the auto parts store wasn't going to have another in until tomorrow). I was getting concerned because the cost of a new IACV costs about $200.00...after doing all of the above the engine started right up and everything is working fine.Thank you for all your help in diagnosing this problem.