91 Camry dies when put into gear

[doitmyselfer13]

I have a 91 Camry 4 cyclinder automatic. One day it died while going around a corner. It then started and sputtered when put into gear. My brother came to help me and we managed to get the car most of the way home but it kept dying almost every time it was put into gear. He reved it up and then kept putting it into gear. This seemed to work most of the time. He decided that the problem was that the coil had gone bad. He replaced the coil, put in new plugs and a rotor button and the car worked again. But every time it was put into gear it started to sputter and felt like it was slipping, then it shuttered and then it began to go down the road just fine. This only happened when it first started out. Any other time the car ran fine.

Now suddenly every time I put the car into a forward gear it dies out. When I put it in reverse it doesn't. And if I give it enough gas when it is in a forward gear sometimes it manages to go on down the road until I have to slow down and then it dies. This is very dangerous.

Can someone please tell me what I might check to attempt to fix this problem? Is it possible that the coil fixed the problem before and has now gone bad? Am I up a creek? Help.... please!

[ice745]

Do you have any engine codes? (Check engine light)

It may be a bad air/fuel mixture as opposed to spark problem. Check the vacuum hoses and the EGR valve.

[doitmyselfer13]

Thank you for the speedy reply.

The Check Engine light has not come on so there are no codes that I know of. I did check all of the vacumn hoses and everything seems normal. I am not sure how to check the EGR valve but I will look into it.

The car isn't smoking at all and it has gas and the proper amount of oil.

As the car dies when I put it in a forward gear but not in reverse, does this mean that there could be a transmission or compression problem? It starts and idles fine.

My limited knowledge of mechanics has me in a quandry here. I just hope to have the problem diagnosed and fixed before the week begins.

[RIP]

Many possibilities but, something effecting idle like a bad or clogged idle air control valve or something in the tranny like a locked up torque converter would be things to add to the list. Another would be a vacuum leak at the intake gasket. Find a trusted mechanic. The Camry Service Manuals and FAQ threads at the top of the forum may have helpful info that can educate you on the subjects involved.

[doitmyselfer13]

Thank you for the response. I am looking into all of these helpful suggestions.

Just to be certain, I took the coil out and had it tested to make sure it wasn't the problem. It tested fine. I will attempt to check the other suggestions. I agree that finding a good mechanic is the solution but financially I just can't afford that at this minute. I am trying to fix this myself.

Someone suggested to me that a clogged up transmission filter could be causing this. When I check the tranny fluid it is way higher than what it should be cold and it is a brownish color. Since the car dies when I put it in a forward gear I cannot check the transmission hot.

Is it "possible" that a clogged transmission filter is causing this problem? It would be an easy and inexpensive fix, that is for certain.

[RIP]

Hey, it's worth a try. Just remember when you change the fluid the normal way, you are only changing about 1/3rd of it. Most of the fluid is trapped in the torque converter. To change all the fluid you can do 3 or 4 drain and fills, driving it 20/30 miles in between. Or you can disconnect the lines going to the transmission cooler and pump it out that way. Just make sure you keep pooring fresh fluid in and don't let the tranny run dry. When you see nothing but clean red fluid coming out, you're done.