92 Camry warm start issues

[cruiserguy]

I have a '92 Camry that is having some starting issues. It starts fine in the morning or after work or when sitting for a longer time. However, when running errands and it only sits for about 10 - 15 minutes between stops is when I have the trouble. It tunrs over strong, starts then immidiatly dies. When I try again, I need to give it gas as soon as it starts and keep up the RPM's, this usually keeps it going enough to QUICKLY get it in gear and get it moving. The other prolem is now that it's going, it's running real rough and sounds like it's about to die when stopped. Let it sit a few hours and it's fine.

I've replaced cap, rotor, plugs, plug wiers, and coil. It's still doing it. I've had no luck with the local dealer either. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen all the time. It is very intermitant and is making troubleshooting VERY difficult. The weather doesn't seem to be the factor either (happens in the cold and the heat).

Thanks for any light someone may be able to shine on this.

[davemac2]

you may have a leaky injector causing this or it could be the oxygen sensor, ECTS, cold start injector, etc. It sounds like when the engine is in closed loop mode (ie. warm) is when you are getting the problem. It may also be a bad evap canister or something in that system. I would check for any codes thrown first, followed by an injector cleaning treatment such as techron, followed by a throttle body cleaning using Amsoil, seafoam, or something similar.

davemc

[Mike Gerber]

Try cleaning the Idle Air Control Valve. It is inside the throttle body. There is a square or diamond shaped passage leading to it inside the base of the of the throttle body. Remove the large tube leading to the throttle body and spray down that passage liberally with throttle body cleaner or O2 safe carb cleaner. Might as well clean the entire throttle body while you have access to it. Do a search for throttle body cleaning. There are some good instructions somewhere on this forum with some good pictures.

If that doesn't cure the problem, then I would next check the ECT sensor (engine coolant temperature sensor). You will need a DVM (digital volt/ohmeter) and the specs from any manual to do this. There is a generation 3 manual stickied at the top of this forum that you can download for free.

Good luck.

Mike

[burchard]

The mos common warm stalls in camrys are due to one of the three following causes:
1 dirty EGR valve
2 dirty Idle control valve
3 defective Engine coolant temp sensor (erratic and tricky to pin point on syntoms)

I would venture that your stall/hard to start after car is warmed up, is cause by the ECT. I just would change it, very simple job, unscreew the old one and install the new one (wiyh a little of tefon in te thread), no need to flush the coolant.

If you have your car warm, stop for a few minutes and then it cranks but does not run, disconnect the ect senso and try ot start it again. If it does start, there is a very good chance that is the ECT sensor. This is just a test, never drive witrh the ECT sensor disconnected.
good luck

[jburgess56]

Originally Posted by burchard

The mos common warm stalls in camrys are due to one of the three following causes:
1 dirty EGR valve
2 dirty Idle control valve
3 defective Engine coolant temp sensor (erratic and tricky to pin point on syntoms)

I would venture that your stall/hard to start after car is warmed up, is cause by the ECT. I just would change it, very simple job, unscreew the old one and install the new one (wiyh a little of tefon in te thread), no need to flush the coolant.

If you have your car warm, stop for a few minutes and then it cranks but does not run, disconnect the ect senso and try ot start it again. If it does start, there is a very good chance that is the ECT sensor. This is just a test, never drive witrh the ECT sensor disconnected.
good luck

You can also check the ECT by heating up a small pan of water and take the old ECT out and using a volt ohm meter set the meter to ohms and connect to the leads on ECT and place it in the hot water. watch the meter as the resistance drops and see if it consistently drops to around 200 ohms. the ECT would open up at about 500 ohms which is almost at the point the motor is warmed up. My car would miss real bad at this point. It would also be cranky starting when the car was warmed up as well. I bought a new ECT
for 20 dollars and it fixed the car.