1986 2.0 stall in gear

[kjkapp]

Thanks for any suggestions:

I have a 1986 Camry 2.0 with 280k miles on it. It has always started quickly and ran well. A few months ago.. I started noticing that it would nearly stall when I came to a stop light. It has progressed to the point now, where it will die, unless I slip it into "N"eutral when I'm slowing down or if I'm stopped. My mpg has also slipped from a solid 32 mpg down to around 25-26 mpg.

I've done the following;
1) checked that all of the vacuum lines were seated.
2) Dis-assembled and cleaned the EGR valve and pipe attached to it. (the valve was completely choked off). note: after I did this, it seems like the car actually lost some power! It became kind of gutless and "chuggy" when I took it around the block.
3) Put a new battery in the car. It was due.

I had all of the ignition cap, rotor, wires and plugs replaced about 2-3 years ago. I have NOT checked the plugs recently... but it seems to very smoothly when I give it enough gas in neutral to get to around 1000 rpm.

Should I try to turn up the idle? Any other suggestions? Does anyone have a picture of where the adjustment screws are on this thing? I do plan on picking up a new air filter (old one isn't that bad... and when I run it without the filter, it's still the same). Also, this behavior is the same, whether the car is "Warm" or "Cold".

Also... unrelated or maybe related... my temperature reading on the dash only works about 20% of the time. I took out the brass sensor under the hood and scrubbed it down about a month ago and it worked better for about a week... but now barely registers. I'm trying to tackle the bigger $tuff first before I start in on the nickel and dime stuff.

I think this car has the makings of a 400-500k car if I can get past this.

Thanks!!!!

[fredk]

Sounds like the thermostat is stuck open, and clean out the throttle body where the butterfly valve is with carb cleaner

[kjkapp]

I'll give that a try tonight. I had a friend recommend running Seafoam intake cleaner through it as well. Any thoughts?

[Mike Gerber]

"I had all of the ignition cap, rotor, wires and plugs replaced about 2-3 years ago."

Did you use Toyota OEM parts? I have seen aftermarket plug wires last as little as 1 year or 20,000 miles. Check their resistance with a digital volt/ohmeter and the specs from any manual. Don't be surprised of you find 1 or 2 where you can't get any reading.

I also agree with cleaning the throtle body. Just spray the cleaner liberally in to the square or diamond shaped hole in the base of the throttle body. Let it soak down there while you go on to clean the rest of the throttle body. That hole leads to the idle air control valve, where you problem may exist.

Mike

[kjkapp]

Thanks Mike.... I appreciate all of these low dollar pointers. I'm trying to keep this thing rollin' another 100k. The engine has been a real champ until now... but I suspect my lack of consistent attention (other than oil) is what's dogging me now.