1990 Camry weird idle

[84Cressida]

My buddy has a 1990 Camry that has been idling funny. The car drives fine, just when you're at idle you can hear the engine oscillate (sp?) between RPMs...meaning the revs are going up, then down, then up, then down..etc. Not a huge difference, but enough to notice. Anybody have an idea on what it could be?

[fredk]

its called hunting, clean out the throttle body to start with

[The Camry Man]

Clean throttle body to start
Check to make sure the AC and other Idle up controls.
See if the AC compressor is clicking on and off ?
Hold te AFM flap still.. any changes?

[Mike Gerber]

^ Not only clean the throttle body as The Camry Man suggested, but also clean the idle air control valve. There should be a square or diamond shaped port in the base of the throttle body. That port leads to the idle air control valve, so spray the cleaner liberally down in to that port. Then go on to clean the rest of the throttle body while the cleaner soaks in the idle air control valve.

Here's a good thread on the process on the 5SFE engine:

How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

Mike

[84Cressida]

The A/C in his car lost the freon last year, so the compressor won't be turning on. But I'll have him try cleaning the throttle body and the idle air control valve. Thanks for the help.

[typesix]

Also check for vacuum leak.