Idles perfectly but no rev

[blacksheep09]

Ok, folks, I have a 91 Camry with a V6 , I bought for my daughter. A quick history of the car. It belonged to an older couple who just bought a handicapped accessable van because of some health issues. The car has 164k miles on it. We drove it down the highway at 70 mph and while exiting the highway, it died on us. Finally got it started back up, but when you hit the pedal in drive it just boggs down and sometimes dies. I filled it up with gas and put a bottle of Seafoam in it, thinking it had some old gas in it. No help thus far. Now, I am pretty good with mechanical problems, but this one has me stumped. Sometimes it is hard to start, and other times it just fires right up and idles perfectly. At idle there is no miss , stumble whatsoever. You can rev the engine if you feather it gently. But, if you blip the throttle , it will bogg very bad, and die if you hold it there. But, it will crank right back up and juist idel like a new car. I pulled one plug and it looked like it was very old. Alot of build up and the electode was worn to a point. I am going to get plugs today, but would the engine even rev at all with bad plugs? When the car is under power, and you try to drive it, it wants to bog or die at acceration. New filter , and pressure is good at the fuel rail. Help. Thanks in advance.

[zythr]

Have you tested the fuel injectors?

[blacksheep09]

Originally Posted by zythr

Have you tested the fuel injectors?

Well, it's been my experience that if the fuel injectors were bad, it would run bad all of the time, and not just at rev. There are no misses in the injector system. Runs very smooth at idle .

[Mike Gerber]

Missing or bogging under load is a usually a symptom of faulty ignition system components. I would not only change the spark plugs, but the plug wires and the distributor cap and rotor. If that doesn't cure the problem I would check the coil inside the distributor. You will need a digital volt/ohmeter and the specs from any manual to do this. If you don't have a manaul, you can download one for free at the top of the Camry forum over at AutomotiveForums.com. Also take the coil out and inspect it for hairline cracks. The coils in these cars can cause problems as they rack up lot's of miles on them. 164M qualifies as lot's of miles.

Mike

[blacksheep09]

Well, after getting the plugs this morning, and installing them, the car runs like a new one. I knew when I pulled the first plug that I had found the problem. The tips of the electrodes were sharp to a point, and almost matted over with crap. All fixed and ready to ride.