1989 Camry small issues - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Esoto56 · 10-07-2010, 02:09 PM

Hey , i new here and we just purchased a 1989 camry 4cyl one owner gem of a car! it has 2 things that ive notice that i would like to fix.

-1st is that when driving the temp gauge will be readind normal and then all of a sudden shoot to "hot" and be there for a while then shoot straight back to where it was origanily, the car doesnt overheat or get hot. what could this be?

-2nd is that it kinda idles a little ruffer than i think it should and when in "drive" at a stand still (stop sign etc..) it idles kinda ruff, mind you it has been very well taken care of and all fluids changed on schedule. i would think it would barely make any vbration.

Help please, thanks

Darwin686 · 10-07-2010, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esoto56

Hey , i new here and we just purchased a 1989 camry 4cyl one owner gem of a car! it has 2 things that ive notice that i would like to fix.

-1st is that when driving the temp gauge will be readind normal and then all of a sudden shoot to "hot" and be there for a while then shoot straight back to where it was origanily, the car doesnt overheat or get hot. what could this be?

-2nd is that it kinda idles a little ruffer than i think it should and when in "drive" at a stand still (stop sign etc..) it idles kinda ruff, mind you it has been very well taken care of and all fluids changed on schedule. i would think it would barely make any vbration.

Help please, thanks

Problem 1. You need a new temp sensor your is malfunctioning.

Problem 2. You have carbon buildup in your engine. Get a can of deep creep from your local auto part store and try this. The 3SFE engine is bad for carbon buildup.

Follow the vacuum hose from the brake booster to the engine and loosen the hose. Get a can of deep Creep from your auto parts store. Start the car and then pull and spray the entire contents of the car in the engine you have to pull and spray quickly or the engine will die.

When you stop spraying the engine will die. Put the hose back on and let the engine sit for 15 minutes, Start the car and don't be alarmed if it doesn't want to start. Get in and drive until no smoke is coming out of the tail pipe. A ton of smoke is going to pour out your tail pipe.

If does not help your ruff idol follow with new spark plugs and wires

Esoto56 · 10-07-2010, 08:03 PM

Will sea foam work?

Thanks for the response!!

Darwin686 · 10-07-2010, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esoto56

Will sea foam work?

Thanks for the response!!

Well yes it will however, Deep Creep is sea foam made by sea foam. The only difference it that it is compressed. By being compressed it goes further in your engine than regular seafoam does. So in short it works better and coats more evenly thus pulling out more carbon buildup!

Esoto56 · 10-08-2010, 09:30 AM

So I changed out the coolant temp sensor and it worked fine on my test drive, I started the car and the needle started at cold and made it's way to warm and stayed there. Well this morning my wife gets in and drives to work and what do you know, it starts doing it again! Is it the wire, maybe?

white90dx · 10-08-2010, 12:56 PM

Sounds like it is the wire or the gauge. Look for obvious weak/worn spots in the wire...

Also, you are replacing the single-wire sender, correct? It technically is called the water temp SENDER, not sensor. The sensor is for the engine computer and has a two-wire connector.

-Charlie

Darwin686 · 10-08-2010, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esoto56

So I changed out the coolant temp sensor and it worked fine on my test drive, I started the car and the needle started at cold and made it's way to warm and stayed there. Well this morning my wife gets in and drives to work and what do you know, it starts doing it again! Is it the wire, maybe?

Ok so there is the possibility too that you could have a really defunt thermostat. If this event is only happening after running the car for a while and it get good and hot say 20 miles and the event happens for 15 minutes of good driving there is the possibility the thermostat is getting stuck open and closed. I've never know the gauge to break it is possible kinda unlikely. The wires that white90dx is talking about is a great idea as well. Do you know how old the thermostat is?

Good luck!

Esoto56 · 10-08-2010, 08:55 PM

i dont know how old the themostat is, we just purchased the car but i plan on replacing it now. The sensor that i replaced yesturday had 2 wires coming out of it and i will now replace the sendor with one wire coming out of it and hopefully that will help. i will post pics to show what im talking about.

Thanks guys

Esoto56 · 10-09-2010, 12:58 AM

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Heres and expanded view

Esoto56 · 10-09-2010, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darwin686

Problem 1. You need a new temp sensor your is malfunctioning.

Problem 2. You have carbon buildup in your engine. Get a can of deep creep from your local auto part store and try this. The 3SFE engine is bad for carbon buildup.

Follow the vacuum hose from the brake booster to the engine and loosen the hose. Get a can of deep Creep from your auto parts store. Start the car and then pull and spray the entire contents of the car in the engine you have to pull and spray quickly or the engine will die.

When you stop spraying the engine will die. Put the hose back on and let the engine sit for 15 minutes, Start the car and don't be alarmed if it doesn't want to start. Get in and drive until no smoke is coming out of the tail pipe. A ton of smoke is going to pour out your tail pipe.

If does not help your ruff idol follow with new spark plugs and wires

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71Corolla · 10-09-2010, 01:40 AM

My advise is you should not Seafoam at all when the engine is running. Clean the TB as much as you can with Deep Creep, let it sit for 20 minutes, then start the engine to clear out what remains. Opinions differ, but Seafoam IMO is a risky thing to feed into the engine when it is running. My 2 cents.

Darwin686 · 10-09-2010, 09:52 AM

Yes this is where you need to deep creep you have identified it correctly. By the way WOW that engine looks clean was it garage kept? I agree with the prvious post you should not sea foam an engine while it is running HOWEVER it is perffectly fine to deep creep it. Ahh the difference between compressed aerosol and liquid.

ok so in looking at your pics. The sensor to the far left with teh rubber boot is the oil pressure sensor so unless your oil light is on contantly don't bother it. The brown plasitc sensor second from the left on the bottom is the one you need to be concerned about that's a temp sensor for your cluster!

drugal · 10-09-2010, 12:16 PM

Here's the water temp sender:

Check for corrosion inside the connector when you replace it, since it's not sealed like the others.

Esoto56 · 10-09-2010, 05:11 PM

I do have a can of compressed sea foam but I did find a auto parts store that sells deep creep, so I will go get that stuff and see how that works. As far as the sensor is concerned, do you guys know what the official name for that sensor is? Darwin you are talking about the brown sensor with the green and back wire coming from it correct, but white90dx says to replace the sender with only one wire coming from it?? I will try the brown sensor first and see! Thanks again guys! I have been on other major forums for my other cars and I get very very few responses to my questions so I really like all the knowledge and help on this forum

I'll also check the one that drugal is talking about.

white90dx · 10-11-2010, 03:21 PM

The two wire connector with the brown and green wires is for the ECU water temperature sensor.

The two wire connector with the black and green wires is for the cold start injector time switch.

The single wire connector with the yellow wire with black tracer is the overdrive water temp switch (keeps the trans out of 4th until the water temp is high enough)

The single wire connector with the yellow wire with green tracer is the water temp sender used for the gauge cluster temp gauge.

-Charlie