Severe power loss 3vzfe

[omgpwn1201]

Hello all! Seeing as this is my first thread on TN ever, ill give you the history(albeit brief) on my car:

'93 Camry/ Manual Tranny / 3vz-fe

When i bought the car, it had 114,000 miles on it. in the past 6 months, ive put 6,000 more on the car



Although it is mostly stock, i have made a custom intake and have Eibach Springs and bilstein dampers on the way to lower my baby a little bit, to accent the wheels and give me less roll on hard turns(not necessarily in order of precedence).

A week ago i replaced the ORIGINAL plugs and wires(atrocious, i know) with NGK Iridium IX plugs and NGK wires and they improved the quality of the drive a whole lot.

edit:i spoke with the previous owner, they had changed the plugs and wires about 50,000 miles ago. not too bad, but longer than i would have liked

My problem is,(and this only today started happening) when my motor is at operating temperature, in neutral, the RPMs fluctuate from 250-750(sometimes less). If throttle is applied, when released, the RPMs drop almost to a stall and then go back to fluctuating in the above mentioned range. The same thing happens when shifting into neutral to begin deceleration to a stop. it comes really freaking close to stalling then goes back to the fluctuating.

Holy crap i forgot to mention: when im driving, and i go WOT, instead of accelerating, it bogs down. the intake makes more noise accordingly, but it barely if at all speeds up.

What could be the problem? I tried looking for something on TN, and although some threads have similar symptoms, most are for the 1mzfe(i think its called) and none of the fixes seemed like they really applied. ive seen resetting the ECU by disconnecting the battery for 5 minutes(im about to try this), check vacuum hoses(which are fine on my car). what else could it be? A mechanic friend of mine suggests it may be the fuel/air ratio. help!

[bigdaddymak20]

Your mechanic friend is on the right track. When cars start to bog down you want the start looking at fuel pressure. Need to perform a fuel pressure test and see if it matches what the service manual says they should be. Could be the fuel filter, pressure regulator, or pump.

[chronoti]

check to see if the egr is sticking open. just press on the bottom of the damper something something you figure it out. or just disconnect it and see how it goes.

[omgpwn1201]

where is the egr located?

Also, when i first start my car in the morning, the rpms are at about 600. When i rev it up, it maxes out at 2000 and then starts whining like i'm redlined. when i release the gas, as its winding down, i hear a gurgling noise(thats the best way to describe it) coming from somewhere in the engine compartment.

[omgpwn1201]

Alright i replaced the maf sensor and the lost power is restored, however...

At night with the lights on, when i let off the gas the headlights dim considerably, and when i reapply the gas they get bright again. alternator, probably. any suggestions?

[J_Phu]

could be the voltage regulator or the alternator itself

[MIC0417]

Nice, a 3VZ-FE manual, I just might have to steal it....

[omgpwn1201]

Originally Posted by MIC0417

Nice, a 3VZ-FE manual, I just might have to steal it....

haha dont you dare. its my baybeh. An OLD toyota tech told me these were "Rare" but i didnt put any credence to what he says because hes old and is known to exaggerate.

[chronoti]

no it's rare.

alternator maybe i say check ground lines and maybe upgrade them before droping big bucks on a alternator. also rewire the headlights with a new harness and an external relay to really help.