Unusual Stalling Problem 94 Camry

[spboy]

I have a 1994 Toyota Camry 4 Cyl. 2.2L. It stalls when driving and comming to a sudden stop, sometimes it doesn't stall at all. I notice when I step on the brakes the lights on the car seem to dim out.The same also occurs when I use the power windows. Could it be alternator problem? I just ordered a Idle Speed Control valve to see if that would fix the problem. Anyone encounter such an odd stalling problem on a 94 Camry? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[bigbird]

if the lights are dimming id say alternator isnt working properly, does the car start ok?

[new echo owner]

Alternator highly possible; however, poor and dirty connections causing high resistance which increase the current draw will also result in the lights going dim when slowing down or coming to a stop. Especially if your idle control circuit isn't working properly, it might stall on you.

N.E.O.

[spboy]

car starts up fine every morning. Could the alternator still cause a problem like that?

[new echo owner]

Yes and no! You have to find out how much amperage the alternator is putting out to determine that. If the alternator has good output at higher rpm but low output at lower rpm, it will still recharge the battery sufficiently, but the increase in load will cause the lights to go dim.

Are your connections clean and tight to everything?

N.E.O.

[spboy]

Yes I am sure the connections are clean and tight. Is it normal on a 94 camry to have the lights go dim when using windows? Also, the alternator I have installed is a Denso Reman. 80 Amp. Replace about a year ago. Should i try a new alternator to see if that may be the cause?

[new echo owner]

Depending on how dim the lights go, for older vehicles, it is actually not unusual for the lights to dim down slightly at low speed when a heavy electric load is applied. Overtime, resistance in the electrical system may increase due to oxidation or corrosion or simple parts getting old, which in turn would increase the load requirement for the circuits.

Unless you don't have to pay for the alternator, I would suggest just having the electrical system check, rather then replacing the alternator just to try it. Make sure the output of the alternator is tested at low speed and off idle.

N.E.O.

[spboy]

Well as a result it was not the alternator or the idle control valve. Both did not fix the problem. Installed the new alternator and idle control unit still runs the same way. When revving the engine in idle a little bit it does not want to do it, when revving highly and letting go when it comes down it wants to stall and sometimes it goes back in idle, but it still stalls after a couple revs.

[new echo owner]

Did this just started recently? According to your other posts, you did some engine work recently, right? How was it doing after all the work? How did it run? And the distributor too, right?

N.E.O.

[spboy]

Yeah that's correct. I took it to the dealership due to the stalling at the stop which was all the time. The dealer said it was the distributor and I replaced that afterwards.The dealer also said stalling was due to the idle valve and they cleaned it out. It ran fine after that just the stalling at unusual times still did occur. I even replaced the distributor twice to see if the first was defect, but it was not. The car is drivable now, just that the other day when I drove into the parking garage it stalled trying to follow through with traffic stepping on the gas then braking alot, at that time there it happened to die on me. It seems when goosing the gas quickly and stopping that is when the stalling occurs and it dies with no hesitation. I notice it does it the same way when idleing and revving but there is still hesitation, but it still ends up stalling.After it stalls I am still able to start it back up. Hopes this makes my problem clearer to you.

[spboy]

Well I came down to figuring out the problem. The EGR modulator was clogged cleaned it up and it seem to run better. No stall after revving on idle. Is it normal when revving smoke comes out of the EGR modulator? It seems to do that after I've cleaned it out with compressed air.

[new echo owner]

The EGR modulator itself shouldn't have cause the engine to stall, since it job is to regulate the amount of vacuum going to the EGR valve according to the engine load and throttle opening.

Smoke comes out of the EG modulator? There is a 'exhaust sensing pipe' that connects to the bottom of it from the EGR valve to sense the exhaust flow. It doesn't really flows outside, so depending on what kind of smoke you are seeing and where it is coming from, can't really say.

The stalling is it usually when cold, because the EGR VSV is suppose to close the vacuum passage to inhibit EGR valve operation when the engine is cold.

Have you double check the vacuum hoses to make sure they are not mixed up?

N.E.O.

[spboy]

Yes the vacuum hoses are correct.

[new echo owner]

If it is better when you had work on the EGR modulator, have you check the EGR valve itself to make sure that it is not sticking? Can't really think of any possible cause between cleaning the EGR modulator and your stalling or idling problem right now.

N.E.O.

[Black95Cam]

using the windows will dim the lights, normal thing...