99 Camry 4cyl misses when accelerating. No codes - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Mr.Met · 03-13-2009, 10:34 AM

99 Camry, 4 cyl, 5 sp. 165,000. Fuel filter, air filter, plugs, wires all done in the last 20,000 miles. The car bogs down when accelerating through the gears. It misses, hesitates and even back fires. Importantly, it does this most severely when the RPMs on the low side and I put my foot in it. For example, if I shift into 3rd and the engine goes to 1700 RPM and I try to accelerate quickly from there, I get major hesitation. If I keep the revs high while doing the same thing, the hesitation is there but not nearly has pronounced. I went to AutoZone this AM and there were no codes registered in the computer. I put some fuel injector cleaner in the tank. Maybe some of the injectors are dirty? More likely I'm thinking it's a fuel pressure regulator or pump. I need to invest in a fuel pressure kit to test to be sure. Any other ideas out there?

abew330 · 03-13-2009, 11:35 AM

maybe a clogged injector

Mike Gerber · 03-13-2009, 01:52 PM

"I need to invest in a fuel pressure kit to test to be sure."

That would be a logical place to start, especially if there are no codes present. Hard to tell if what you are describing is an actual missfire or just a hesitation. One would think that if it was an actual missfire, there would be codes like P0300 or P0301 etc., so checking fuel pressure becomes a good place to start.

Mike

SexieWASD · 03-13-2009, 04:40 PM

If your catalytic converter has cracked and is partially blocking the exhaust it will act this way, it is rare that it doesn't throw a code when this happens, but I have seen it more than once.

Mr.Met · 03-13-2009, 06:44 PM

Excellent. Thanks for the replies. I'll get a fuel pressure test kit.

SexieWASD - when you state:

"If your catalytic converter has cracked and is partially blocking the exhaust it will act this way"

you mean the honeycomb converter itself has cracked and some of it has lodged in such a way as to block the normal flow of the exhaust gases? You don't mean the housing has cracked right?

This actually happened (the internal part of the cat cracking up) to me on a 250,000 mile 240 Volvo. The symptoms were horrible performance (no pick up at all, a total dog) and when I went over a bump I could hear crap rattling around in the exhaust system.

I totally appreciate the input from everyone. Thank you!

frenum49 · 03-14-2009, 09:59 AM

To test the fuel pressure regulator, Pull the vacuum line off of the top of the regulator and make sure there it is not wet with gasoline. That vacuum line and the nipple on the reg should be dry. If there is fuel in the line, replace the reg as the diaphragm has ruptured and fuel is being sucked into the intake causing your symptoms.