car chokes while accelerating

[AlanL]

I recently discovered that my my I4 camry chokes around 2-3000 rpms on any speed. I would be pressing the gas pedal down normally and when it reaches a certain rpm, the car would bog/jerk/hesitate a bit then resume its acceleration. This problem started occurring after I had my AC fixed but I'm not sure if the two situations are correlated.

I did notice that the coolant in the overflow tank is way above the full line. I seafoamed the car about two months prior the AC fix and I changed the oil and replaced the spark plugs after seafoaming the car. The car ran fine after seafoam but the choke in the acceleration started after the AC was fixed.

I drove on the freeway today for about an hour and went back home, shut off the car to go inside the house, opened my garage door and turned the car back on to park it inside. However, the car choked a lot in idle and stalled immediately right after. It did this about 5-6 times to a point where I finally managed to park it inside the garage. The check engine light went on right after that.

30 minutes after that, I turned on the car and it idled fine. I didn't drive it around since it was getting late but the CEL still remained.

I searched the forum and ECT and IAC came up most frequently but I did seafoam the car 2 months ago so could it be the ECT? I checked the signs of wear and tear on vacuum hoses but could not find any and I could not find any leaks either.

Sorry if this post if quite long, but I want to be as descriptive as possible. Any help will be appreciated, Thanks!

[95WhiteCamry]

well ECT is a transmission related thing, which basically changes your shift RPM, and should have no effect on vehicle start-up.

what you're describing does sound like the IAC though. The IAC is a valve that controls air intake while the engine is below operating temperature. The check engine light is most likely in reference to that.

There's a way to clean the IAC. Using throttle body cleaner, clean the throttle body as you would, and right behind the butterfly valve, there is a tiny opening in the body, and that leads to the IAC valve; you can go ahead and spray cleaner into it, and it may help. However, the only real fix is taking it off and cleaning or just replacing.

[FLIP K1DD]

wow sounds exactly like what my 94 is doing, except my check engine light isnt on..yet? ill have to check my IAC or whatever ^^^ you were saying. maybe the fuel pump too? i recently did seafoam 3 days ago..hopefully it is the IAC and nothing else major

[AlanL]

So today, I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery and cleaned the throttle body and the IAC valve for a good 30 minutes. When I finished doing that, it took me a while to start the car up but when it did, a lot of smoke came out from the tail pipe. I ran the car at 2000rpm for a good 10 minutes to get all the white smoke out and just let the car idle for another 10 minutes. The CEL is gone and I've been driving around the city for the whole night without any choking or hesitation.

I think my problem is fixed! Thanks TN! I will keep this thread updated if problems to arise.