'95 2.2L Check engine light just came on!

[Bobert007]

First of all, TIA for anyone out there that may be able to help.

I have a '95 camry with a Japanese import engine that was put in the car about 5 months ago. It is also an automatic.

I have had no trouble with the car until about a week ago. It was a warm day that day and I was driving in stop and go city traffic. For whatever reason the temperature gauge started fluctuating up and down between normal and hot. It was jumping into the hot range mostly when the car was stopped at a light and would go back down when the car got moving again. The fluctuation was quite rapid, which surprised me.

Strangely, that was the only day that the temperature gauge did that and there have been warm days since. However, just over a week later the check engine light just pops on!

Over this last week or so I have been checking the engine for signs of overheating and coolant loss or leaking, but nothing. The engine seems to be running cool and smoothly.

Yet, I am left wondering if there is a link between the check engine light and the brief temp gauge fluctuation a week earlier?

I haven't taken the car to a shop yet to run a diagnostic on it in hopes that I can save some money and figure this thing out on my own (and perhaps with your help

Any ideas on what might be the problem?

Thanks!

[95WhiteCamry]

your best bet is to pull the check engine light code using an OBDII reader, or if you don't have the plug for that, running the diagnostics of the TE1 terminal and something else, i forget, but you can look up the procedure online.

the fluctuation of temperature might be result of a flaky temp sensor, won't hurt to check the connections/functionality of that as well.

[Camry LE 94]

If you have an Auto Zone near you, they will read the Check Engine Light code for free with their OBD II reader, which will ultimately tell you what the exact fault is.

My friends 93 Saturn does the same thing with the temp. gauge. When he is in stop & go traffic, the temp. goes all the way up near the red line. But when he's driving normally on a highway or road without stop & go traffic, the temp. needle stays at the first line under the cool temp.

[Mike Gerber]

The 95 Camry 4 cylinder 5SFE engine is OBD1, not OBD2. (The 95 V6 engien was already OBD2.) That means that Autozone can not read the codes for you; however, you can read them yourself with a piece of wire or a paper clip. Any service manual will have this simple procedure and what the readouts mean.

Mike