Need help with stalling, diagnosis - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

tkearins · 08-18-2009, 05:56 PM

My 95' camry with 178K stalls when I accelerate. Coasting at highway speed or even at lower speeds (30 mph) seem fine. Any gas applied, it stalls and then catches itself, and its starting to get worse. When this problem started, it would only occur when the A/C was on. Then it got to the point where it would stall on acceleration with the A/C on, and also for maybe like 5 minutes after shutting the A/C off as well. Now its to the point where I haven't used the A/C in days, and its stalling on every acceleration, especially starting from a stop. From what I see on here, sounds like IAC valve may be at fault. It's also been crazy hot here the last few days which seems to actually make the problem a little worse, but I may be imagining that since I'm feathering the gas now. Here are some other things that i KNOW have occurred or are shot, let me know if you think they are related:

1) A few months ago a rodent chewed up my air filter, and pieces of it got into the throttle body. A piece actually propped the throttle open, and once I inspected I found the problem. I vacuumed out whatever I could. If pieces got sucked past the throttle plate, I don't know, but I'd say theres a pretty good chance.
2) There is a 9 inch crack in the top of my radiator, been there for a year, I keep putting in radiator sealer and more antifreeze, gonna have to get to that soon.
3)There is a large crack/tear in the air intake duct (where the ripples are on the sharp turn)
4) I've had a slow oil leak from the oil pan for a while now, but keep checking and filling as needed, which is basically an 8th of a quart every 2 months or so. I don't think this is related at all.
5) I sprayed Sea Foam Deep Creep into the throttle body this morning and into the hole for the IAC for maybe 15 seconds, put it all together and then watched the smoke come out the exhaust. Didn't make a difference.
6) The fuel filter has never been changed in the car.

Any help with what i should do would be great. I have very little money to spend so I will be doing the work myself if needed. Please help!

carsrus · 08-18-2009, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkearins

3)There is a large crack/tear in the air intake duct (where the ripples are on the sharp turn)

6) The fuel filter has never been changed in the car.

First get the leak fixed and if thats not it, fuel filter.

Those are the two most likely. Is your check engine light on?

tkearins · 08-19-2009, 08:15 AM

The check engine light is not on. The car starts perfectly, no problem with that. Does anybody else have any suggestions? Would a cracked air filter or old fuel filter really cause these? and what would happen if a few pieces of air filter got sucked past the throttle plate? can a piece get sucked down into the IAC?

Camry LE 94 · 08-19-2009, 08:21 AM

Start with the obvious first... Change out the fuel filter and get a new air intake tube. After doing that, give us an update.

carsrus · 08-19-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkearins

The check engine light is not on. The car starts perfectly, no problem with that. Does anybody else have any suggestions? Would a cracked air filter or old fuel filter really cause these? and what would happen if a few pieces of air filter got sucked past the throttle plate? can a piece get sucked down into the IAC?

Cracked air tube means extra air entering the engine, extra air means lean, leans means not enough fuel and well not enough fuel = less power and hesitation.

And these cracked hoses have tendecies to let more air leak at certain speeds,rpm etc.

Clogged fuel filter means the same thing pretty much.

Hopefully those pieces of rubber didnt damage anything.

Run some fuel injector cleaner through it too. Maybe do a tuneup if you havent done one in a while.

tkearins · 08-19-2009, 09:33 AM

Do you think I can just put duct tape over the crack in the air intake tube and that'll be ok?

tkearins · 08-19-2009, 09:35 AM

also, would the radiator have anything to do with this? i put in coolant every 2 days or so just to top off....

carsrus · 08-19-2009, 11:20 AM

The coolant shouldent be related.

If you tape it good enough and wrap it really tight and good it should work. Use a ton of duct tape and overlap a ton.

Mike Gerber · 08-19-2009, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkearins

Do you think I can just put duct tape over the crack in the air intake tube and that'll be ok?

Clean the area first with something like alcohol and clean paper towels. Then apply the duct tape. This would be best if used as a test or just a temporary fix. If it does solve the problem, eventually you are going to have to replace that intake tube.

Mike

whip_cracker · 08-19-2009, 10:00 PM

Fix the intake tube...

Check that the IAC hose isn't blocked at all too (what engine you got mate?)

Does the car idle ok? Does the RPM drop or stall the car? What about when you put the foot on the throttle to say, 2k RPM? It run ok? Possible filter, possible pump issue... maybe even injectors.

What I'd do is get some really nice fuel additive and run on some Premium fuel to see if she starts to behave better. It might stutter for a couple of days, but might be cleaning some of the crap out at the same time. Worth a shot.

tkearins · 08-20-2009, 07:47 AM

I have the 5sfe 4 cyl 2.2 liter. I wrapped the air intake tube with duct tape this morning nice and tight and form-fitting, and then topped off the coolant level again. It was noticeably cooler this morning and the heat wave here is ending. The engine seemed to run just fine! I'll see how it runs in the afternoon when it hits 90 degrees outside and see if theres a difference, but it may have just been the cracked air intake. And whip, the car idles fine, a bit rough but ok, when I start it up it goes up to 1500 and then regularly idles at about 750 rpms. When I reve the engine in the driveway, its fine. It was only occurring while actually driving, especially while driving up hills or with the A/C on. I haven't tried it today with the A/C on yet, but plan to this afternoon...

slpr1mz · 08-20-2009, 05:26 PM

how the fck did a rodent get into your intake tube??? any ways, get some mass airflow sensor cleaner un bolt the maf and clean that. while its off use alot of throttle body cleaner. like buy a can and use it all, not at once ur gonna have to turn your car over a few time should take you at least 4 cycles... a good 6-8 sec spray with throttle down and at multiple angles. make sure engine is off!!! also check your egr modulator to see if its dirty and all vacuum hosing too.