1999 camry runs rough

[baseball5292]

First off, I'm new to TN so I'm sorry if I'm doing something wrong and yes I did try and search the problem.

I have a 1999 2.2L Camry LE with some kind problem. While idling and in drive my car sometimes jerks and sounds like its going to die. This is usually noticeable at stoplights. In D the rpms are about 700 and when it jerks the needle dips to around 500 rmp for a second and then recovers. Along with this, occasionally it hesitates when I give it gas for a few seconds. This all happens in the low rpms. Some days are worse than others. I think it is worse on warmer days or when the ac is on but not exclusivly then. This has been happening since i bought the car (a little over a year ago), and the check engine light has been on the whole time. I ran a scan tool and it shows an EGR problem (could it be related?), my autos teacher just thought the EGR valve needed to be cleaned. In the last year I have changed the air filter, ran a can of sea foam through the gas tank, and changed the pluggs. For some reason the spark pluggs were loose when i bought it and after I changed them it didn't hesitate as bad. I'm only 17 with a limited car knowledge so any help would be nice!

Thanks

[Retrospekt]

Clean out your throttle body, IAC hole, and PCV Valve. There are DIY's all over the place. I know ToyotaNation has one for the throttle body in the Gen 3 section. Not sure about the PCV. Google.

[FLIP K1DD]

i had this similar problem with my 94 camry. after using some seafoam and buying all kinds of parts, turned out my problem was a faulty spark plug. try that before spending money on parts like it. sometimes its the small things that are causing major problems

also check your spark plug wires and cap & rotor. one part of my wire had a little slit in it which caused the spark to spark out! really bad.

[bill buttermore]

Also, check to see if you have any vacuum hoses that are leaking, damaged, or disconnected. Look especially around the EGR valve. Bad plug wires can also cause misfires. Since you have a Check Engine Light, it might be a good idea to clean out the EGR valve and check its function.

[carsrus]

If you havent changed these things since you bought the car it might be good to do a little tune up. Change the plugs again, wires, and fuel filter. Clean out the throttle body and get a new pcv valve. This is pretty easy stuff to do and isnt expensive at all.

Egr issues are common so a quick search will get you a guide how to fix it.

[tekno9000]

I have same problem. HAve a faulty 3rd spark plug wire. Changing with new NGK. lso have seen some oil on 2 spark plugs.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by tekno9000

I have same problem. HAve a faulty 3rd spark plug wire. Changing with new NGK. lso have seen some oil on 2 spark plugs.

when i was doing the tune up for the very first time on my 2000 solara (i4) at around 62k I had lots of brown sediment (oil probably) on a spark plug and bottom of the wire "coil". new wires and plugs made it run much better.
it's a great idea to replace the PCV valve too (takes 5 mins with a pair of pliers, cost of new valve at autozone around $5), manual says to replace it every 60k.

fuel filter is the hardest (some though union bolts holding it) anyways should be done as well (every 30k together with new plugs and wires).
http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/pu...HowToBroch.pdf

Throttle Body cleaning DIY here (very easy, 30 mins tops):
How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

PCV valve replacement here (super easy, 5 mins):
http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/pu...HowToBroch.pdf

I haven't done the EGR cleaning as of yet, but planning to, because my car since i bought it 3 years ago has some minor trouble with idling revs especially with A/C on. they seem to sit a little too low at idle on driving gears.

do you know of any DIY on doing the EGR (5S-FE) ? i'm looking for one too. thanks and have a good one!