95 Camry Difficulty Cold starting?

[dsmith222]

Hello, on my 95 4 cyl camry I noticed my check engine light came on but the car was still running fine for three days. Now all of the sudden on a cold start, it has trouble starting. The Starter turns over normally, it just cranks and doesnt want to fire. After holding the key for 10 seconds each time, probly on the seventh or eight time it stumbles a bit and finally starts. For the first minute if I give it gas, it stalls out, after the first minute, it is fine, I can rev up and everything is normal. The car starts fine when warm and runs perfect. The CEL is still continuously on though. I jumpered the diagnostic terminals and the CEL flashes code 22 which means temp sensor? And the OD light flashes 63, solenoid? The starter cranks fine so I dont know what that means. Im puzzled because about a year ago I replaced the temp sensor when my car was having a problem. But it was doing the exact opposite, it started fine cold, but when it was warm it kept stalling out, I found out the temp sensor was faulty and was making the car run rich, and it was making it stall out with too much fuel. if its giving me a temp code the only other thing I can think of is there is a temp send unit, and a temp sensor in the radiator,. but the one I replaced a year ago was on the top of the engine. She has 232k and runs like a brand new car. can anyone help me with this frustrating problem? As an experiment when it had trouble starting I opened up the airbox and gave it some starting fluid, and that made it immediately want to start, although after starting it stumbled upon accelleration for the first minute then it was fine. WOuld this mean it is a fuel problem getting no fuel>? thanks for any help

[haux]

I may just be stupid... which I am, but I don't understand the code 22 and 63 part. Can you drive down to your nearest AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts? They will check your CEL codes for free upon request. Just have a pen and paper on-hand to write them down, as they tend to be in a hurry.

[chronoti]

95 5s is odbi autozone wount scan the code unless odbii. i would say temp sensor again get it somewhere else or replaced under warranty if still under it prolly got you running too lean.

[hill8570]

DTC 22 is the coolant sensor on top of the motor -- if it fails the computer is going to fail-safe to "engine is warmed up"...not so good when you're trying to start on a cold day.

Since you just replaced the sensor a year ago, you might want to stick an ohmeter on that puppy before you change it out...might be the connector or wiring. See http://www.camrystuff.com/manuals/Gen3/eg1.pdf page 356 for the "proper" resistance. Of course, if you used some Chinese-made piece of crap from an auto parts store instead of OEM, it's probably the sensor.

The solenoid DTC isn't related to your starting problem, and if you're shifting OK, it may be completely bogus.

[dsmith222]

Thanks HILL8570!! Problem solved it was the sensor! I didnt think it was the sensor because it was doing the exact opposite for symptoms when the same sensor went bad a year ago. Last year it started fine cold, but ran rough when warm. This time it was the exact opposite. My guess is something went bad in the sensor that wasnt giving it enough fuel on a cold start. This explains why it would start right up with a shot of starting fluid. The sensor I bought a year ago was from NAPA. I thought they sold quality parts, I guess I was wrong. Probably was some cheap part from china. Now that I think of it I just heard of someone going through 3 new alternators before finally getting one that worked right. I got a sensor from advance auto, it is a different brand from the last one, hopefully I will have better luck with this one. Couldnt really go with OEM cause im strapped for cash. Advance was only $22 bucks. If anyone is having the same symtoms as I did, I would recommend starting with the coolant temp sensor, its a quick cheap fix, rather to spend alot of money replacing your IAC valve or EGR valve or coil which could be very costly only to find out it wasnt the problem.