3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
Hello everyone. I have a 93 Camry with 185K miles, 5SFE, manual transmission. I recently had a problem with it but got it fixed to day (I was waiting on parts). My father is the primary driver of the car, I just service it. It had developed a misfire on cylinder number 4 due to a failed plug wire. I told him about a week before this that he should think about doing another tune up. I put in new plugs, wires, a cap, and rotor.
I've noticed for a while now that the idle is pretty rough. I thought most of it was attributed to the need of a tune up, but after I did the tune up, the rough idle is still there.
My usually car is a 95 Neon and they are fairly prone to motor mount failures. Do the motor mounts on these Camrys go bad? From the outside the just look like the mounts are rubber that the engine sits on, but Rock Auto says that they are hydraulic.
Pretty much what I'm driving at here is, is there anything indigenous to these 5FSE engines that give a rough idle? Motor mounts, carbon buildup in the throttle body and IAC, locations where vacuum leaks are common? Anything like that will be helpful to me. Thanks everyone!
I own a 96 with an automatic and the 5sfe. I have 235000 miles on my car and have replaced the front (hydraulic) motor mount and the passenger side top motor mount known commonly as a dogbone mount. I cannot remember the engine running rough at idle when warm or cold. I noticed the motor would jerk under load while driving. But if both of these mounts failed at the same time it might cause this. Also if you do diagnose the motor mounts and change them remember that front mount has three bolts holding it in place but 2 of them are connected from the top and 1 of them is taken out from under the car.( or vice versa- I changed mine three years ago and cant remember which bolt was on the under side just pay attention to it). I found this out when taking it off at night and snapping a socket.
I would recommend checking the intake hose from the air filter to the intake. In some of them there is a fitting that is not used on all camrys. So they have a small plug inserted in them in what I would call the outside of the bend of the elbow position on the hose. I had to replace my hose after a failure where the throttle body connects to it. And the replacement part had the fitting for a vaccum hose that wasnt on my car so i had to plug it with a small bolt and a band clamp. I think that would cause a rough idle no matter if it is warm or cold. Just check that hose at the connection point at the air filter and the throttle body. And look for a vacum hose connector on it that isnt being used and has lost its plug. I think this could be a likely problem on your car because that hose can get damaged when you change the air filter especially when it is old and brittle.
You can also here most vaccum leaks on a camry when you are running the engine and lift up the hood. I have had several small hoses fall off mostly after doing work on the car and there will be a distinct sucking noise that may sound something like a metal to metal grind.
Good luck and take care of that car the 96 camry is the best car I have ever owned and they are so easy to work on. I mean why cant all cars have the oil filter changed from the top?.
Do a thorough clening of the throttle body paying particular attention to spraying the cleaner liberally down in to the square or diamond shaped port in the base of the throttle body. That port leads to the idle air control valve, where you problem may exist. They do get very dirty over the years and can cause drivablility problems, especially at warm idle as you describe. Does the car get a fast idle when first started cold in the morning? If not, that is another sign of a clogged up idle air control valve. Here's a DIY on cleaning the throttle body of a later model 5SFE engine. Your's should be almost identical:
Though I cannot hear any vacuum leaks, I'm not sure if there are any or not. With as rough as the idle is, it almost seems like there is a leak at the intake manifold, but again, I can't hear anything. I will check that air intake hose but I don't think it is cracked. I can't remember seeing anything that looked like an unused fitting but I will certainly check that area out.
Yes, the car does fast idle when it is first started. It starts out at a little under 2K and slows down in about 3 to 4 minutes if it is not driven. I had the air intake of yesterday and the TB looked a little gummy from what I did see. I'll probably just take it off and give it a good cleaning since its never been done.
I'm taking as best care of the car as I can. Its kind of hard when people hit it and then tell you to get a quote, then when they hear the price of the quote ask, "what year is that car?", like the year matters when you are talking about collision work. Then its even better when they deny that they took the corner wide and hit you. I'm just a little angry about that. Needless to say, so is my dad.
Anyway, I'll try cleaning out the TB and see what happens.
My friend had the same problem on his 96 Camry (same generation as yours). He couldn't figure it out and he is a mechanic. Then one day while driving uphill he noticed his temperature gauge going up, but only on hills. Was even more a mystery. Then he noticed oil coming out of his engine. He took the engine apart and the timing belt and water pump were full of oil. He had bad camshaft seals--a common occurrence on 3rd generation Camrys. When he was going uphill the timing belt which drives the water pump was slipping.
There is a do-it-yourself step-by-step instruction guide on-line with pictures on the web, but I can't find it and don't remember the website. It may have been this website, but not sure.
My friend changed the timing belt, water pump and camshaft seals and the rough idle went away.
I'm taking as best care of the car as I can. Its kind of hard when people hit it and then tell you to get a quote, then when they hear the price of the quote ask, "what year is that car?", like the year matters when you are talking about collision work. Then its even better when they deny that they took the corner wide and hit you. I'm just a little angry about that. Needless to say, so is my dad.
Anyway, I'll try cleaning out the TB and see what happens.
Oh I am currently in the same boat. I had the green light at an intersection with limited sight distance and some idiot driving an escalade rant he light. I was able to brake hard enough that I didnt get t boned but I nosed into the side of him. only damaging gis running board and back wheel. But my camry was technically totalled just because of the cost of repairs. But I liked the car so much at the moment it is 60 miles from my house being repaired in trade for a 1973 plymouth duster. I think I am getting a better deal.
Ok, I cleaned the throttle body this weekend and just had a chance to drive it today. Seemed like the IAC was stuck since it was idling around 1,500 RPM. I took it apart again and cleaned the IAC and it is now idling around 950 RPM.
What should the idle speed be? For as long as I could remember, this thing idled right around 800 or 825 RPM.
i heard that its not good to clean the throttle body even with throttle body cleaner cuz theres a special coating in there that can be removed. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I am thinking about doing this on my '98 V6
i heard that its not good to clean the throttle body even with throttle body cleaner cuz theres a special coating in there that can be removed. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I am thinking about doing this on my '98 V6
I remember some Ford cars a few years back where the throttle body had a special coating on them and a warning to not to clean this throttle body was printed on them. I do not remember any Toyota vehicles on which you can not clean the throttle body.
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5SFE with rough warm idle
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