99 Toyota Camry engine shakes on cold morning starts and cuts out. Starts fine after

[havosoki]

Hi there,

I just bought a used 1999 Toyota Camry with 105K, the guy was very regular on oil changes and other repairs the Toyota dealership advised him on. His scheduled maintenance book fully filled and stamped for the full 10 years. He was the single owner. I think he did garage it.

But.... I noticed this on every cold start (overnight temps are below 40F) the engine starts with some shaking and today it actually cut out and the check engine light came on. But after turning off the ignition and trying again it came out and hit some gas to "warm it up". After that it starts fine the rest of the day so far it seems.

Any thoughts? I am very much a novice mechanically, but am learning (youtube has helped loads). Definately gonna look at the DIY areas here I've noticed.

Looking forward to all your advice.

[hill8570]

Sounds sort of like the coolant temp sensor, but not 100% classic symptoms. Possibly also the idle air control valve is sticking shut when cold (there's a great DIY here on how to clean the throttle body and IAC)...I don't think most stealerships do that cleaning as part of normal maintenance.

Be interesting to know what the code is / was when the CEL came on. Even if the CEL is off, the code should still be stored. Many auto parts stores will read the code for you for free if you don't want to put out the money for your own code reader.

[haux]

^ what he said.

The check engine light code may be pretty helpful in diagnosing the problem.

[Mike Gerber]

^ what hill8570 said. Here's the link for the throttle body/idle air control valve cleaning. Your problem most likely is a dirty/carboned up idle air control valve, so pay attention to spraying the cleaner liberally down in to the hole referenced. That hole leads to the idle air control valve:

How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

If this doean't cure the problem, my next step would be to test the engine coolant temperature sensor with a digital volt/ohmeter and the specs from any manual.

Mike

[havosoki]

Originally Posted by Mike Gerber

^ what hill8570 said. Here's the link for the throttle body/idle air control valve cleaning. Your problem most likely is a dirty/carboned up idle air control valve, so pay attention to spraying the cleaner liberally down in to the hole referenced. That hole leads to the idle air control valve:

How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

If this doean't cure the problem, my next step would be to test the engine coolant temperature sensor with a digital volt/ohmeter and the specs from any manual.

Mike

Thanks are your responses.
I have garage the car last few nights and just took it for a ride. Definately less hesitation on the start, but the vibration was still there. Also I did notice there is a more faint vibrations when the car is in drive and stopped at a signal light.

Definitely gonna considering doing the DIY you kindly linked above. Thanks!

Another side note (this could be unrelated to this engine shaking, but thought I would note it incase there was some connection). I notice that the headlights are dim just pulling out on a cold start and once I begin driving and hit the throttle I see the headlight intensity go up slightly. Could this be more the battery?

[hill8570]

Originally Posted by havosoki

Thanks are your responses.
I have garage the car last few nights and just took it for a ride. Definately less hesitation on the start, but the vibration was still there. Also I did notice there is a more faint vibrations when the car is in drive and stopped at a signal light.

Definitely gonna considering doing the DIY you kindly linked above. Thanks!

Another side note (this could be unrelated to this engine shaking, but thought I would note it incase there was some connection). I notice that the headlights are dim just pulling out on a cold start and once I begin driving and hit the throttle I see the headlight intensity go up slightly. Could this be more the battery?

Faint vibrations while idling in D are pretty much characteristic of the 4-banger in the Camry...it's not a real well balanced engine even at the best of times. The 4-banger is real good at letting you know if anything is slightly out of whack with the idle...trust me, the vibrations can be a lot more than "faint".

The dimming sounds more like a marginal alternator or iffy wiring than a bad battery. Probably should bring it by an auto parts store and let them run an electrical system tester on it -- it's way easier to do a good electrical system test with one of those babies than to do it at home. If the alternator tests bad, I'd recommend having it rebuilt at a local rebuilder rather than buying a remanufactured alternator -- I've heard way too many horror stories about crappy reman alternators (usually with "lifetime" warranties, so you can have the joy of getting them replaced once a year).

[yotatoter]

sounds like the engine could be idling to slow on start up,that can explain your headlights ,the alt. is turning to slow to charge the battery till the rpms go up than the alt starts charging

[havosoki]

Originally Posted by yotatoter

sounds like the engine could be idling to slow on start up,that can explain your headlights ,the alt. is turning to slow to charge the battery till the rpms go up than the alt starts charging

So is the alternator bad? Not sure what your diagnosis is.
And yes this is a 4 cylinder U.S. (Kentucky) Made 1999 Camry.

[asphalt victory]

sounds to me (not an expert at all) that its just really cold where you are what oil weight are you running? maby a couple of addons like a battery blanket or block heater will help (toyota did offer a block heater as an option in colder climates)

and i mean new cars run like shit when its really cold out

hope i helped any

[havosoki]

Originally Posted by asphalt victory

sounds to me (not an expert at all) that its just really cold where you are what oil weight are you running? maby a couple of addons like a battery blanket or block heater will help (toyota did offer a block heater as an option in colder climates)

and i mean new cars run like shit when its really cold out

hope i helped any

Same scenario today, cut out and got had to give it gas on ignition then keep it there for abit. After this "warmup" runs fine and no issues after wards on starts.

Any other thoughts? Autozone and Kragen/Orielly close by do one of those have free engine check light readers?

[96paseo]

Back to mike gerber's post, you need to start with cleaning the throttle body. Its a very common problem thanks to caron buildup on the butterfly and IAC port. Autozone will read your codes for free. While your there, get a can of Seafoam Deep Creep. Only other tool needed to clean it is a screwdriver to remove the hose clamp on the TB.