First problem in the gen5 - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

TCLEshovon · 07-22-2007, 03:26 PM

I have a black 05 camry le. It ran perfectly with no problems at all since I bought it in aug of 05. Yesterday I was driving to Atlanta from Birmingham and suddenly I felt a little shudder on the gas pedal. I thought that it might be tires. Then in about 2 mins as I am trying to pull over to check whats wrong...more shuddering. I realized that as soon as I got above 2000 rpm..the car shudders. I was alarmed. The check engine light came on too...but the temp gauge was just fine...no overheating. I turned around and somehow I made it to the toyota dealer. They said that since its a Sat afternoon, they cant have a look till mon. As I was at the dealer I looked under the car and there was no leaks..only water from the ac. Question:
1. Did anyone over here experience this situation?
2. I have around 35000 miles in the car...will warranty cover this?

Thanks.

gdanaher · 07-22-2007, 03:33 PM

Based on what you describe that the shudder occurs above a specific rpm, I'd guess fuel delivery is the problem and that MIGHT mean a clogged fuel filter which likely is not coverd by warranty because it is a replacable filter, but also isn't too expensive either. If the fuel pump has failed or injectors have failed, then I think those items should be under warranty. Generally a manufacturer isn't going to warrant the performance of things beyond their control, like a filter.

carlo$ · 07-22-2007, 06:50 PM

th 05 has a maintenance free fuel filter, so don't accept anything less than warranty work on it. at 35k you are still covered. dont worry.

jrcrum · 07-22-2007, 07:22 PM

I think you can expect the dealer to cover this under warranty, unless it's something like water in the fuel (which doesn't sound likely). I don't have any ideas about what's causing it, though. Too many possibilities.

TRD VVTi · 07-22-2007, 08:07 PM

There are too many possibilities to just guess.

I would hardly believe that the fuel filter is restricted. That's so rarely seen nowadays. People usually say that because they really have no other idea. It's also really rare to have a fuel injection related compontant fail.

Whatever it is, they should be able to fix it Monday without a big problem provided that the part is available.

As long as it's a defective part, you should be covered under warranty. There isn't any maintenance that you could neglect at this point to cause such a problem.

TCLEshovon · 07-23-2007, 03:39 PM

So Hoover Toyota called me today and told me that the reason the car was shuddering was water in the gas...I was shocked. I had just taken gas too...almost a full tank. The place I got gas from is somewhere I go all the time. I had no idea. The dealer said that its going to cost me 600 dollars to fix everything...like cleaning up the injectors..draining the gas out...disposiong the gas according to EPA standars..etc...I am going to go to the gas station call out the owner and give him an earful...ask for reimbursement and if he denies...I am going to take him to the courts...this is very disturbing...!!

01Cobra · 07-23-2007, 03:49 PM

Sorry to hear that. I hope everything gets fixed correctly and you get it paid for. Was this a name brand gas station?

TRD VVTi · 07-23-2007, 03:58 PM

You need to go to the dealer and have them give you a gasoline sample directly from your car. You will be able to see it seperate yourself. You will also need that sample later to prove that there was indeed water in the fuel. Save your gas receipt also. I would also suggest that you photograph the event as the dealer gets the fuel sample for you. You will also be able to document the container that you will be using at that time also.

Good luck. That happens at times, usually at low volume gas stations.

TCLEshovon · 07-23-2007, 04:17 PM

It was Citgo gas station. Come to think about it...it did get bought out recently...I know the owner pretty well too...I am going over to the gas station to talk to the owner in about an hour. As for the receipt..I didn't get one as I paid in cash...I go there all the time and had no reason before to get a receipt. I thought this would be another regular transaction at the time. The gas station should have all records of all the transaction of every day for three days. My dad owns gas stations and its a mandate by BBB to save all receipt for every transaction for three years. I am also going to call the dealer to save me a sample of the gas. So that it could be used in case I sue the station. Thanks for all your inputs. Please keep them coming.

white3ch0c0late · 07-23-2007, 04:36 PM

I would get a second opinion as well. I don't trust dealerships. I've dealt with shady service managers before.

s_ajanthan · 07-23-2007, 05:19 PM

i had a similar experience with my beater 87 camry, it had never stalled on me until, i got the stuttering feeling too... ended up pulled over in the middle of the 401 during rushhour around toronto pearson airport. It had the gas tank replaced on it a couple days before so I guess there was contaminent in the tank... anyways after a few cranks it returned to life and i managed to get home... kinda reminded me of Top Gear's Indestructable Hilux...

s_ajanthan · 07-23-2007, 05:20 PM

i had a similar experience with my beater 87 camry, it had never stalled on me until, i got the stuttering feeling too... ended up pulled over in the middle of the 401 during rushhour around toronto pearson airport. It had the gas tank replaced on it a couple days before so I guess there was contaminent in the tank... anyways after a few cranks it returned to life and i managed to get home... kinda reminded me of Top Gear's Indestructable Hilux...

TCLEshovon · 07-23-2007, 05:55 PM

that's cool...The time it started to shudder...I didn't pull over at all though...I was not far from the Dealer and took a gamble to make it there...and the car did..I was amazed that the car made it to the dealer..and also the check engine didn't stay on for that long...and as long as I kept it under 2000 rpm it was fine...toyota does make fine products...that lasts...!!! A.J., I was wondering if u got it checked out though at a service station?

jrcrum · 07-23-2007, 09:00 PM

Sounds to me like too much money just to get rid of water in the fuel.

TCLEshovon · 07-25-2007, 01:32 AM

So I was talking to a few friends of mine. They told me that I should have never gone to the dealer and I could have fixed it myself. They told me that I could have taken all the fuel out myself and added a water absorbment treatment, fuel injector cleaner later and the dropped some gas in the tank and then drove the car around at high rpms to burn out the water in the system. I am very skeptical now of the dealer. I am getting my car tomorrow so there are people giving me their opinion about how bad their experience was at the dealers. What are your opinions... Questions:

1. Does driving the car around at high RPM's or revving the car(in my case) high would have flushed the system of any water present?

2. Does water/fuel mixtures ussually hurt engines...I mean not a lot of water...I know it hurts combustion in the chamber...but does it actually damage the engine?

Thanks.