car dies at idle - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

nobin · 08-16-2009, 12:05 PM

I have a 02 camry se v6. The battery has been giving me some trouble lately. This is the original factory battery.

Yesterday the car wouldn't start, I tried jump starting the car. It was raining, I put the + on the good battery, then accidentally put the other + end of the wire on the - terminal of my camry battery for a second. Anyway, then I put it correctly and after several tries the started. While I was driving, I had very rough idle and car wasn't going smooth at all. I stopped for gas, when I put the car on Parking the car stalled. tried starting it again and it wouldn't. There was a guy there at the gas station who helped me jump start the car, it started but as son as I let go of the gas it stalls. It would start back again without jump start. I somehow made it home.

This has never happened before and the car drives like a brand new car. very smooth and never had any issues or signs before. Did I kill something when I put the terminals wrong? is it related to the alternator?

please advise.

just a little background info, incase it's important. What happened was, the car wouldn't start couple months back. So I jump started the car, next day I took it to autozone, oreilly, they both checked the battery and said it looks good. Fine, I was ignoring the issue. it died again couple weeks back and I was shopping for new battery.

CamrySExxx · 08-16-2009, 12:17 PM

get your alternator checked out, im pretty sure its messed.

BlackCamSe · 08-16-2009, 12:20 PM

Start it and help it idle. Put on the ac, lights, all accessories and put it in gear with the ebrake on. Should make it learn idle

BlackCam09 · 08-16-2009, 01:43 PM

yep check your alternator...

nobin · 08-16-2009, 02:06 PM

I did what BlckCamSe suggested. started the car (after a hiccup it started). ran all accessories, let it run for a few minutes.

result: AC won't cool, I changed the gear to parking and idle was rough, seemed like car would stall and the battery light came on.

did I fry the alternator when I put + on the - terminal? I guess that's what you get for being lazy and stupid. I should've replaced the battery sooner. now I have to replace 2 parts

btw, I checked the fuses, they seem to be good.

how do you check your alternator?

BlackCamSe · 08-16-2009, 02:38 PM

You can take it out and they will check it at autozone for free

nobin · 08-16-2009, 03:07 PM

now I need to find a howto on taking the alternator out. they can't do it if I drive the car there? bad idea to drive now?

CamrySExxx · 08-16-2009, 04:49 PM

most likely its your alternator, you battery might be affected too.

nobin · 08-16-2009, 05:50 PM

can anyone help me locate a diy on taking out the alternator? I can't start the car now, even with jumper cable.

CamrySExxx · 08-16-2009, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nobin

can anyone help me locate a diy on taking out the alternator? I can't start the car now, even with jumper cable.

try using a different battery that is full ?

Im thinking your alt is fried and your car drained your battery.

nobin · 08-16-2009, 07:57 PM

I failed! Couldn't get the drive belt to come loose. after looking up some diagrams online I located 2 bolts that you need to loosen. please look at this video and let me know if I got the correct ones and what I need to do.

You Tube

Thanks a lot.

mxsmith · 08-17-2009, 08:20 AM

I would clean the MAF sensor first before removing the alternator. See my post to thread http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t240236.html.

I had a bad battery, replaced the battery and the car would not idle. I removed the alternator and had it checked at Advanced Auto and it checked out OK. The MAF sensor is on top of the air intake duct near the air filter, remove 2 screws and it's out. There is MAF sensor cleaner avalilble at any auto parts store.

nobin · 08-17-2009, 11:21 AM

mxsmith,
if it was the MAF I probably would see signs before. It suddenly started behaving this way. The idle isn't that rough. it just not enough idle, the rpm drops almost to zero. Last time when it started, I don't understand why the AC wouldn't work, it was blowing air but not cold. The Alternator was making some noise too.

mxsmith · 08-17-2009, 11:41 AM

You may. I had a dead battery that need to be replaced. But the car gave no indications as far as performance, OBD codes or rough idle prior to the battery replacement. Thought I'd mention the MAF because it's easy to do, two screws and a squirt if cleaner to see if that's the problem.

Some have speculated that in my situatiion the amount of time that the battery was disconnected reset the ECM. The MAF was out of the nominal range and it would take a while to "relearn" the proper setting.

gdanaher · 08-17-2009, 12:48 PM

No, no no. Don't take the alternator out before you check it. By shorting the electrical system there is a good chance that you blew one or more fuses, so check all fuses under the dash and under the hood before doing anything else. Replace bad fuses. Using your cheapo multimeter--Harbor Freight sells some for 3-4 bucks and they work just fine for what you are doing here--check the voltage at the battery with the engine stopped--12.1-12.6 volts nominally. Check voltage with engine running and accessories turned off--13.5-14.2 volts nominally. Check voltage with accessories all running--12.8-13.8 volts. Anything much below this and the alternator needs attention. In any event, replace that old battery.