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2002 Camry v6 bucking/jerking

23K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  jblackburn 
#1 ·
I have a 2002 camry with 212000 miles on it and just lately when driving at a constant speed 60 mph or over it starts to buck or jerk a little bit and you can feel it in the seat. I've had the throttle body cleaned and put in a new mass air flow sensor and it hasn't fixed it yet. Any one know of anything that might be causing this? It doesn't do it when accelerating or slowing down.
 
#3 ·
I would say if you paid for a new MAF without diagnosing that as the cause, you need a new mechanic. That's not cheap, nor a common failure part. So it sounds like a case of "we can charge for it and hope for the best/he won't come back" kind of diagnostics. Pretty crappy.

That said, it could be as simple as an air leak in a hose or plenum. Go over the engine intake front to back, looking for hardened hoses or if you are lucky find a crack in one. The PCU controls things, so treat it right and with that mileage, drain completely (if it has not been done lately) and refill with T-IV or a good synthetic your transmission fluid.

There is no substitute for paying someone to do this for you, or doing it yourself. The cause is obscure at best and the answer is not throwing random new (and costly) parts at it, like a MAF.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I have this same problem with a 2002 V6, ~120K miles. Bucking/jerking at 40 MPH and 60 MPH when trying to maintain a steady speed or steady throttle position.

The throttle body failed outright a few weeks ago and would not respond (well, barely - a very weak limp mode response) to pedal position whatsoever. Replaced the throttle body with a used part, and car is back to its normal self. Throttle response seems to be slightly better.

I have cleaned the MAF sensor, as well as checked for any hose or intake manifold leaks, and cannot find anything. Transmission fluid is filled correctly & cherry red & and smells OK - shifts very smoothly. Car runs extremely well at all other times, and there are no codes - or pending codes - stored in the computer.

Interestingly enough, the jerking response did not seem to be present for a few days after a battery/computer reset after the new throttle body was installed.

Could this potentially be a "dead spot" that has developed in the pedal position sensor? Does Toyota use a non-contact Hall effect sensor or a potentiometer for the throttle pedal sensor?
 
#5 ·
If you look at the wiring diagram, the gas pedal is two potentiometers (wired in reverse for fail safe). Its very unlikely this is causing your bucking problem, as you correlate the condition with speed and not throttle position.

I wonder if it has to do with the torque converter locking up at constant speed. Has it thrown any transmission related codes? When cruising at speed, if you hit the OD button and disengage 4th gear, does it run fine in 3rd?
 
#6 ·
Not the transmission - RPMs are constant and lock/unlocks smoothly and with a noticeable RPM jump. When the jerking occurs, the RPM is at a constant 2K or thereabouts.

Actually, it does seem to be at certain throttle positions once coasting at a certain speed. It is more noticeable on downhill stretches during very light throttle applications.

As an experiment, I asked the driver to set the cruise control at 38-42 where it normally has issues - completely smooth sailing. As soon as CC was turned off, it started doing it again.
 
#7 ·
Additional tidbit - the code thrown when the throttle body went bad was for the throttle position sensor (P0120/P0121) rather than the pedal position sensor (P1121, etc codes).

The thing is - I've seen several complaints of this condition with 4th Gen Camrys with the V6. They don't have the electronic throttle body, though. I have yet to see a resolution to any of those threads, though.

I have heard EGR valves are a problem with these motors - and with a few more searches, could THAT be the problem? Many of these threads also mention stalling, although it has never done that.

I replaced the throttle body on a cold day, so didn't bother to clean anything besides that, but it was quite black and dirty on the other end of the throttle body.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...597585-car-jerks-hesitates-when-coasting.html

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...nge-acceleration-lurching-issue-05-camry.html
 
#9 ·
Good to hear you cleared it.

I had a feeling it was the EGR valve, but didn't realize that the 2002 V6 still had one (I think the newer V6's with VVT-i and drive by wire throttles did away with this).

We had the same thing happen on our family's Honda Odyessy a while back, it was a well known problem and Honda covered it via a secret extended warranty.
 
#10 ·
The 2002/3 V6's seem to be the oddball years. They changed the throttle body design in later years, and it seems that the 2/3 shared some of the stuff with the older 1MZ-FE designs.

I cleaned up the EGR sensor and plug contacts for good measure - there was a little bit of corrosion on the contacts.
 
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