Pretty sure nobody can solve this

[Ruchi]

Hey fellas,

Here's the deal:

Car: 92 5 spd. DX with absolutely no options.

Symptom: When accelerating hard in first gear, sometimes even in second, the acceleration stops and the car really slows down hard for a second, as if I put my foot on the brakes! Happens everytime I accelerate hard.

Rule outs: The clutch isn't slipping - for two reasons 1) the RPM's don't seem to rev and 2)the engine and car DECCELERATE pretty hard when this happens.

Also, I don't believe it to be fuel cut off or TPS related, because it doesn't happen in gears 3-4-5.

Possibilities: 1) Gasoline is sloshing in the fuel tank upon acceleration, starving the fuel pump. 2) Upon acceleration, the G-forces could be acting on a wire or something causing it to short (or a wire could be getting pinched between hard metal somewhere). 3) Toyota somehow has a built in accelerometer that monitors Gs and prevents you from getting any type of high performance out of the car!

Hopefully someone else has encountered this problem. And hopefully it's not inherent to all Toyotas.

[Luckynumber5]

Probably ignition related, try replacing the cap and rotor.

[DarkMastyr]

Might not necessarily be fuel cut, but it might be a partially messed up fuel map and. Who knows it might even be something simple like a loose wire connection. I've had my share of problems that came with something as stupid and annoying as that. Keep in mind you do get the greatest degree of acceleration in 1st, followed by 2nd, so it's not completely unreasonable to think that the connection might be coming loose under hard accel, then snaps back into place when the accel stops. Just throwing out ideas here since this does seem to be one of those really annoying random problems.

[Novice_cardude]

Could be related to something pushed around by the actual physical hard acceleration, but more likely it's a fuel issue. When was the last time you cleaned out your throttle body and injectors? If you pound the gas in there and the mixture is wrong, you can actually bog the engine down more, causing engine braking.

Also, check your compression, and ignition systems over real quick. Could also be poor ignition.

But ya never know, might be something really simple and dumb like has already been said.

[Axel Kain]

i kinda have the same prob, but usually in the mornings when the car is cold. but sometimes under normal conditions too. im going to replace the cap and rotor some time soon..

[Ruchi]

Thanks for the help, I'll check out the spark plugs and make sure they're secure. I should also probably run some fuel injection cleaner thru the system. Hopefully it's something simple like you guys said.

[68Z/28]

When is the last time the fuel filter was changed?

[chronoti]

try and reset the ecu.

but the fuse or battery for 15 seconds the fuse is called efi and is under the hood. made make sure the tps is tight in, might be sliding out under hard load.

[mescalito]

Originally Posted by 68Z/28

When is the last time the fuel filter was changed?

X2 -

10 bucks says this is your problem. Had the same issues when I bought mine. It would buck under hard acceleration like it hit a wall. Changed the fuel filter and no more problems, plus you get improved MPG.

[Ruchi]

Thanks fellas, I'll go out and check the TPS to see if it's loose, also since the fuel filter was changed about 80,000 miles ago, I'll change the fuel filter. Hopefully Walmart has one for the Camry.

Thanks again, I'll let you know if this fixes the situation.

[marc780]

Yeah ruchi, you're on the right track now i think - id say its fuel. 80,000 miles is a long time to use a fuel filter.
It could also be an injector problem, maybe they are dirty or one is malfunctioning. If none of these suggested fixes do the trick id do a compression check and go from there. (Minimum acceptable compression PSI for the 4 cylinder is 142 psi) .

[73sport]

OK - Lets say there is water in the tank and under hard acceleration the water moves from the shallowist part of the sump displacing the fuel, so you suck water into the pickup!

Try some fuel additive to remove water and do the filter thing.

PS - try to capture the fuel from the filter into a see through container and see if if seperates into two parts. It may answer this question real quick.

Good Luck,
/ra

[Ruchi]

Problem solved! As far as I can tell, it was the fuel filter. I really had to wrestle the lower fuel line bolt off for 30 minutes. I also put in a bottle of fuel injection cleaner, but I'm pretty sure it was the fuel filter that was causing the problem - it was dripping what looked to be brown fuel!?!

Special thanks to 68Z/28, Mescalito, Marc780, and 73Sport. I owe you guys.