Avalon Intermitent Start Problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

chronoopus · 02-11-2009, 06:03 PM

Hey Guys,

I have a 2002 XLS with 72K miles. It wont start on an intermittent basis. I give it the gas , and as soon as I take my foot off of it, it stalls. The only way I get the car to start is if while I have my foot on the gas and quickly put it in drive and go, and then the car runs fine for a while. The battery was recently replaced. The connections to the battery are clean. I know ZERO about cars, but would like to gain some knowledge before taking it to my mechanic. My mechanic has been good in the past, but his reponse is that since I got it to work then that's it. I need some suggestions, because I don't wanna get stuck anywhere or cause more damage to the car.

Thanks and great forum!
Adam

***toyomoho*** · 02-11-2009, 10:47 PM

Did the problem start after the battery change?

Does the problem happen when engine is cold, hot, both?

chronoopus · 02-12-2009, 02:56 PM

I had this problem before I changed the battery recently. Now it seems more frequently. It happens more often when cold. Allthough it has happened warm.
Thanks for your response.
Adam

***TrailDust*** · 02-12-2009, 08:15 PM

This happened to my Avalon a couple years ago. Same intermittent start problem with no warning/maintenance light on the dash. Turned out to be the ignition system. Once replaced, she started like a champ.

TrailDust

chronoopus · 02-12-2009, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust

This happened to my Avalon a couple years ago. Same intermittent start problem with no warning/maintenance light on the dash. Turned out to be the ignition system. Once replaced, she started like a champ.

TrailDust

Thanks! May I ask did you take it to the dealer or private shop? What did it cost?

Adam

***TrailDust*** · 02-12-2009, 10:08 PM

Normally I take it to my personal mechanic, but I took it to a service center due to extenuating circumstances. I don't remember the price. Let me see if I can find it in my auto repair folder and I'll post it. Good luck to you!

BrendAvalon · 03-15-2009, 03:14 PM

I cannot tell you what went wrong, but the same thing happened to me, in both warm and cold weather. I have a 2000 Avalon XLS.

I had a 1.5 year old battery with 18,000 miles put on the battery, approximately 130,000 miles on the car when it first happened. Here are the details:

April 2008. After reversing out of parking space at CVS (quick stop, engine still warm), the car stalled when I went to put it into drive.

May 2008. Put car into reverse, went to pull out of parking space, car stalled. Happened twice in a row.

December 2008. Cold engine. Cold outside. Tried to start car twice, but no juice. Depressed accelerator while trying to turn ignition key and car finally started.

I know this does not help to solve your problem, but I wanted to give details of what happened in case you had similar occurrences.

Brendan