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2012 Camry SE Intermittent Start Issues

6.9K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  dc2308  
#1 ·
I'm having intermittent starting issues on my 2012 Camry SE I4 with 93k miles. Sometimes the car will start perfectly fine and sometimes will crank a while to finally start up. I changed spark plugs thinking that might solve the issue but still having it. I had no issues starting up this morning before going to work about 56 degrees outside. I read that some people have issues starting when the car is warmer, I will have to test it out moving forward. I replaced my battery about 2 years ago and the voltage is reading about 12.3 volts. No corrosion on battery terminal. Air filters have been replaced as well. Could it be the starter going bad? Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Starter turns engine= starter is good.
You have fuel supply issue. Or, air supply issue. If you have pretty much new air filter, you have good air supply.
That leaves you with fuel supply issue. Either not enough fuel or way too much fuel.
To check if you have too much fuel, fouling spark plugs, when you have that long crank, press gas pedal all the way down to the floor and hold. You are now allowing much more air inside, what blows fuel vapors out and allows weak spark to ignite mix. If this worked, you have leaking injectors, flooding plugs. Just be careful - the very moment it catches, release gas pedal, do not rev engine to the max.
Otherwise, you need to check fuel pressure during those slow starts.
 
#4 ·
I had quite no start incident one day...In fact it was the same day; I was trying to go the bank for my final car payment. How ironic!

Tested the battery; okay. Tried again; no start. Ran OBD scan; no codes. Let the car sit for good hour to avoid flooding it. Started it and struggled again...pressed gas pedal...it ran. Filled it back up with 93 octane and fuel system cleaner (added another bottle the next fill up); never happened again. I think it was either linked to bad fuel from Shell or I had moisure build up since it rained for week straight.
 
#5 ·
I had quite no start incident one day...In fact it was the same day; I was trying to go the bank for my final car payment. How ironic!

Tested the battery; okay. Tried again; no start. Ran OBD scan; no codes. Let the car sit for good hour to avoid flooding it. Started it and struggled again...pressed gas pedal...it ran. Filled it back up with 93 octane and fuel system cleaner (added another bottle the next fill up); never happened again. I think it was either linked to bad fuel from Shell or I had moisure build up since it rained for week straight.
Thanks for mentioning this so I can give an update. I put in a fuel system cleaner last Tuesday and amazingly I havent had any start issues. I never put any fuel system cleaner before in my camry and this was the first time since I bought it new. So maybe I had bad fuel as well. Never knew a $5 dollar bottle would fix this issue :). I also cleaned the MAF sensor as well just for good measure. Thanks everyone for their input and confirmation in troubleshooting!

I'm coming up on 100k miles soon and will need to research online what I need to do next.

So far what I'm seeing is fluid change of Brake, Transmission and Coolant.
 
#6 ·
Update. The long crank start issues came back. No issues starting first thing in morning but when temp outside warms up, it long cranks before starting. I searched more online and saw someone with a Sienna had exact same symptoms and eventually replaced fuel pump.

I replaced my fuel pump last month and had zero start issues even with the weather warming up!

(I ordered my fuel pump online thru McGeorge Toyota. I used them for the first time thanks to forum. Cant beat their price on OEM parts and they are quick with shipping and responding to any questions!)