Do you have a check engine light on? If yes, get it scanned. You may just have a coil(s) that have failed. Very easy to replace. Call your friend at the auto shop and ask him which cylinder is misfiring and replace that ignition coil. The coils are not very expensive.

 

Rescan it for Dtc and post back what you find. Had a similar issue and it turned out to be intermittent coil issue.

 

With the check engine light on (and sometimes flashing), it has stored codes. Like others have stated, you must get those codes read for any of us to help you further. You likely do not need a new car or engine.

 

Decided $40 for the most basic of scanners at Harbor Freight is a bit too high a price to be worth it, so I just called the shop to see if the codes were on file.

The one that came up yesterday was:
-P0301 Cylinder 1 Misfire

And then these have been on file for multiple years (almost certainly from back when my Dad still drove the car):
-P0410 Secondary Air Injection System
-P0412 Secondary Air Injection System Switching Valve A Circuit
-P0440 Evaporate Emission System
-P0441 Evaporate Emission System Incorrect Purge Flow
-P0446 Evaporate Emission System Vent Control Circuit

Also before calling, I grabbed a laser thermometer and did a temp test on the (exhaust?) tubes under the heat shield (saw someone look at those using a thermal camera in one vid as a test method). Pre-start was ~105 F on each tube, and while idling, they get progressively cooler towards the passenger side, with the passenger-most tube being only ~115F, compared to the driver-most being well over 210 F on idle (that cylinder might've been up in the 230 range; I can't remember exactly).

Wanted to swap cylinder plugs to see if I could move the issue, but the cables aren't quite long enough.

 

Looks like replacing the cylinder one coil will get you back in business.

 

Just tried swapping two coil plugs (best one with worst one, though both were on the same coil). Cylinder 1 still has lowest temp, and taking one of those contactless electrical sensors, the cylinder 1 line is the weakest (dunno if that's a symptom of the misfire, or if it's a symptom of what's causing the misfire). There's also a really strong fuel smell that the car gives off while running (more towards the back though, as I didn't notice until I went to shut the engine off).

Dunno if that means a valve is damaged, or if it's more a wire problem (though the wires appear visually okay).

 

If I remember correctly, your vehicle has two coil packs. One for cylinders one and four and the other for cylinders two and three. I'm trying to figure out why you didn't install a new single ignition coil for cylinders one and four.

 

I would suggest you do a cylinder compression pressure test on each cylinder, following the factory service manual guides. If the oil spitting onto the spark plug involves the part of the spark plug the piston sees (not the part of the spark plug in the spark plug tube), it may be possible the rings on one cylinder have broken, allow oil to get to the spark plug and significantly reducing the cylinder compression pressure to cause the misfire. Just a thought, but doing what I suggest should tell you if this is likely the problem, or not.

 

Just tried swapping two coil plugs (best one with worst one, though both were on the same coil). Cylinder 1 still has lowest temp, and taking one of those contactless electrical sensors, the cylinder 1 line is the weakest (dunno if that's a symptom of the misfire, or if it's a symptom of what's causing the misfire). There's also a really strong fuel smell that the car gives off while running (more towards the back though, as I didn't notice until I went to shut the engine off).




I dont know what that means... you tried swapping the spark plug wires between the two posts on the coil? Yo ucan;t do that since the coils are firing in a specific order...I beleive you can however switch the coils over with one another as they are the same I beleive.....but the spark plug wires must be in the correct order like a distributor.


if you've eliminated the coil....id also replace the spark plugs... with 288K miles its possible they are terribly worn. When is the last time this car had a tune up? if anything you can swap the spark plugs between cylinderss....

Might be a bad injector. I had one, then another go bad in a short period of time on these cars..... caused the same symptoms / fuel smell as well.

Since you isolated the problem down to cylinder one, check the plugs, coil , spark and compression.... If all seem ok then you might have a hung up injector

 

I dont know what that means... you tried swapping the spark plug wires between the two posts on the coil? You can;t do that since the coils are firing in a specific order...I believe you can however switch the coils over with one another as they are the same I believe.....but the spark plug wires must be in the correct order like a distributor.

You could switch spark plug cords (wires) on the coil, as long as you also switch them on the appropriate spark plugs (assuming the cord being swapped to cylinder #1 is long enough). The setup is per the attached diagram below. The ignition system is a waste-spark system, meaning the coil fires two spark plugs all the time - but only one needs the spark at a specific time while the spark in the other spark plug is wasted. Regarding swapping coils, maybe you can. But if you notice in the same diagram below, each coil has unique part numbers not shared with the other. So there is something different about them.

if you've eliminated the coil....id also replace the spark plugs... with 288K miles its possible they are terribly worn. When is the last time this car had a tune up? if anything you can swap the spark plugs between cylinders....

This is a wise thing to do. Even just swapping #1 cylinder's spark plug with another cylinder's spark plug to see if the spark plug is at fault. Only thing though assuming a spark plug is faulty is this doesn't explain why #1 cylinder's spark plug keeps getting oil on it.

Might be a bad injector. I had one, then another go bad in a short period of time on these cars..... caused the same symptoms / fuel smell as well.

Yes, this is also a possibility. Like the spark plug thought though, it doesn't explain the issue with #1 cylinder's spark plug having oil on it.

 

The one that came up yesterday was:
-P0301 Cylinder 1 Misfire

You've received a lot of feedback/input on this one already

And then these have been on file for multiple years (almost certainly from back when my Dad still drove the car):
-P0410 Secondary Air Injection System
-P0412 Secondary Air Injection System Switching Valve A Circuit
-P0440 Evaporate Emission System
-P0441 Evaporate Emission System Incorrect Purge Flow
-P0446 Evaporate Emission System Vent Control Circuit

Your 2000 Camry 2.2L 5S-FE has a Secondary Air Injection System? Are you sure? I can't find any information regarding this kind of system on a 2000 Camry 4-cylinder engine. Are you sure you got the code numbers (P0410 & P0412) copied down correctly? For the other 3 EVAP codes, if you've had them for years, you likely don't need any help with them because you're not trying to fix them.

Also before calling, I grabbed a laser thermometer and did a temp test on the (exhaust?) tubes under the heat shield (saw someone look at those using a thermal camera in one vid as a test method). Pre-start was ~105 F on each tube, and while idling, they get progressively cooler towards the passenger side, with the passenger-most tube being only ~115F, compared to the driver-most being well over 210 F on idle (that cylinder might've been up in the 230 range; I can't remember exactly).

I totally do not understand what you are saying here.[/QUOTE]

Wanted to swap cylinder plugs to see if I could move the issue, but the cables aren't quite long enough.

If you wanted to swap cylinder spark plugs, but not the cables, then you should not have any problems with cable length, right?

 

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. Sorry I couldn't respond for a bit; internet was out over the weekend.

If I remember correctly, your vehicle has two coil packs. One for cylinders one and four and the other for cylinders two and three. I'm trying to figure out why you didn't install a new single ignition coil for cylinders one and four.

I wanted to test if the coils were actually the issue before buying new ones

I dont know what that means... you tried swapping the spark plug wires between the two posts on the coil? Yo ucan;t do that since the coils are firing in a specific order...I beleive you can however switch the coils over with one another as they are the same I beleive.....but the spark plug wires must be in the correct order like a distributor.

Learned that the hard way. Tried swapping cylinder 1's line to the other coil, and the car wouldn't start, then tried putting cylinder 1 and 4 on the other coil, and the car still wouldn't start. Swapped them back to the original coils after that. (Cylinders 2 & 3 were still plugged into a coil during all tests.)

if you've eliminated the coil....id also replace the spark plugs... with 288K miles its possible they are terribly worn. When is the last time this car had a tune up? if anything you can swap the spark plugs between cylinders....

Could be the issue, but I imagine the shop probably would've caught that. We've also been taking it there regularly for years, so if the spark plugs did need replacing, it probably would've come up on our file.

I would suggest you do a cylinder compression pressure test on each cylinder, following the factory service manual guides. If the oil spitting onto the spark plug involves the part of the spark plug the piston sees (not the part of the spark plug in the spark plug tube), it may be possible the rings on one cylinder have broken, allow oil to get to the spark plug and significantly reducing the cylinder compression pressure to cause the misfire. Just a thought, but doing what I suggest should tell you if this is likely the problem, or not.

I have yet to call and ask, but I think the shop did do a compression test. I remember hearing a point where they kept cranking the engine with no turnover, and that was about when the friend who owns the shop said "It's not looking good." If that was what they were doing, I have no idea if it was also followed up with a leak down test.

If I were to do my own leak down test, I'd have to buy the nozzle for it. I do have an electric air compressor on hand though.

 

Call and ask. The cylinder compression pressures should have been provided to you. Without the data from the tests, no point in doing a leak-down test.

 

Called shop today. They did do both a compression and leakdown test.

• Cylinder 1: 100psi, with 60% leakage on the leakdown test.
• Cylinder 2: 110psi
• Cylinder 3: 110psi
• Cylinder 4: 118psi

They also said that the leak didn't indicate a bad valve, and that this is a case of the [piston] rings being bypassed.

 

Sorry, I've been traveling since receiving your last post. Your 4-cylinder engine is a 2.2L 5S-FE. I don't have the compression specs for a 2000 5S-FE, but I do for a 1993 5S-FE. The minimum cylinder compression pressure is 142 psi, with a target cylinder compression pressure of 178 psi or more. These pressures are based upon having previously warmed up the engine, disconnecting the distributor connectors (for yours, if you don't have a distributor, it would be pulling the EFI fuse), removing all spark plugs, have the throttle plate on the throttle body fully open, and the cranking speed of the engine needs to be 250 RPM or more. If the pressures you show were obtained using the method described, you engine may not run at all, or if it does, it must run extremely rough. Those low of values makes me question if your timing belt jumped several teeth at some point. Maybe your timing belt has never been changed? It should be changed every 60,000-100,000 miles on this engine, and you are just a little under 300,000 miles. That would be the first thing I would be checking, if I were you.

 

OK. But I would still verify mechanical timing is good. Timing belt kit with water pump? Toyota never sold such a kit. Something tells me that kit, and perhaps a lot more of the parts, are not OEM Toyota. If this assumption is correct, don’t expect OEM service life. You may have a bad timing belt tensioner, idler pulley, belt not matching OEM specifications, other things. Just check your mechanical timing to verify everything matches the factory service manual for correctness. Something is causing those much to low cylinder compression pressures. If you think something else is more likely the cause, then check that something else!

 

Is there a resource you know of that I can follow to check the timings?
This is not something I've ever done myself, and I don't know if I'm even finding the correct information on Google (almost everything points towards belt replacement).
I want to be sure I'm actually gathering the correct information, and avoiding potential engine damage.

 

I can't seem to find any videos on accessing/changing a VVT-i system on a 5S-FE. Even doing a search in the forums here, it seems like people are saying the 5S-FE never had a VVT system (while some 1MZ-FE engines did?).

I don't believe there ever was VVT-i on a 5S-FE either. I don't see any such setup in the part diagrams for a 2000 Camry CE either.

Was easily able to find videos on accessing the timing belt though, but hoo boy is that going to be a long ordeal. One thing I'm curious on regarding the timing belt stuff: will I need to buy a torque wrench if I can't find one lying around, or will a regular ratchet be fine for removing/reattaching everything I need to check the timings? (That question is directed to anyone reading, not just Strega.)

My suggestion was just to check valve timing. The only thing you need to do is to remove the top timing belt cover. That should not be too difficult. If the timing is spot on, then put the top timing valve cover back on again. If it is off, take it to a mechanic and have him/her do the necessary work (if you are not set up to do that).

 

I don't believe there ever was VVT-i on a 5S-FE either. I don't see any such setup in the part diagrams for a 2000 Camry CE either.

My suggestion was just to check valve timing. The only thing you need to do is to remove the top timing belt cover. That should not be too difficult. If the timing is spot on, then put the top timing valve cover back on again. If it is off, take it to a mechanic and have him/her do the necessary work (if you are not set up to do that).

You’re correct, it was the 2003 model V6 that Toyota first used VVT-I, not the 2000 model year. My bad!

 

Update: Attempted a upper t-belt cover removal...

That was a complete failure.
First, there is way too much in the way to get the ratchet onto the 10mm cover bolts (hand for rough scale).

Naturally, I decided to just try moving the dogbone & support out of the way, since that was the main impediment.
However, the upper 14mm bolt would not budge (likely because it was last installed with a power tool).

Had the alternate idea to just see if I could find a hand wrench to take off the shaft cover's 10mm bolts, but couldn't find one, although while writing this, I checked a new-in-package set of wrenches (which were in with my "indoor" tools), and apparently they're metric, so maybe it would work? Not sure if it'd be worth a test though since the 10mm cover bolt may prove to be too tight regardless.

Although, looking closer at the photos, I don't think I can get the top cover off without removing the dobgone & support.
So...I'm not exactly sure what the best method for getting the 14mm dogbone bolts off would be. Buy a torque wrench (if that would even do it)? Buy a power ratchet/wrench?

Also, separate question:
Even assuming worst case with bad piston rings, is the car safe to run/drive any distance/amount of time? Because if I attempt the timing cover again, I'd like to pull it into the garage - it's been like 90+ degrees outside lately...
(Granted it's already been driven over 24 miles with the misfire due to my Dad taking it to the grocery store & home, me taking it to the auto shop, and then me stopping at the other auto + machine shop on the way home, in addition to a few running idle tests. Thus I presume moving it into the garage and out wouldn't really matter.)

 

Given your experience, you may want to strongly consider taking it to a mechanic that has a good reputation near you to check the mechanical timing. If you strongly think another cause is present for the very low cylinder compression values, take it to another mechanic that can evaluate worn rings (which is phase two of doing cylinder compression pressures - just a few tablespoons of oil added to each cylinder to see to what, if any, degree the cylinder compression pressures increase. It is a straightforward test, but I sense from your responses that you are not comfortable doing these, which is very understandable. If you have a friend who is, ask that friend for help.

 

2000 2.2L

 

177psi
142
14

That test shows you are down on all cylinders. I would retest to confirm the reading, use a basic comp gauge as starting point, do both a dry & wet test.

 

Was thinking about the outside temperature, and I had a dumb thought:
Maybe if the bolts weren't so warm/hot, they'd actually budge, due to thermal expansion/contraction.

Will come back to this in a couple weeks (stuff going on; will be awhile before I can focus on this again).
When I do, I'll put the car in the garage overnight, and maybe also put ice packs against the bolts a few minutes before attempting to remove them. Hopefully that'll let me get somewhere with checking the timings.

 

Was thinking about the outside temperature, and I had a dumb thought:
Maybe if the bolts weren't so warm/hot, they'd actually budge, due to thermal expansion/contraction.

Hypothesis proven right, maybe?
Due to overcast, the outside temperature was much more mild this evening, and so I decided to give the bolts another shot. Got all the ones visible from the top side off! I did try a little bit harder this time, so that could've also helped.

However, there's bolts on the lower part I'll have to get off, which will be another day, due to the fact that it was getting late. (The car's also parked on dirt, which I can't imagine would go well trying to jack it up.)
Due to that and the time, I basically put everything back without making them stupid tight. But the timing inspection seems a bit more feasible than I thought yesterday.
Self-confidence renewed.

I also noticed that this little hose (pic is not my physical engine, obviously)...

That little hose was not fully plugged into the camshaft. So I pushed it back in by a smidge.
Doubt that was the issue this whole time, but hey, I'm gonna run a "for the hell of it" test tomorrow just to make sure.
(Was going to test it tonight, but the whole thing wouldn't start, and only after it had started thundering/raining did I realize I never plugged one of the grounding wires back in...whoops!)

 

Unintended vacuum leak/s is not good when hunting down issues.

 

As expected, pushing that little thing in didn't magically fix the engine.

Also, the grounding clip was not what was causing the car not to start - it just didn't want to regardless.
Held the gas to force a start, but the engine sounds even weaker than the last time it ran (said last time was only for a minute to ensure I plugged the ignition coils back in correctly). However, I don't think I felt that heavy shake this time?

It runs enough that I could probably pull it into the garage to continue trying to check the timings, but I wouldn't chance driving it any distance now.

 

So, I've realized that, at worst, I'm gonna have to spend several thousand dollars. Therefore, I might as well spend a hundred or two to get the necessary self-diagnostic tools. Could even lead me to finding it's an issue I can fix myself.

That said, does anyone have any recommendations on an affordable but accurate Compression + Leakdown testing kit, as well as a torque wrench, and OBD2 scanner?

 

For leak down testing, most auto parts stores will lend/rent the kit to you.
Also, there are a lot for sale on the internet / harbor freight at reasonable price:

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For torque wrench, the most economical and durable is a beam type. Lasts forever, forgiving of abuse and much cheaper than the fancy split beam, or the digital "clicker" types which require care and need to be re-calibrated periodically to prevent risk of causing trouble. When those type need recalibrating a beam type is used to do it. The tradeoff of a beam type is they are less convenient (requires line of sight to the scale).

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