1993 Camry Stalls At Stopsign, Sometimes Sputters On The Highway

[Rampian]

My 93 Camry (2.2 Litre 4 cyl 5SFE engine) had 220,000 miles on it when the problem started...

• stalling at stoplights
  
• sometimes sputtering at highway speed.
  

First I replaced the ancient platinum spark plugs (of course!). No effect.

Then, before getting into the maze of EGR and manifold vacuum devices and tubes, I took a real close look at the distributor. Turns out the 12 volt supply to the ignition coil (this coil is inside the distributor) was intermittently shorting to ground through the distributor housing insulator (black plastic). The faint white discoloration from arcing was a dead giveaway. I guess the insulator and coil just got over-baked after so many miles and then began shorting to the dist housing. No amount of cleaning of the insulator and housing would help. A NEW DISTRIBUTOR, which included a new coil (purchased online for about $128) solved the problem. I'm now at 261,000 miles, and no recurrance.

[camryuser]

A very nice solution to a very annoying fault!

I had a similar problem with my last car, a 2.2 1997 camry. It was misfiring, loosing power and bunny hopping all over the place. So, I took it to my nearest main dealer(who shall remain nameless but I will say they sell and service Lexus too) for a service in the hope the problem would be resolved. No such luck, the problem was still there. So when I took it back, the foreman refused to acknowledge there was even a problem and I couldn't argue with him when he linked it up to the computer and that didn't show a fault.

As a last resort, I took it to a local mechanic, who spotted the fault immediately and a quick fix was silver foil over a burnt out connection as I was going on holiday the next day. After a relaxing holiday with a nice smooth engined car, the mechanic replaced all the distributor leads as one them was burnt out at the distributor end I think(please excuse my mechanical ignorance).

My main point is don't expect the main dealer technicians to know everything, sometimes local back street mechanics are far more knowledgeable and far less narrowminded, and don't cost the earth.

P.S. If someone wants an exact description of the fault I'll try to find the paperwork relating to it, but I think i summed it up correctly.

[Speedbrake]

My 93 Camry (2.2 Litre 4 cyl 5SFE engine) had 220,000 miles on it when the problem started...

[*]stalling at stoplights

[*]sometimes sputtering at highway speed.

Change the TEMPERATURE SENSOR.

I had the same problem on my '92 4cyl Camry. Ten minutes or so after starting, the idle would drop off and the engine would want to stall at stop lights. I had to keep one foot on the gas and one on the brake to keep it from stalling. If it did stall, I would have to wait a full minute or two before it would start again --LOTS of angry people behind me in Chicago rush hour traffic. I also had the surging on the highway.

My mechanic changed the fuel filter. No improvement.

My mechanic changed the coil. No improvement.

My mechanic changed the Distributor. No improvement.

My mechanic changed the Idle Air Control (IAC) valve. No improvement. I was ready to junk the car.

My mechanic changed the Temperature Sensor. GOT IT!

Now I have over 200,000 miles and it still runs great. If you have this problem, it's probably not the Computer, Distributor, or anything else. Try the Temperature Sensor first. It's only ~$50. I'll bet you it does the trick.

[Rudyjr]

In my case the car acted the same way when warmed up sometimes. Several mechanics looked at it and none were able to pinpoint the problem. I changed the coolant temperature sensor and no change. As a last ditch effort I decided to change the EGR valve following a tip on this forum. Mechanic friend told me that no way would that fix the problem. Car has run flawlessly last 30,000 miles, problem solved.

I have developed a minor cold start problem as noted in another thread, but this is minor compared to the other problem.

[notoriousninja]

My 93 Camry (2.2 Litre 4 cyl 5SFE engine) had 220,000 miles on it when the problem started...

[*]stalling at stoplights

[*]sometimes sputtering at highway speed.

Change the TEMPERATURE SENSOR.

I had the same problem on my '92 4cyl Camry. Ten minutes or so after starting, the idle would drop off and the engine would want to stall at stop lights. I had to keep one foot on the gas and one on the brake to keep it from stalling. If it did stall, I would have to wait a full minute or two before it would start again --LOTS of angry people behind me in Chicago rush hour traffic. I also had the surging on the highway.

My mechanic changed the fuel filter. No improvement.

My mechanic changed the coil. No improvement.

My mechanic changed the Distributor. No improvement.

My mechanic changed the Idle Air Control (IAC) valve. No improvement. I was ready to junk the car.

My mechanic changed the Temperature Sensor. GOT IT!

Now I have over 200,000 miles and it still runs great. If you have this problem, it's probably not the Computer, Distributor, or anything else. Try the Temperature Sensor first. It's only ~$50. I'll bet you it does the trick.

did u do it urself or have and auto shop do it, and did it still cost $50 than?

[igormus]

My 93 Camry (2.2 Litre 4 cyl 5SFE engine) had 220,000 miles on it when the problem started...

• stalling at stoplights
  
• sometimes sputtering at highway speed.
  

First I replaced the ancient platinum spark plugs (of course!). No effect.

Then, before getting into the maze of EGR and manifold vacuum devices and tubes, I took a real close look at the distributor. Turns out the 12 volt supply to the ignition coil (this coil is inside the distributor) was intermittently shorting to ground through the distributor housing insulator (black plastic). The faint white discoloration from arcing was a dead giveaway. I guess the insulator and coil just got over-baked after so many miles and then began shorting to the dist housing. No amount of cleaning of the insulator and housing would help. A NEW DISTRIBUTOR, which included a new coil (purchased online for about $128) solved the problem. I'm now at 261,000 miles, and no recurrance.

hello mate

try to clean/degrease MAF sersor together with throttle.

a carbon deposits there might play with you.

Cheers/Igor