brewer Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I have a '96 camry, 145K miles with a stalling problem that's getting worse. It'll stall when stopping after high-speed driving. I noticed a lot of info here about stalling problems and started looking into things last night. One thing i did notice was oil on the #1 spark plug. It was on the ceramic part, like the oil was poured in through the wire boot. Is this a leaky valve cover gasket?? How much $ would this cost to fix? Would/could this cause the stalling? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaw Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Is it the 4 or 6 cylinder? I have a '96 camry, 145K miles with a stalling problem that's getting worse. It'll stall when stopping after high-speed driving. I noticed a lot of info here about stalling problems and started looking into things last night. One thing i did notice was oil on the #1 spark plug. It was on the ceramic part, like the oil was poured in through the wire boot. Is this a leaky valve cover gasket?? How much $ would this cost to fix? Would/could this cause the stalling? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewer Posted April 14, 2006 Author Share Posted April 14, 2006 4 cylinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaw Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 I hope yours was made in Japan and not in Kentucky. But nevertheless, with 145K, go ahead and spray engine cleaner a bit and wipe it down near plugs #1 and #2. The valve cover and cylinder head. Waipe it off and drive fora day or 2 and look at it again. You should see where the leak is coming from. Sounds like a valve cover gasket gone bad---hey, even though it's Toy, it's 145K miles. But an oil leak is not the cause of your stalling. That's something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewer Posted April 14, 2006 Author Share Posted April 14, 2006 Thanks. Can you elaborate on the comment about where it was made? I'm pretty sure it was Kentucky and you got me a little worried. I'll continue looking for the cause for stalling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaw Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Some Camrys and Avalons that came out of Georgetown had various problems. I hate to say it, but it's true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thanks.Can you elaborate on the comment about where it was made? I'm pretty sure it was Kentucky and you got me a little worried. I'll continue looking for the cause for stalling. Does your VIN start with a "JT", or with a "4T"? "J" VINs are Japanese build; "4" VINs are USA build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewer Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 Well, it's a "4T"... It's still a good car I sprayed gumout in the throttle body and it hasn't stalled in a couple of days...Keeping my fingers crossed... Still has a rough idle...Any thoughts on the cause for that??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFBonnett Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 It's possible the idle problem is caused simply by it needing new plugs, wires, and other ignition components. Do you know when this maintenance was last done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewer Posted April 20, 2006 Author Share Posted April 20, 2006 A full tune-up was done less than 15K miles ago...But when I pulled a plug, the gap seemed pretty big...I didn't measure it though... The stalling problem returned after 2 days...Next step??? EGR??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaw Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 I'd go ahead and do plugs, wires, and run a vacum check. See how many inches you are pulling, you could have a leak--the car is ten years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jherentals Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I am in the same boat w/ a lotta people here. I have a 94 Camry 4 cylinder, 235,000 miles, looks awesome and drove great til a few weeks ago. It would idle erratically when in DRIVE after the engine got hot, the worst was anticipating it dying at about every stop sign or red light, but it drove great otherwise. I had just gotten done sinking a fortune into it for oil leaks and tune ups ettc, since i just got it in October and was trying to get the kinks out of it. Anyway.....I was frustrated because I didn't want to spend $$ on misdiagnostic problems like about everyone has and I was still recovering from everything else I spent $$. I figured I had nothing to lose by trying this, so I got on "ebay" and got one of those "chips" that is supposed to increase the horsepower. It actually helped because it negated the IAT solenoid in the air filter hose going to the engine, forcing the vehicle to think it was running colder than it was. This did help quite a bit. The other thing I did, which helped a lot, was to disconnect the EGR system. I plugged the vac line at the EGR valve and disconnected the electrical solenoid on it as well. This seems to only work if you have the ebay "chip" because I removed the chip, thinking the EGR was the sole problem and the car would not run at all. The only way I can make this car run without stalling and dying (other than spending hundreds of dollars on repairs) is to do the combination of 1. Getting the ebay "performance chip" from one of hundreds of sellers, around fifteen bucks, AND disabling the EGR completely as above. This combination will work very well. The car does not run perfect now, but it truly is 99% better. It is a tad rich because of the chip, but it's very drivable, and I'd take this as a tradeoff over it dying all the time like it did before I got the chip and "chipped away" at the EGR as well. Case closed, and it was a whopping 20 bucks or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chill Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 Hi, I own an '89 Camry and it did the same thing with me when at a stop. Found out a few weeks later when going to a Dr's appointment that it was my alternator(died completely while at an intersection and whenever I cranked it back up and put it in drive it continued to die) anyway, changed alternator and is now running fine. My car has 263,590 miles and still going. Also own 3 other toyota's and won't have anything else from now on. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFBonnett Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 A full tune-up was done less than 15K miles ago...But when I pulled a plug, the gap seemed pretty big...I didn't measure it though... The stalling problem returned after 2 days...Next step??? EGR??? Do a search on how to clean the IAC (idle air control). Better yet, go out and buy a Chilton or Haynes manual for about $20. It may be funky or need replacement. The fact that the Gumout helped a bit is a clue. Some may have gotten into the IAC and cleaned it a bit but not a lot. FWIW YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jherentals Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 I am in the same boat w/ a lotta people here. I have a 94 Camry 4 cylinder, 235,000 miles, looks awesome and drove great til a few weeks ago. It would idle erratically when in DRIVE after the engine got hot, the worst was anticipating it dying at about every stop sign or red light, but it drove great otherwise. I had just gotten done sinking a fortune into it for oil leaks and tune ups ettc, since i just got it in October and was trying to get the kinks out of it. Anyway.....I was frustrated because I didn't want to spend $$ on misdiagnostic problems like about everyone has and I was still recovering from everything else I spent $$. I figured I had nothing to lose by trying this, so I got on "ebay" and got one of those "chips" that is supposed to increase the horsepower. It actually helped because it negated the IAT solenoid in the air filter hose going to the engine, forcing the vehicle to think it was running colder than it was. This did help quite a bit. The other thing I did, which helped a lot, was to disconnect the EGR system. I plugged the vac line at the EGR valve and disconnected the electrical solenoid on it as well. This seems to only work if you have the ebay "chip" because I removed the chip, thinking the EGR was the sole problem and the car would not run at all. The only way I can make this car run without stalling and dying (other than spending hundreds of dollars on repairs) is to do the combination of 1. Getting the ebay "performance chip" from one of hundreds of sellers, around fifteen bucks, AND disabling the EGR completely as above. This combination will work very well. The car does not run perfect now, but it truly is 99% better. It is a tad rich because of the chip, but it's very drivable, and I'd take this as a tradeoff over it dying all the time like it did before I got the chip and "chipped away" at the EGR as well. Case closed, and it was a whopping 20 bucks or so. >>>>>>After a few days, the computer has corrected itself, so its not running too rich, so now the improvement is 100 percent, not the 99 I said before. IT WORKS!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaw Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 So who is the merchant that sells these chips? I bet there are more people on this Board who'd love to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jherentals Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 THe seller is "rapid velocity" and he is very good and responsive. There are a lot of sellers of this type product. Here is a link, hope this works http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWN%3AIT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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