I’ve had an issue with my 2001 Camry LE - 4 cyl. (83,000 miles) cutting off when it is idling low or comes close to a stop. This started about a year ago, and I have have taken it to two shops that cannot seem to diagnose or repair the problem. It used to only happen every few weeks or so, and has recently gotten worse (every other day or so). I have noticed that if I feel it starting to stall out, I can put it in Neutral and rev it up to about 5,000 rpm for a 8-10 secs and that seems to keep it from stalling out. Or if it stalls out, I can let it sit for a minute or so and it will start right back up - and be fine for another few days.
Here’s the list of items that I have had replaced:
- Idle air control valve
- cleaned throttle body
- replaced plugs and wires
- replaced 2 ignition coils (one shop told me that 2 were out, and HAD to be replaced)
- fuel filter replaced
All this adds up and the problem still not fixed, hence my frustration and bewilderment that no one can figure this out.
I received this car as a gift from my generous mother-in-law, who had it for 69,000 miles and had it serviced regularly at the dealer and drove it very gently - never had a single issue with the car. She gave it to me about a 1 1/2 years ago. And then’s when this issue started.
Thanks for any advice or info,
Camryblues
I assume there is no DTCs or check engine light when running. Toyota’s do have a funny little problem ONLY IF your car has a fuel dampener. Then, this is typical for a bad dampener. It should be mounted in the fuel rail near where the fuel line from the fuel pump comes in. It is on the opposite end of the fuel rail from the fuel pressure regulator. It may look like a fuel pressure regulator without the vacuum line. The purpose is to dampen the pulses in the fuel from the pump, but can fail and inhibit the fuel pressure intermittently, causing stall outs.
My 2002 Camry is doing the EXACT SAME THING. 67,000 miles on it, never had a problem. Dealer telling me nothing wrong with it, since the computer is not putting out any CODES. Will share info if I get that helps, but for now I am driving a very unreliable car.
Our 6-cyl '02 Camry has 120K miles. We reported this same kind of stalling problem to the dealer at approx. 89K miles. For the last 30K miles, the problem has continued intermittently. We kept reporting it. Throttle body got a lot of attention and was “cleaned” each time. At the 120K service, idle valve was cleaned. One month later, the stalling episodes came up again and we took the car back to the dealer.
After leaving the car with the dealer 2 more times (only the relay switches/“fuses” were rotated to different locations), the car last stalled on March 19, the day AFTER we got it back. The shop foreman had driven the car daily for 4 days…it hadn’t stalled at all.
We weren’t charged for any labor and had a loaner, but the car still wasn’t/isn’t fixed.
I had a conversation with Toyota “Customer Experience” that basically informed me that I could take the car to another dealer and see what happens. The car was no longer under warranty and there were no recalls for that problem nor was there a “customer support program”.
I see the post from BustedKnuckles about a “fuel dampener”. We had suggested to the dealer that maybe there was something wrong with the fuel PUMP, but got no response other than “no codes” indicating a problem. How do we find out about a “fuel dampener”?
Like CalCamry, we feel that we have an unreliable car that runs just fine in every other way.
Would appreciate any updates and it’s good to know that we aren’t the only ones with this problem, although it sure has seemed that way for a long time!
Thank you bustedknuckles for the detailed response – i will ask the shop about that.
Please give us an update afterward, OK? I have been told that if it were a “leaking fuel dampener, you would smell raw gas under the hood”. And that “there is a possibility that the fuel pressure regulator which is mounted inside the fuel tank fuel pump assembly could be potentially leaking or not holding enough pressure intermittently. Before replacing either of these, I would buy and install a a new idle air control valve. This is the #1 cause for sluggish or difficult idle problems with no check-engine lights being set.”
But YOU have already replaced the idle air control valve, and you still have the problem.
How do these things get checked out without costing a bundle in labor charges (at the dealer)?
CamryXLE02
Hi there - Update on the stalling out issue
thanks to everyone’s posts. Good to have a forum to chat about these issues. I asked my dealer to check the dampener, but my Camry did not have that, apparently. But finally they came to the conclusion that it was the EGR valve (Exhaust gas recirculation). They replaced it with a used Toyo part for @500 (included labor) – new would’ve been about $1,000. So far so good - driven for a bout 5-6 days with no stalling out.
Maybe something for you all with the same issues to inquire about. Hope this helps.