My 1999 Camry occasionally fails to raise the idle when starting, so I have to keep the motor running with the accelerator until it warms up. What is the best way to have this fixed? Does it require an espensive repair?
It should be a relatively simple repair. There’s a couple of things that could be going on. Your car’s computer uses a stepper motor that opens a passage that lets more or less air in to control the idle speed. This is called the Idle Air Control motor and these often get gummed up and quit moving easily or the motor can just burn out. The computer also needs the Coolant Temp Sensor to tell it whether the engine is warm or not so it can decide how much to move the idle motor. This sensor can also go bad, but it can also do strange things if your coolant level is low or if you have air in the cooling system.
If either of the parts need to be replaced, they’re probably a little pricey but the labor to replace them should not be much. All told, maybe look at a couple of hundred bucks to have someone do it, but if you get a good repair manual and some carb spray, you should at least be able to try cleaning the IAC.