1995 Camry Stalls When Warm

I have a 95 camry with 185K miles. I drove for 40 miles via highway, went to buy coffee, and when I tried to start my car again, it died within a few seconds. I tried to crank it again and again and the rpms would drop quickly. After waiting 15 minutes, it started and I gave it gas for 5 seconds and the car moved but drove very sluggishly. I brought it to the dealer and they replaced the IAC valve, air intake hose, engine temperature sensor and cleaned the throttle body.

After driving it for a week, the same thing occurred as above. The only difference is that after waiting 15 minutes, it started and drove smoothly. I brought it back to the dealer but they could not duplicate the problem.

Today, I drove home from work about 40 min via highway, changed clothes, went to start my car again and the problem above occurred. So, we took my wife’s car and came back 2 hours later. I started my car and it cranked fine. I let it run for 5 minutes and it never stalled.

It seems that the car only has problems when the engine is warm. If the engine is cold, it runs fine but when I park the car after driving it for a while, it wont start again until you let it rest for at least 15 minutes.

What’s wrong?

FYI, Two years ago, the dealer replaced ignition (Dist) cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires, timing and engine belts, and ignition coil. Since then, I have driven 40K miles.

 

when it started did it smell like gasoline? does it smoke at first after the heat soak.
next time you take it to the dealer try to duplicate the driving conditions you experienced your failures with before you get there, if it will not act up you may have to leave it several days and insist they drive it at least 1 hour before testing. could be the ecm getting hot or any of several components that don't like heat. The more you observe when the problem occurs the easier it will be to diagnose.
Murphy was an optimist

 

No gas smell and no smoke.

One thing I did notice is that it has happened on warmer temp days over 70 deg. This week will be in the 50s and 60s. Let's see if I can dup it again. I really dont want to since I'm afraid it may not start again after 15 min.

Could any of the devices that I listed that have been replaced recently or within the past two years be bad again esp the ignition coil?

 

My boyfriend (toyota mechanic) says that the ECM may need to be reset at the dealership. They may have done this when they did the repairs but it is possible that they did not. If they did it and it is happening again - there maybe a problem with the ECM - but he says the least costly and best first step is to reset the ECM and see what happens

 

Is resetting an ECM a DIY job?

 

He says not really a DIY - they need to use the scan tool to see if they can reset it. However, he says that "sometimes" you can disconnect the battery and it will reset the ECM - you could try that. He also is asking if they thought the problem was the throttle body before - was the cleaning a stop gap measure? He says the throttle body is an expensive fix as it is one unit - $200 and up just for the part. If something is clogging the throttle body most times a cleaning will not fix it.

 

What do dealerships or mechanic shops do when you come back after they relpaced parts and it does the same thing? Will they credit you for putting in unnecessary parts?

 

I WISH!!! They usually make me pay for the part and the labor is supposedly free.

 

How do they legally get away with this? Or, is there some consensus out there where it is sort of accepted in that industry, for a host of reasons? Or, is it because most people do not challenge it if a mechanic said that the other part (the erroneously replaced one) was bad, or going bad also?