1998 Camry LE dies after 20 minutes (long)
#1
08-17-2014, 10:59 AM
1998 Camry LE dies after 20 minutes (long)
1998 Toyota Camry LE
198,000 miles
2.2L 5SFE CA emissions
Automatic
A few weeks ago this vehicle died after about 45 minutes of driving. Immediately after dying, it would crank and cough, but not start. After a few seconds, it would crank and no attempt to start. CEL lit just before it died. I had the car towed home and pulled codes:
P0335 Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Malfunction
After sitting for about 12 hours, the car started and ran fine. With the age of the vehicle, I figured it was a safe bet that the sensor was bad, and if not it was probably a good idea to replace it anyway. Put the new sensor in and took the car out for a test drive. After about an hour it died again. Same deal, crank and cough, then just crank. New CEL this time:
P1300 Igniter Circuit Malfunction - No. 1.
Again, after sitting for about 12 hours the car would restart and run, but now quite roughly. Over 2000 RPM it would smooth out slightly. Following the manual, I checked continuity and voltage across the harness between coil 1 and the computer with no issues found. Connectors all looked good, so I replaced the #1 coil. Pulled the plugs which had about 10k miles on them and they all looked good. Checked plug wires, also OK. Not wanting to be stranded again, the next time I just let the car run in the driveway for a while with the headlights and A/C on to put a bit of a load on the engine. Running, but roughly, this time the car died after about 30 minutes with the following CEL:
P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
The rough running was leading me to believe either an injector issue or a vacuum leak. I let the car sit again, and hooked up spark testers on the #1 and #2 plugs to cover both coils, and checked resistance on all the injectors. Each injector read exactly the same, 13.9 ohms. I checked the injector harness with a noid light and was getting good signal to each injector. I also hooked up a fuel pressure gauge. With the engine running, I was getting good spark and 50 PSI fuel pressure. The engine was still running rough below 2000 RPM. I checked for a vacuum leak using propane but couldn't find anything conclusive. After about 20 minutes, the car started to stumble and I swear I saw spark plug #1 getting intermittent spark. Within a second or 2 the car died. Cranking yielded what appeared to be good spark on #2 and intermittent spark on #1. By the time I got the fuel injectors unplugged and my noid light plugged in, I had no spark or injector pulse when cranking. Not sure if this is a safety mode that the car goes into when certain conditions exist. No CEL. Fuel was at a constant 50 PSI long after the car died.
At this point I decided to try a different computer (same part number from same year car) that I knew was good. Problem persists after 20 minutes of running. I tried disconnecting the battery and stepping on the brake for 30 seconds to see if that would clear any tripped breakers, etc., but the car would not spark or fire the injectors. I suspect that some component is overheating and cutting out, and not coming back until it has a chance to cool. I believe there is a possibility that the rough running is a plugged injector and the dying is ignition related. Any suggestions would be welcome. I am running out of ideas and fairly frustrated at this point. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
J.B. Hebert
198,000 miles
2.2L 5SFE CA emissions
Automatic
A few weeks ago this vehicle died after about 45 minutes of driving. Immediately after dying, it would crank and cough, but not start. After a few seconds, it would crank and no attempt to start. CEL lit just before it died. I had the car towed home and pulled codes:
P0335 Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Malfunction
After sitting for about 12 hours, the car started and ran fine. With the age of the vehicle, I figured it was a safe bet that the sensor was bad, and if not it was probably a good idea to replace it anyway. Put the new sensor in and took the car out for a test drive. After about an hour it died again. Same deal, crank and cough, then just crank. New CEL this time:
P1300 Igniter Circuit Malfunction - No. 1.
Again, after sitting for about 12 hours the car would restart and run, but now quite roughly. Over 2000 RPM it would smooth out slightly. Following the manual, I checked continuity and voltage across the harness between coil 1 and the computer with no issues found. Connectors all looked good, so I replaced the #1 coil. Pulled the plugs which had about 10k miles on them and they all looked good. Checked plug wires, also OK. Not wanting to be stranded again, the next time I just let the car run in the driveway for a while with the headlights and A/C on to put a bit of a load on the engine. Running, but roughly, this time the car died after about 30 minutes with the following CEL:
P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
The rough running was leading me to believe either an injector issue or a vacuum leak. I let the car sit again, and hooked up spark testers on the #1 and #2 plugs to cover both coils, and checked resistance on all the injectors. Each injector read exactly the same, 13.9 ohms. I checked the injector harness with a noid light and was getting good signal to each injector. I also hooked up a fuel pressure gauge. With the engine running, I was getting good spark and 50 PSI fuel pressure. The engine was still running rough below 2000 RPM. I checked for a vacuum leak using propane but couldn't find anything conclusive. After about 20 minutes, the car started to stumble and I swear I saw spark plug #1 getting intermittent spark. Within a second or 2 the car died. Cranking yielded what appeared to be good spark on #2 and intermittent spark on #1. By the time I got the fuel injectors unplugged and my noid light plugged in, I had no spark or injector pulse when cranking. Not sure if this is a safety mode that the car goes into when certain conditions exist. No CEL. Fuel was at a constant 50 PSI long after the car died.
At this point I decided to try a different computer (same part number from same year car) that I knew was good. Problem persists after 20 minutes of running. I tried disconnecting the battery and stepping on the brake for 30 seconds to see if that would clear any tripped breakers, etc., but the car would not spark or fire the injectors. I suspect that some component is overheating and cutting out, and not coming back until it has a chance to cool. I believe there is a possibility that the rough running is a plugged injector and the dying is ignition related. Any suggestions would be welcome. I am running out of ideas and fairly frustrated at this point. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
J.B. Hebert
#2
08-17-2014, 12:43 PM
Strange engine running fine then experienced plugged injector AND ignition problem at the same time. Maybe items have something in common.
Did you check the ohm reading of crank sensor and ign coil cold/hot for being in spec? If OK then something is causing these issues. Computer, you changed it.
The computer has default settings if this/that code is triggered but should still operate injectors and ign system, not turn these off.
The key may be no spark or injector operation. Check for + battery voltage at both with ign switch ON. Both items receive DC power from same wiring system. May be black/red wires.
The computer operates injectors and ign coil (spark plug firing) by grounding (completing) the circuit. The injector and ign coil circuit are always powered by battery power if ign ON.
The ign and fuel system wiring has no breakers that will reset. Check AM2 and Ign fuses. Make sure these fuses don't change resistance when hot, have corrosion, etc.
Make sure wiring from AM2 fuse box to battery is OK. There is a fusible link in battery cable for this wiring circuit (which is AM2 side of ign switch). Perhaps wiring starts to fail as it heats up.
The ign coil and injector +DC power wiring also has a noise suppressor (capacitor). This capacitor can fail, typically causing a short but if hot it may just leak to ground.
Check ign coil ground to chassis (brown wire) and ECU ground wires (brown wires).
Might pick up a few cans of cold spray that electrical persons use to cool down components that may be acting up when hot. The spray suspected components.
Did you check the ohm reading of crank sensor and ign coil cold/hot for being in spec? If OK then something is causing these issues. Computer, you changed it.
The computer has default settings if this/that code is triggered but should still operate injectors and ign system, not turn these off.
The key may be no spark or injector operation. Check for + battery voltage at both with ign switch ON. Both items receive DC power from same wiring system. May be black/red wires.
The computer operates injectors and ign coil (spark plug firing) by grounding (completing) the circuit. The injector and ign coil circuit are always powered by battery power if ign ON.
The ign and fuel system wiring has no breakers that will reset. Check AM2 and Ign fuses. Make sure these fuses don't change resistance when hot, have corrosion, etc.
Make sure wiring from AM2 fuse box to battery is OK. There is a fusible link in battery cable for this wiring circuit (which is AM2 side of ign switch). Perhaps wiring starts to fail as it heats up.
The ign coil and injector +DC power wiring also has a noise suppressor (capacitor). This capacitor can fail, typically causing a short but if hot it may just leak to ground.
Check ign coil ground to chassis (brown wire) and ECU ground wires (brown wires).
Might pick up a few cans of cold spray that electrical persons use to cool down components that may be acting up when hot. The spray suspected components.
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