Hi from south africa.I bought a auto 93 camry from a dealer and have spent us2000 on header exhaust shocks tyres and redone motor incl crank pistons waterjackets rings skimmed cylinderhead.The check engine light is always on if switched off for a while it only comes on when i go above 40 mph and then it stays on till you switch car off no matter what the speed.I took the car for emmissions test and it is running to lean.Took car to toyota dealer as a last resort diagnostic shows knock sensor replaced with original part but diagnostic still shows knock sensor.It has 3 main problems burning smell (smells like electrical wires burning )when car gets hot after 10 min/huge fuel consumtion doing 450 kilometers in town on 70 litres (supposed to be 700 km for 70 litres)and third is it feels like engine is restrictive from 50 to 70 kmh then gets huge power surge and goes like a bat .Car idles and drives well and starts easily/toyota cant help me and my wallet is thin after all the expenditure its the 220sei model in automatic.2echanics told me not to worry on the 3 issues but i saw you can burn holes in pistons or valves with lean running and my fuel bills/please help thanks wayne

 

Is the only code present the knock sensor? I would think there has to be something else there. Running too lean is not good. It sounds like there has been a lot of work done to the car. I would start going over every little hose. If you spray some WD40 or something like that around hose connections etc you can find vacuum leaks. Running too lean should show another sensor failure somewhere.

 

hi thanks for reply will spray some wd 40 on all hose conectors i assume get engine warm and hear if idling changes when spraying and if there are bubbles code comes out as code 001 or as number 52 .

 

How are the codes being read out, a code reader or blinking light on dash?

001 is unknown at this time. 52 is knock sensor.

If knock sensor, wiring, etc is bad but check light off do the following:
Start engine and let warm up.
After warm up, let engine idle 3 minutes.
Then with A/C on, rapidly depress gas pedal 3 times. Each time reach 5000 RPM then quickly releasing pedal (take foot of pedal).
If a problem the check light will come on.

If engine is operating normally there is no need for the knock sensor to perform. It's purpose is to detect knocking which is not common on a properly running engine that is using the correct fuel. Are you using alcohol blends of fuel over 10%?

If sensor is OK could be bad wiring or bad ECM.

An issue with the TPS can cause a flat spot in acceleration. Also check the EGR system. To much exhaust gas will cause a lean mixture. The system should be off at engine idle and when throttle wide open.

 

hi engine light comes on straightaway after warming up and pressing accelerator so either engine computer or bad wiring/car does not read off diagnostic with paper clip unfortunatly only with scanner even toyota battled to get to diagnostic/problem if it is computer sechondhand ones is 100 dollars new 500 dollars also found 2 pipes leaking in air yeaterday.Is there any test i can do with retired electrician wioth volt or ohm meter to testthe computer .Spoke to auto electician they are 40 dollars a hour speaking of 6 hours to maybe find the problem or more.The car uses unleaded gasoline

 

If code 52 is set, timing will be retarded.

Code scanning issues could be caused a bad computer or wiring.

Leaking pipes can cause problems as it provides false sensor info to the computer.

I could be the wiring to the sensor is bad.

Can you pickup a service manual for the car, perhaps Haynes manual is written for your countries model of Camry? Meaning US models did not have code reader capability for this year, just paper clip method.

There is a way to test computer for code 52 computer issues. Send private message with email address for info.

 

Thanks for the reply dont know how this private message works/is this the simplest step drive to somebody selling a secondhand ecu put theres in and test it by idling car for a few minutes with aircon on then press gas till 5000rpm if check engine light comes on again then it must be a wiring glitch then get autoelectrician in to check wiring around the ecu area as well as knock sensor harness.By the way the south african 93 version has no sensors in exhaust system The diagnostic box is on the passenger side near main fuse box does not want to be read by paperclips its a ob1 compliant scanner so each time i have to fork out 45 dollars and for toyota to do it 70 dollars\is ecu easy yo remove can i diy or should i bring a mechanic mate with a few tools

 

For PM, left click on Toyomoho name and select private message. The info has checks for wiring and ECU.

For the cost of diagnosis, might buy a code reader. Here can buy one for less then the price of getting the codes read at your location.

For paper clip, you turned on ign key then connected E1 and TE1 on the small diagnostic box. Or on the round plug under the dash?

If getting another computer, get one with exact same part number.

 

high tried paper clip on the port of the camry its a rectangularbox on passenger side of engine bay somehow it only works with a machine after putting in a few times (maybe the wiring is faulty by the diagnostic port is it possible that the ports harness could be affecting everything)ok or will try and get checks done to try single it out eg ecu/diagnostic port harness /knock sensor harness or wiring to ecu if i can get info how to do those checks thanks wayne