I just got a 98 camry le 2.2 a week or two ago and been having a problem that i cant put my finger on. Itll start fine cold majority of the time cept when its warm and i go into store itll start then die and wont restart til either i try it a few times or spray starting fluid in tb. Today the cel came on and has a p0171 (bank 1 lean) code on it. It doesnt act up at all while driving or idleing (cept sometimes idle will go up for second or 2 then go back down). The car has 122k miles and i picked it up cheap. Gonna try the fuel filter first and go from there. I dont have a pressure gauge to see what fuel pressure is at either. Any suggestions?

 

Any exhaust or intake leaks?

Check coolant sensor for computer and1st O2 sensor off of cylinder head on exhaust system.

 

No exhaust or intake leaks that i know of i was thinking could be coolant sensor for ecu how do i go about testing it same as o2 sensor

 

You need a scan tool that can output actual coolant temp and O2 data.

You might check the resistance of the coolant temp sensor. Speculate at 60F ohm reading around 0.6. At 176F 0.3, 212F 0.2 ohm. Have no real data.

There is a coolant temp wiring harness connection to the main harness on one or the other side of the radiator.

If hard starting try disconnecting the coolant sensor and O2 sensor one at time and determining if this make a difference in starting.

 

Ill have to try that next time it does it

 

I tried unplugging coolant temp sensor and o2 sensor one at a time and still no luck. Gonna do fuel filter hopefully tomorrow to see if it helps.

 

Did fuel filter today and still does same thing. Which im surprised cause it was clogged.

 

I am currently fighting the same thing on my '97 2.2 with 230K miles on it. Fuel filter and pump are relatively new. I threw a water temp sensor at it but no real improvement is noted.


I have read everything from cleaning the throttle body to EGR valve to blown head gasket.


I am open to ideas but before throwing more parts at it I am going to try cleaning the throttle body and running some sea foam or injector cleaner through it. We'll see if it's better.

Tomorrow I will carry my code reader with me and see if anything pops up as pending. I don't have a CEL and haven't had one since the problem started.

 

The list of possible items for this code is below:

Exhaust and intake system leaks
Low fuel pressure
Blocked injector
MAP sensor
ECT sensor
A/F sensor. A/F sensor can cause all sorts of issues.

This code means the actual A/F ratio is lean from a nominal range.

If the engine runs out of fuel this code can be set.

Look for issues the can cause the A/F ratio to be too lean.