Need opinions, I'm totally frustrated.(Long)
 

I have a 95 Camry 131,000 miles my father purchased new and was given to me when he passed away in 2014. The car has always been maintained and never a problem until several weeks ago. It became hard to start and wouldn't idle. I changed the plugs,fuel filter, cleaned throttle body, cleaned air sensor and made sure the air cleaner was clean. The car was better better but still not right so I took it to the local Toyota dealer. They first told me I needed an air idle control valve so it was replaced. That improved the idle but the car was still not right. Next thing discovered was a hairline crack in the distributor cap. They replaced the cap including rotor. Car still not right so they checked the plug wires but said they were ok. They decided the injectors were carboned up so they cleaned them and said I was good to go. I forgot to mention I was due for a timing belt so I had it replaced. They had my car for 8 days and my bill was $867.00 after using a $100.00 discount coupon. Everything seemed fine until the next morning when I couldn't get my car to start. It would turn over but just wouldn't fire. After many tries it finally started and seemed to run fine. I went to the dealer and they said it has to be dirty injectors causing the starting problem. I was told if the injectors don't come clean they will need to be replaced at about $300.00 a piece. I went and bought two bottles of Cevron Techtron put it in the tank and drove 200 miles on the highway over the next two days. I thought the car was better but it has gotten colder the last few nights which seems to have an effect on the car starting in the morning. It won't start this morning, cranks but won't fire (19 degrees) and it took about an hour yesterday to start it. After running the techtron through the tank I'm now trying Seafoam, drove 150 highway miles. I'm thinking I may have to try and change the injectors myself. I watched a you tube video and it didn't look bad if you can just get the fuel rail off. Looks like it is in a tight place that might be hard to access. I would appreciate some thoughts and opinions, thanks.

What engine V6 or 4-cylinder?

Any chance of having bad gas in the tank?

When the engine doesn't start, have you checked for ign spark?

Are the starting problems only occurring when the engine is cold?

Are the only problems hard starting and idle? Once the car starts does it drive normally, no missing, good power, etc engine hot or cold?

My car has the 2200 4cyl engine. The Toyota dealer has supposedly checked everything that could possibly be causing the problem. They are adamant the problem is the injectors but I don't know what to believe at this point. I'm waiting to see if cold temperature has anything to do with hard starting. It took me about 45 minutes this morning to get it started and an hour yesterday morning. The temps were in the high teens both mornings. Once I get it started it runs and starts fine for the rest of the day.

Is this car California or federal emissions certified? There is a sticker under the hood stating FED or CAL or such.

Seems odd once started the engine runs OK as clogged injectors stay clogged. Clogged injectors can also cause lack of power and missing.

If you remove the injectors there are businesses that will clean and flow test them for around $25/each. Removing the injectors is not too hard. Suggest removing the valve cover to access them. You will need an injector seal kit for each injector when reinstalling them.

Did the dealer check out the coolant temp sensor for the computer? This tells the computer what temp the coolant is to adjust fuel, timing, etc. If bad it can cause a number of problems.

5S–FE engine there

i didnt see anything about fuel pump pressures at the injector rail at cold start



this attachment is and exploded view the injectors

if you want to go DIY or more details . its available

Thank you for your response, this is not a California car. I have been doing research and it sounds like the coolant temperature sensor unit could be the problem. I have a hard time believing the injectors are the problem as the dealer keeps telling me. They used injection cleaner and bypassed the fuel system. When I got the car out of the shop I ran two cans of Chevron Tectron injection cleaner on the highway. After that I decided to run Seafoam and I'm on the second can of that. After 400 miles of highway driving with all that cleaner those injectors should be clean. I have replaced the plugs, fuel filter, cleaned throttlebody and air sensor. The dealer has replaced air idle control valve, distributor cap and rotor, checked plug wires said ok and cleaned injectors. I also had the timing belt changed just because it was time. I need to see how much the coolant temp sensor is and maybe change that myself. I've thrown a lot of money at this old car but it was purchased new by my father who passed away in 2014. The car is in really good shape and I hope to keep it for many years, just turned 131,000 miles. The only time I have the starting problem is in the morning after it sits outside all night. I would like to hear your thoughts, thanks, Chuck

i owned a 95 4 cyl auto for a long time and didnt have this problem
parked outside in all sorts of weather


the list of parts and checks you added covers all i would have done to solve a no start problem

is the battery holding up to lots of cranking

if its a manual i am totally stumped

that camry has a starter relay . worth a try ...maybe swap that for another

After doing a great deal of research last night someone suggested pumping the gas pedal twice before turning the key. To my surprise it worked and my car started right up. Another thing I have decided to do is change out the engine coolant temperature sensor. I will be doing that this afternoon and then tomorrow morning I will try and start the car without pumping the gas twice. If it starts I would say that sensor was my problem. If it doesn't start then I will go back to the two pump before turning the key. I will respond back with my results so it can possibly help someone else with the same problem. I really love the forums they are such a big help. Thanks again.

Changed the coolant temperature sensor yesterday, went out this morning and it fired right up. I really hope this fixed my problem and if it keeps starting every morning then I would say it's fixed. The dealer never mentioned it, I guess since it's a $25.00 part they were not interested. They were sure interested in trying to get me to replace the injectors for $1200.00.

Great!

Post back with an update.

good info to know!!

Went out just now to see if car would start for the second day in a row. It started to fire when I turned the key but it didn't catch. On the next attempt it just turned over but didn't fire. I decided to stop at this point and wait about an hour.Before I changed the coolant sensor it wouldn't fire until I cranked it for 45 minutes to an hour. I will try plan B which is pump the gas pedal twice before turning the key. If this works then I will continue to do that in the mornings when I start it for the first time. This has me baffled because other than not wanting to start in the mornings for the first time the car runs fine for the rest of the day. Changing the injectors will be my last resort because even if I'm able to do it myself it will cost around $500.00. I'm wondering if a sensor could be bad in the injectors. I really don't think they are dirty since the dealer cleaned them and I'm on my 4th bottle of injection cleaner in the fuel tank.

I just realized I was running 10-30 w oil and it was 17 degrees this morning. Because I'm looking for any kind of answer I just changed it to 5-30 w, still won't start. I have spent to much money and it's to nice of car to give up but I don't know what to do at this point.

I finally got it started and it's warming up as I type this. I will take it for a drive and see if it runs OK. When I try and start it I feel like it's either not getting enough fuel or I guess it could be getting to much. I think tomorrow morning I will give it two pumps before I turn the key. I will update with my results.

A few things:

Is the engine turning over faster when warm as in the oil is too thick when cold?

The engine throttle body has no injector pump to add fuel as with a carb. Try depressing the throttle slightly when cranking.

Look under the hood for a small black box labeled "diagnostic" mounted to the passenger strut tower. Inside the box are electrical terminals. Find the FP and B+ terminals then prior to starting engine cold jump them with a paper clip or short piece of wire. This will force the fuel pump to run and pressurize the system. It has happened the fuel system leaks down and engine being cold may be more difficult to start.

One thing to try is using a hair drier to heat sensors and other components to simulate warm engine conditions. If doing this also try heating the distributor to heat the sensor coils inside.

A weak ign spark can cause issues with cold start.

Thank you for the advice and I will try your suggestion if I have problems tomorrow getting it to start. I would like to add that once I eventually got it started today it ran perfect when I took it for a drive. It was a cold day all day I think the high was 22. When I was in the driveway changing the oil it was 17 degrees. I will update with more information tomorrow.

Well it snowed last night and the car sat out in the cold. Really had my doubts that it would start this morning. I decided to pump the gas twice and turn the key. It didn't start the first time but it did try to fire instead of just cranking like it has been doing in the mornings. After giving it a few tries it did start and I let it run while I shoveled the drive. It's suppose to warm up next week so I'm anxious to see if that effects the first time morning starting. I will update later, thanks again for everyone's assistance.

Car wouldn't start again this morning so I called Toyota service department. They ended up picking the car up and will see what they can figure out at no extra charge to me. What we did discover is that when they picked it up at 2 pm the temperature outside had warmed up. The car fired right up just like it should. This tells us the problem is temperature related. It really sounds like the coolant temperature sensor should be the problem but I just replaced it. Hopefully I'll have some answers in a couple of days.

Please post back with what the dealer finds out.

Still waiting to hear back from the dealer. Our outside temperature has warmed up so they are probably having trouble getting the same symptoms as when it's cold.

Went by the dealer and checked on my car. Just as I thought since we are having warmer temperatures the car has been starting for them first thing in the mornings. They said when it gets cold outside again they will try and figure out the problem. I will update when I know more.

Thanks.