My 1999 Camry (215K) intermittently shuts off when I start it. When this happens, I can start the car and rev the engine
at about 4K RPMS. If I let go of the gas, it will shut off. However, if I keep on the gas, a few seconds later I can hear
from the engine what sounds like a rush of water flowing through pipes. Once I hear this sound, I can let go of the gas and it will go to
its normal RPM's without turning off. Once the car is on, its like nothing ever happened. This problem has been going on for over a year. I've had the timiing belt replaced twice but never the water pump. Is this problem water pump related or is it elsewhere?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

hey... i had the exact same problem w/my car @ around 198K-205K.. yes its my 99 2.2..well when my car hit 205K... i brought it to my mechanic already because it really didnt wanna start and the CEL was on...so he told me its my o2 sensor.. and it fired up OKAY ..it stayed on but really gaspin' for that gasoline rush.. so i went and did a major tune up, replace the fuel filter, clean the lines and injectors and now its fine, i can't say it fires up and jumps to 2K before warm up because it really doesn't... maybe 1300-1400 at start up and i give it gas to 3.5K and it sticks to 2K and let it warm up. das what i did and what i do. hope this helps.

 

Try cleaning out the Idle Air Control Valve with carb cleaner. That valve probably has built up some gunk and it is sticky. Any vibration could unstick it and your engine would idle about 2K rpm when cold. As it warms up, the valve goes back down to slow the idle around 500 rpm or so.

I'm not so sure about the water rushing sound. Perhaps you should replace the water pump.

 

well the problem you describe is usually idle control valve which as mentioned jh818 can be cleaned. Now the water rushing through means you have air in coolant system. That may be affecting the coolant temp sensor hence idle problems. The real question is why do you have air? (external leak(easy fix) or internal leak(bad news)) or just poor flushing of coolant system.

 

You should change the water pump when you do a t-belt, along with all seals including the oil pump o-ring, and all tensioner bearings. As far as the w/p being the problem, no.
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