spitting and sputtering
 

I have a problem that I cannot seem to figure out. About 2 weeks ago, for a better term, my 1985 Toyota Camry starting bucking so bad I thought the engine was going to come out of the car. When I tried to give it gas, it was like it wasn't getting enough gas. It wasn't really moving. We changed the plugs and wires. It seemed to help. Then it was spitting and sputtering, not getting above 5 miles an hour. Acting like it wanted to die. (with the gas pedal all the way to the floor). Then all of a sudden it would start to run fine. It keeps going back and forth, running fine for a few minutes, then hardly running with the spitting and sputtering, then back to running fine. We changed the fuel filter and put in around 5 gallons of gas. It was down to a 1/4 tank of gas. And it is still doing it. I have never owned a Toyota before and do not know much about cars. Can someone please help me? I really cannot afford to take it to a shop and have an expensive bill. Thank you.

RE: spitting and sputtering
 

Im not too familiar with the "anatomy" if you will of your car. However, my Celica had this problem. It is cured by cleaning the Mass Air-flow Sensor (MAF if your car is equipped with one.) Given that your car is a 1985 Im not sure if it would have one. You may also want to clean your throttle body. Over time "coke" as its called (a nasty black residue) builds up and can cause problems.

Throttle bodies are cleaned with Throttle Body cleaner and MAFs are cleaned with a cleaner like brake parts cleaner. Both of which can be found at any autoparts store (IE: Advanced/Autozone.) However, if you are cleaning the throttle body DO NOT SCRAPE IT! The clearances are very sensitive. Just wipe, dont scrape and kill it.

Hope this helped!

Black00GTS

RE: spitting and sputtering
 

i have the 88 camry and had the same exact problem..Based on Black00gts info, i'm gonna try to clean the MAF and clean throttle body at the same time tomorrow. Hope it's gonna take care of our problems...

Any answers/solutions for this problem?

Topic kick:D