Hey guys,
First Post.

So I’m running an early 06 Camry Altise 4cyl and a few months ago I took her on a fair sized trip. She was running low on fuel on the way back and me being a typical arrogant Aussie thought ‘she’ll be right’. But the last 1/8 of the tank (according to the needle) dropped quicker than I thought it would and left me pretty much running on hopes and dreams to get home, lol. Anyway, I got home and went straight to fill her up and it all appeared fine. But about a week later I started to get a bit of spluttering on start-up, and it just got worse, so bad at one point that I thought she would stall after a few seconds of trying to level out… So I took her to my local dealer for her 82,000km service (which included replacing the fuel filter). Since that the spluttering has been mostly gone (but not completely). But about a week after I noticed that when I do some town driving i.e. driving for 5-10 min intervals before turning the car off then going shopping, then going somewhere else etc. a new problem arises. Delayed starts, it Cranks but doesn’t turnover for anywhere up to 2-3 seconds. This can also happen on a cold start-up, but mostly after she’s been turned off and on a few times over a few hours’ time period. The Local Toyota dealer checked the new filter and said that they did install it correctly…

So now I’m unsure of how to proceed, whether or not I should get the injectors cleaned, replace the fuel pump, etc. I haven’t had a great deal of experience with car engines, and like most, I don’t have a lot of money to blow… But if any of you have had experience here, your input would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any further details.

Additional Details: I used regular unleaded fuel until probably 5 months ago. Since then I have used Caltex Vortex premium Unleaded 95 & 98. I have also noticed a performance drop over the last few months, but not sure how relevant to the issue that is though.

Thanks In Advance

 

them Aussies....

not saying it's the cause, but modern car fuel pumps have a pre-filter in tank. If you raised junk up into it, it may still be sitting there, partially blocking pump. or, it may be completely unrelated issue and you just think it was related.
I'd start with running some good cleaner through the system. around here, I recommend Seafoam. but where everything is upside down, donno if you have them, mate.

 

As Ukrkos states fuel debris can be picked up when the tank is low on fuel. Did the dealer inspect the sock filter on the fuel pump?

The fuel pressure regulator is mounted to the fuel pump inside the tank. Could be the regulator has a problem allowing fuel pressure to bleed down when the engine is off. This can cause the long starts as the pressure needs to build up again before the injectors work properly.

The pump may be going bad. It is cooled by fuel. One would expect it to be able to handle a low fuel level but never no.

Injectors rarely fail or plug up. If a plugged injector the engine would run poorly and the car has very low miles for this kind of problem.

If consistent long turnovers the dealer or a shop can check fuel pressure to determine if it is bleeding down when the engine is off.

Fuel system pressure is not monitored by the engine computer thus the check engine light may not come on for these types of problems.

98 octane! Best one can do around here is 93 and even that octane rating is questionable.

The cars owners manual will state the minimum required octane and the vast majority of time this is all that is required. In general, a higher octane fuel then required does not provide any benefit.

 

Hey guys, sorry i haven't reposted in ages but I finally got the problem fixed!

I tried running some fuel line cleaner through the tank, but to no avail...

And after some thought and research, decided to get the fuel pressure checked to rule out any problem there... and sure enough, they found that after 5-10 mins or so from being turned off, the fuel pressure starts to drop....

So i got the guys at out Toyota dealer to investigate inside the tank and there we have it!

toyomoho was right in suspecting the Fuel pressure regulator! $300 AUD later (new reg and labour) and she runs perfectly again

Thanks guys for all the help and ideas! many cheers.

 

Great, thanks for posting back with the fix.