poor cold start and loss of power. plz help

[adonis88]

Hey,

I've had my 1994 SDV10 4cyl auto Camry for a couple of years now and it has always been lacking power. At first I simply assumed it was due to the car's poor power-to-weight ratio from factory and automatic transmission but lately I've had some servicing done and the engine response is beginning to improve, however I still think there some more things I could do to improve the response. The two noticeable symptoms are a somewhat poor cold start - the engine seems to "grumble" into life after a couple of cranks as oppossed to "springing" into life. It also seems to have fairly good gear and engine response when the engine and outside temperature is cold, but when it warms up the gears and engine don't seem to respond as well. I have been thinking about replacing the fuel injectors and fuel filter because according to a mate's Dad (who worked at Mitsubishi for 16 years) loss of power through the rev range means there's usually an issue with the fuel (ie dirty or not getting enough into the cylinders). I am planning on taking it my mechanic but seeing as taking it to him is usually a bit of a stuff around I thought I'd try and solve the problem myself to make the fixing process simpler and possibly cheaper.

If you read this and it doesn't make sense and you think you have some advice please post something anyway, I'd appreciate it. Thanks

Adonis_88

I also thought I should mention that I am simply looking for my car to run as close to new as possible not for any performance mods and that my recent servicing I mentioned has included the following:

*replace engine oil & filter

*trans fluid drain and replace

*toyota injector cleaner run through

Edited July 3, 2007 by adonis88

[leasaunce]

have you done a Transmission flush before?? if not you should do it...

how many km has it done?

[adonis88]

have you done a Transmission flush before?? if not you should do it...

how many km has it done?

Nah I haven't tried a transmission flush. I read somehere else on here that it is good. How do you go about it? LIke what product do you use, how much does the product cost and what is the process? And it's done about 155,000kms. Thanks

Edited July 3, 2007 by adonis88

[leasaunce]

have you done a Transmission flush before?? if not you should do it...

how many km has it done?

Nah I haven't tried a transmission flush. I read somehere else on here that it is good. How do you go about it? LIke what product do you use, how much does the product cost and what is the process? And it's done about 155,000kms. Thanks

ahh you car is still a baby :P hehehe.......

Transmission Flush, you have to take it to Toyota. What they do is, they drain the old oil then fill it up with new oil (I think they also use a high pressure system to clean the inside), then drive it around for 5-10mins. After that they drain the oil once again, fill it up with new oil and done. This takes up to 1hr, costs $100. But it is worth every $$$$. Gives smoother transmission and hopefully in your case it will gain abit of power.

also remember to clean the intake filter n intake inlet :)

[adonis88]

have you done a Transmission flush before?? if not you should do it...

how many km has it done?

Nah I haven't tried a transmission flush. I read somehere else on here that it is good. How do you go about it? LIke what product do you use, how much does the product cost and what is the process? And it's done about 155,000kms. Thanks

ahh you car is still a baby :P hehehe.......

Transmission Flush, you have to take it to Toyota. What they do is, they drain the old oil then fill it up with new oil (I think they also use a high pressure system to clean the inside), then drive it around for 5-10mins. After that they drain the oil once again, fill it up with new oil and done. This takes up to 1hr, costs $100. But it is worth every $$$$. Gives smoother transmission and hopefully in your case it will gain abit of power.

also remember to clean the intake filter n intake inlet :)

Ahh i c. Well i've had my trans fluid changed a couple of thousand kms ago so I might just change it again and see if it makes any difference. Thanks for the advice! Lataz

[Rolla Boy]

I'd suggest cleaning out the air filter, throttle body and air bypass hoses...

Blow out the air filter with compressed air or if thats not available hit it on the ground to try and dislodge any dirt or leaves etc...

Get yourself some carburettor cleaner, remove the air intake hose where it meets the throttle body and while the engine is running, spray the carby cleaner into the throttle body while keeping the revs up at around 3,000rpm or the engine will try to stall... Spray all around the butterfly and the butterfly rod at both sides of the throttle body... Also, inside the throttle body you will notice some holes that connect up to hoses that run inside and outside the inlet manifold... Spray some carby cleaner in there too and crap builds up in those pipes over time... Also, while you've got the air intake hose off, check that there are no cracks in the hose itself as any opening will be sucking more 'unmetred' air into the engine, stuffing up the air / fuel ratio causing hesitation while driving...

Replacing the fuel filter would also be a good idea... The fact that your car runs better when it's cold is because more fuel is being fed into the engine to assist with cold startup... Fuel delivery is increased as is the engine idle RPM...

Does your engine light ever come on??? Check the engine codes and see if anything comes up in the history, might be a faulty sensor that's causing your power hesitation...

Don't worry about replacing the trans oil if you've only done it not too long ago... Manual gearbox oil lasts 40,000kms and auto oil lasts either 60,000 or 80,000 depending on the manufacturers specifications...

I'm not being harsh when I say this or anything but the 4 cylinder 10 series camry's were never anything of a powerhouse so to speak but yeah...

Your cold starting issue could be poor battery charge so check out the battery voltage on cold startup...

Hope that helps...

Edited July 4, 2007 by Rolla Boy

[adonis88]

I'd suggest cleaning out the air filter, throttle body and air bypass hoses...

Blow out the air filter with compressed air or if thats not available hit it on the ground to try and dislodge any dirt or leaves etc...

Get yourself some carburettor cleaner, remove the air intake hose where it meets the throttle body and while the engine is running, spray the carby cleaner into the throttle body while keeping the revs up at around 3,000rpm or the engine will try to stall... Spray all around the butterfly and the butterfly rod at both sides of the throttle body... Also, inside the throttle body you will notice some holes that connect up to hoses that run inside and outside the inlet manifold... Spray some carby cleaner in there too and crap builds up in those pipes over time... Also, while you've got the air intake hose off, check that there are no cracks in the hose itself as any opening will be sucking more 'unmetred' air into the engine, stuffing up the air / fuel ratio causing hesitation while driving...

Replacing the fuel filter would also be a good idea... The fact that your car runs better when it's cold is because more fuel is being fed into the engine to assist with cold startup... Fuel delivery is increased as is the engine idle RPM...

Does your engine light ever come on??? Check the engine codes and see if anything comes up in the history, might be a faulty sensor that's causing your power hesitation...

Don't worry about replacing the trans oil if you've only done it not too long ago... Manual gearbox oil lasts 40,000kms and auto oil lasts either 60,000 or 80,000 depending on the manufacturers specifications...

I'm not being harsh when I say this or anything but the 4 cylinder 10 series camry's were never anything of a powerhouse so to speak but yeah...

Your cold starting issue could be poor battery charge so check out the battery voltage on cold startup...

Hope that helps...

Hey Dude, Thanks heaps for all the advice I appreciate it. First of all I know the 10 series doesn't have a lot of grunt which doesn't bother me cos that's not what the car is for. BTW no offence taken. I had thought already about cleaning the intake butterfly but if you spray carby cleaner in there will that be alright if its sucked into the engine and ignited? And I am going to check the battery voltage because my central locking has been stuffed for a while so I am thinking that perhaps it is using more battery power than usual therefore it has lost charge before a cold start and is fine with a warm start cos the alternator has had time to recharge what's been lost.

Thanks again fort all the advice. if you think of anything else drop us a msg. Lataz

[Rolla Boy]

Yeah man... Spraying carby cleaner into the intake is fine, just keep the revs up so the car doesn't stall and you'll be fine...

When you're revving it and spraying, you'll see it come out the exhaust, will be a blue/grey coloured smoke... Don't be alarmed as thats normal :) :) :) ...

[69.NIX]

let the car warm up before you give it stick.

picture this.....you have had a BIG night on the town. you get get woken up so by some terrorist (aka your mum) and asked (before you have a chance to compose yourself) to do a 5km run. you would feel like crap. now put that same thoery into a car point of view. the car is cold ans has been resting overnight. if you "wake it up" first thing and give it stick, what do you think its gonna do?!?!?!?!??!!

my STRONG suggestion, let it warm up for 1-2 minutes and drive it like a old man until you get to proper running temp. I do this every morning at 6am with outside of about 7oC. Trust me, my car runs smooth all the way to work (1hr 30min drive)

Also, doing regular maintainence will help, but that is just common knowledge.

[adonis88]

let the car warm up before you give it stick.

picture this.....you have had a BIG night on the town. you get get woken up so by some terrorist (aka your mum) and asked (before you have a chance to compose yourself) to do a 5km run. you would feel like crap. now put that same thoery into a car point of view. the car is cold ans has been resting overnight. if you "wake it up" first thing and give it stick, what do you think its gonna do?!?!?!?!??!!

my STRONG suggestion, let it warm up for 1-2 minutes and drive it like a old man until you get to proper running temp. I do this every morning at 6am with outside of about 7oC. Trust me, my car runs smooth all the way to work (1hr 30min drive)

Also, doing regular maintainence will help, but that is just common knowledge.

[/quote

Hey Big Pete, Yeah I understand what ya mean about the whole resting overnight thing and generally I try not to 'give it stick' when its cold cos its bad 4 the engine. But what I was saying was that it runs great cold but crap warm. It just the cold cranking that doesn't seem right. Which I think may be a result of my broken central locking/imobaliser system draining my battery overnight. But am getting that replaced soon so will see if that was the problem. Thanks again dude.