Check Engine light and Engine cuts out while drivingg.

[knowthroughroad]

Hi All

I'm in Melbourne. My vehicle a 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY MCV20R CSI WHITE 4dr WAGON with a Automatic 6cyl 3.0L 1MZ-FE Engine

The orange check engine light comes on while i'm driving. Firstly the car feels underpowered for a moment then the orange light flicks on and off then it stays on all within 30 seconds 1 minute and the engine dies, and power steering is gone. The car comes to a halt and i have to restart the engine. This all happens while the car is driving. It feels very scary.

What can i do to fix this problem?

Ive never worked on a modern car but have done basic repairs / swapped parts to some old cars when i was first driving (120y, Escort, Renault 16 swapped radiators, bumpers, gearshift ball joints , basic tune ups gaskets etc ).

I've owned this car for about 2 years. It has done alot of km 260,000 and was serviced at the dealer regularly before i got it.

I have the full service history. When i bought it I had the timing belt changed .

History to this problem

I've just taken it for a service a few weeks ago and things have not gone well since. First service all the plugs were changed to long life plugs, they had only been changed once before. In the past the owner had complained of some difficult starting from time to time . I found this too . It might stall reversing out of the drive a couple of times may be tow days in a row , then no problems for several months (regardless of the weather or season). About a week after the first service it started stalling on me while driving, once going up a hill once slowing to a stop behind traffic, then again stopped waiting to turn into a main road. I took it back ( to the garage not which was not the dealer) He checked and said their were no fault codes, and cleaned the throttle inlet ? which the dealer had done before.

Now a week and a half later , it the engine malfunctin light comes on while driving and the car grinds to a halt. I restart the engine all is fine for a kilometer or so then again. this happened on Friday , I took it for a long Drive on Sunday no problems. Then Monday night its done it again twice in a row , and again this morning. Its a bit scary If this happens at high speed or in traffic or turning things could get ugly for me. It doesn't feel safe to drive. On the long drive on the weekend 100 kms or more the engine felt great on the freeway really smooth. I'm so glad that nothing happened then.

Anyway , at the same time I also had the shockers and a rear trailing bush replaced at the garages suggestion. 260 000km and they had never been done before , seemed reasonable. I want the car to be safe for my young baby and wife you know. The left one is ok , but the right on made noises when i turnend. I went back, and they changed the baring for no cost , it still continued to make scrunching noises. I took it back again and they took the bearing apart and re lubed it / greased it ? Again for no cost , though they suggested it might need a new rubber mount for $200. It was better but again it making noises only on part of a turn.

I though i'd drive it for a week or so see if the noises got worse , and its now that the engine malfunction light comes on!!!

I don't know if i should go back to the garage and get them to fix both problems or to take to a toyota dealer straight away.

The car feels at the same time much better to drive but less safe than it was before the service

What can i do to fix this problem? Its cost me total $2k so far for the service, including all plugs, two new pirelli tyres, wheel alignment, oil, two new shockers , and a rear trailing bush .... something like $500 + of labour charges? Does that sound too much $? Thats two days in the garage for the work and a couple, a and two other days when i left it so they could look again at the right shocker. ( I only paid roughly $7500 for the car when i got it and $670 for the service to replace the timing belt)

Is their anything I can do my self? what can i do to get my car fixed.

Looking on the net see that it could be sensor gone dodgy?... but would this the cause the car to loose cut all power and stop the engine??

What should I ask the garage or the Dealer , so that i know whats going on , and that my car will be safe and that i, wont be throwing good money away.

This is very frustrating!

Cheers

Neil

Edited March 15, 2011 by knowthroughroad

[Ozzcaddy]

There is a possibilty that either the fuel filter is clogged, the fuel pump or fuel level sending unit is faulty. The problem seems to occur when the car is not travelling in a straight line. You mentioned that it has happened when going up an incline and also when turning. Have any of these parts been replaced to your knowledge?

If you don't already have one, I would suggest buying the Gregorys Service and Repair manual (#276), that covers Camry SXV20, MCV20 Series, 4 & 6 cyl, 1997 to 2002. I have the book and it is USA based, but it does not cover Wagons (which I have a wagon). Your problem seems it would happen even if it was a sedan.

There is a website which not available anymore that had the Manual in various Pdf files for downloading, which I do have them all.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Ozzcaddy

[STYLSH]

The lack of power would be from the engine going into limp mode once the check engine light (cel) turns on. However this doesnt switch the engine off as it was design for you to "limp" home (runs very rich and limits you to less than 4k rpm). I too think it's more of a fuel issue because even if one of the plugs/injectors stuffs up, the car will still run just quite horribly. If it is the fuel filter/s (we have 2) then it'll be about $200 + labour or so to fix.

However did you say the car was fine until the last service? Is he your regular mechanic? I'd call the mechanic up and tell him whats going on. Otherwise go to another mechanic. Toyota will charge you an arm and a leg to fix.

V6 plug replacement is a pain in the ***** and will take some time so it will be expensive.

[knowthroughroad]

The lack of power would be from the engine going into limp mode once the check engine light (cel) turns on. However this doesnt switch the engine off as it was design for you to "limp" home (runs very rich and limits you to less than 4k rpm). I too think it's more of a fuel issue because even if one of the plugs/injectors stuffs up, the car will still run just quite horribly. If it is the fuel filter/s (we have 2) then it'll be about $200 + labour or so to fix.

However did you say the car was fine until the last service? Is he your regular mechanic? I'd call the mechanic up and tell him whats going on. Otherwise go to another mechanic. Toyota will charge you an arm and a leg to fix.

V6 plug replacement is a pain in the ***** and will take some time so it will be expensive.

All the spark plugs were replaced and the fuel filter at the last service, only a few weeks ago. Besides the dealer where it has been serviced , I have only had this garage look at it, never used them before but they seem ok. Before the service this wasn't a problem. It did feel better after the service

When it happens i can remember if the engine actually stopped or if just pulled over / restarted it in a hurry.

It didn't happen this morning . Is it worth buying an adapter so i can read the error codes myself. I'll give the garage a call today

Edited March 15, 2011 by knowthroughroad

[STYLSH]

You can buy the normal handheld code readers for our model camry. They aren't full obd2 compliant. You need the special ones that the mechanics or toyota ones which costs thousands.

And just to clarify Limp mode doesnt make your car slow to a crawl, you will still be able to drive on highways and stuff. (I had to do this for 500km to and from the national meet - still can travel at 100km/h+ due to broken knock sensor)

I'd take it to the mechanic and ask them to read the code. It'll let you know what is wrong and then work from there. If it is something related to what he fixed then he should be doing it for free or at a substantial discount.

[knowthroughroad]

Dropped it off at the Garage this morning.

Last night it was terrible to start it just wouldn't catch, and then did all that i described several times before it drove without fault.

Started fine this morning but by the time i got to the garage , a few kms away it had happened again several times.

The Mechanic has just called to say , he thinks it could be one of the ignition sensors .... and that with some equipment that he will have tomorrow he will be able to tell which one is faulty . He said that there is one that sends messages and two that are reactionary. If he replaced them all it could be thousands of dollars!

This is starting to sound expensive!

[knowthroughroad]

Hi , turns out that there was a short in the loom from the igniter. The mechanic replaced the igniter as well, as apparently these can be damaged if there is a short. Anyway it starts fine now and seems to drive ok. Will have to monitor it for a while But hopefully it will be ok. They also managed to fix the problem with the shocker mounting grommet or bearing which was making such a terrible scrunching noise after the shocker had been replaced. Cost me $450 all up.

I think i will get a service manual and a code reader.... sure their is only so much i can do with out a work shop and the appropriate tools and experience, but i might save some money if i can do some fault finding myself.

Any suggestions for getting the most from ,or recommended mechanics, for camrys of this vintage ?

[STYLSH]

Code reader will NOT work on your car!

[Topdog]

Too true, a code reader will not work in this vintage. I got one a couple of years ago and couldn't get it to read. But the good news is I believe since 2006 it can read the codes ,so I guess I'll just have to trade my 2001 in get a later model.. I don't think so. Just waiting to find someone I know who has a late model Camry and try it out..As for manuals I have both a Gregory's(around $30) and a full Toyota Workshop set.(about $150 worth). The Gregory's has all you will need for most stuff you would be doing.

I do all my own servicing, short of major engine and transmission stuff. Most of what I do is oil and filter, coolant and brakes, transmission fluid changes these days, and check eveything else as required and do what needs to be done...and don't fix what ain't broken...I've had this car since mid 2001 plus a Corolla since 2006.

Edited March 19, 2011 by Topdog

[Ronnyboy]

Hi , turns out that there was a short in the loom from the igniter. The mechanic replaced the igniter as well, as apparently these can be damaged if there is a short. Anyway it starts fine now and seems to drive ok. Will have to monitor it for a while But hopefully it will be ok. They also managed to fix the problem with the shocker mounting grommet or bearing which was making such a terrible scrunching noise after the shocker had been replaced. Cost me $450 all up.

I think i will get a service manual and a code reader.... sure their is only so much i can do with out a work shop and the appropriate tools and experience, but i might save some money if i can do some fault finding myself.

Any suggestions for getting the most from ,or recommended mechanics, for camrys of this vintage ?

At least its fixed now which is a good thing and it didnt cost you thousands :)

Like you said, keep monitoring it for the next few weeks and see how it goes..