QuestionI have an automatic 1988 model SV21 Toyota Camry with EFI and 250,000 km on the clock. Currently it has a problem where when I try to start it, the engine turns over fine but as soon as it kicks over it stalls. The local breakdown service said the spark going into the cyliders is very weak.
I have taken it to an auto electrician. They say the spark is fine and the problem is that something is telling the fuel injectors to shut down as soon as the engine starts. They have tried to put a CPU from a similar car into it and it does the same thing, but the other car with my car's computer in it ran fine. They have a light bulb connected to the injectors and I saw that when they tried to start it, there was a flash from the bulb then the engine stalled and the bulb went off.
They say they have checked every circuit and every sensor in the engine but everything is fine.
Do you have any suggestions that I can relay to them as to what the cause might be? Is there a diagnostic machine that can find the cause?
Thanks.
AnswerI repeatedly get questions concerning this problem and I thought by now most repair shops had this information, this is a very common problem with camrys.
Here is what needs to be done to fix this problem:
The problem is the idle speed control valve, it is located on the throttle body, the throttle body has to be removed from the intake chamber then the idle speed control valve is removed and cleaned or replaced, we clean them on a regular basis with good results, what they have done so far is nonsense, of course the injector signal goes off when the engine stalls, it is supposed to, just do what I recommensd and the problem will be solved, if you need any other information please contact me again.
