1998 Toyota Camry XLE, 164,000 miles - rough idle when stopped

Tiny
JONRANEYCHESSER
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 TOYOTA CAMRY
  • 164,000 MILES
The idle on my Camry is too rough. When I'm stopped at a light, whether or not the air conditioner fan is running or not, I'm experiencing a rougher than usual idle. It's like it cycles through a rough idling period-- while stopped it becomes very rough, then a few seconds later smooths out again, then becomes rough, etc.

In the last month my car has had a lot of regular maintenance plus a few extras repairs outside regular maintenance. There is no engine light on as well.

They are:
Tune-up including all spark plugs replaced
New oxygen sensor which is attached to the catalytic converter
Four new engine mounts-- the original were shot
New struts-- the originals were shot as well

The car is a very good car, and runs well except when stopped.

Can you help?
Friday, October 23rd, 2015 AT 1:46 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
You may need to get it on a scanner and see what the base idle is, this may be to low and when the A/C cycles the extra load on the engine causes the noticed stumble and smooths out some when the A/C cycles off again.
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Tuesday, October 27th, 2015 AT 1:29 AM
Tiny
JONRANEYCHESSER
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Thank you for your response.

When you say "plug into a scanner" do you mean that diagnostic device that reads the computer chip in your car?

If this is what you are referring to, I have done this. It said I needed a new oxygen sensor, and this has been replaced.

Is there another device to plug into to check your "basic idle?"

What is necessary to get the idle checked?

Please advise.

Thank you!
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Thursday, October 29th, 2015 AT 10:18 AM
Tiny
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Better quality scanners have live data read out, with this you can see what all the sensors are doing and see engine parameters, including the idle speed, you can clean the idle air by-pall valve on the throttle body as well, but you need to see engine RPM as well to see what the base idle is.
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Thursday, October 29th, 2015 AT 1:32 PM

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