2002 Toyota Camry Battery, alternator, idle valve

2002 TOYOTA CAMRY
16,800 MILES • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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HEWITT
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Hi there,

Recently, 2002 camry did not start. Brought it to the dealership and they said it was the battery. Changed the battery drove off the lot and the car was stalling when I slowed down at a light or put the breakes on. They changed the alternator and said it was ready. Picked up the car and within the block as soon as I slowed down, again the car stalled. Brought it back to them and explained that the $600.00 alternator did nothing for the car. They then called to say it was the idle valve which was clogged they cleaned it and everything is great.

Question: do you feel that a new alternator was required or should they not have jumped the gun and checked for other reasons why it was stalling?

I have a choice of putting back the old alternator and getting my money back or not??
What would you do?
Thanks
S
Sep 15, 2008 at 2:51 PM
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RASMATAZ
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
  • 75,992 POSTS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
They should have performed a load test on the alternator and battery before they replaced it with a VAT machine. Toyota's IACV can do a lot of weird things that can give an incompetent tech a curve ball and throw parts to it till its fixed.

Go get your benjamins and dont go there anymore Good Luck.
Sep 15, 2008 at 3:00 PM
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