2002 Camry Won't Idle

Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
6,056
Location
VA
A lady at church is having a bunch of trouble with her 2002 V6 Camry. It runs fine going down the road. But at idle it barely runs. It appears at idle
the alternator is not charging the battery. Had battery tested and it appears to be okay. At idle, the battery voltage will drop in the 10's. They have
replaced the alternator twice with rebuilt (from auto parts store) and neither worked. Finally, took the OEM alternator somewhere and had it rebuilt.
Still not fixed. You guys got any suggestion or direction? Whomever is working on it for her said there seems to be a problem between the alternator
and the battery but he doesn't know to do. I think it is her husband or her Dad doing the mechanic work.
 
How old is the battery?
If it is an older one, replace it.
I'm not normally for firing up the parts cannon, but older/malfunctioning batteries can create weird issues.
My next door neighbor has an '05 Accord that spent EIGHT months in the shop because he would be driving down the road, it would stall and not restart.
They could not adequately diagnose it, until the battery put itself out of its misery.
They replaced it. Vehicle has been fine since.
 
IIRC, the Idle-Air Controller (IAC) is particularly troublesome in this generation of Camry’s. Like previously mentioned, give the TB a real good cleaning paying particular attention to the IAC. Plenty of YouTube videos on the subject…….
 
To rule out the bad idle causing the low charge, I would measure voltage while holding the idle at 1,000 rpm's.
 
She says as long as RPMs are 2000 or better, everyone is fine.
 
Back
Top