rowdy235

First off, I apologize if this is in the wrong spot, I know its not a truck or SUV, but its a toyota none the less.

Just picked up a 1996 camry with the 2200 4-cylinder and an automatic. It's got 265k on the clock and runs good for the most part. We've put around 750 miles on it since purchase and they've all been trouble free. Still, it has a couple quirks.

First, It has a miss between around 2000 and 2500 rpm. Above or below that the car seems to run fine, has lots of power and what not. The car also sometimes has a miss at idle, but not often and not bad.

Second, it seems to have some cooling problem. A couple times I have shut it off and heard boiling. After putting around 300 miles on it it was about 16 oz low on coolant. While driving, the temperature gauge is all over the place, I was thinking the gauge was messed up, but maybe not.

My Thoughts:
I don't feel the problems are related. The overheating happens whether it misses a lot or not at all. The missing happens cold or hot.

I feel a full tune up is in order for the miss. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor. Seafoam treatment and an injector cleaning if problems still persist.

For the overheating I am thinking thermostat. The way the gauge behaves it will be normal, then go down to cold, then at some times goes up to almost hot. It screams to me sticking thermostat. I also suspect the coolant is less than a 50/50 mix, so while replacing I will make sure that is resolved. I was also thinking a new cap just for good measure. I didn't think of it before but does this sound like something could be wrong with the electric fans? What?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

crazypaint

Easy way to check ur cooling is remove the thermostat and see if it stays normal if it dose that's ur problem. It might also just need the air out of the system. For the miss I'd try wires first. And or ur cap and rotor just my .02 tho

250000_yota

Just a word of advice, on those camrys, the upper radiator hose has a tendency for forming an air bubble that can be tricky to get out. When filling it, hold the hose down to help alleviate the issue.


As for the miss, I would also recommend checking on the last timing belt replacement. These engines don't use a hydraulic tensioner, and they have a tendency to slack up prematurely. I've seen it quite a few times. Having the timing belt timing off could cause a slight miss.

rowdy235

Good call on the T-Belt. There is no sticker under the hood as I have seen on 3vze pickups, but the car was in a front-end collision so I suppose the sticker could have gone away. May be better to do it just for peace of mind. Water pump too.

We drove about 240 miles round trip today, I went out and checked, was just above the fins, I topped it up. This time I ran the car while I added and got a good bit more in. Maybe this next weekend I'll go up to my grandpas and park it on a hill where I can bleed it better.

As for the miss, plugs and wires for sure, they both seem to be due for replacement. May as well do the cap/rotor too, for the price.