IAC / Spark plugs help Toyota camry 1999

[gendos01]

Hi All

Camry i4 1999 - 156000m

I had a rough start issue . So , I cleaned my IAC , just spayed in it .. My Idle became very stable , however a little high. I took entire TB and IAC .. I cleaned IAC again (I did not take plastic part off ) .. When I assembled my IAC and TB back .. I have normal idle as far as RPM .. However , engine vibrates a bit .. I can see it also RMP jump somewhat +/- 10 .. (before cleaning it did not jump at all )

So My question is :

Could it be that curb cleaner (I sprayed a lot ) resulted in some kind of deposits on my spark plugs (have platinum OEM plugs - only 25k miles on these plugs) and therefore my engine is vibrating a bit ?

Should I buy new IAC ?

Should I reset ECM .. When I first started my car after reassembly of TB and IAC .. my engine almost stalled and vibrated a LOT for first few seconds . I've read somewhere that I should have reseted ECM before starting my engin ?

How do I reset ECM ?

Thank you

 

[Vikas]

You could take it to Autozone and borrow their OBD scanner. If you are in MetroWest Boston, I will let you borrow mine!

If you have sprayed lot of carb cleaner, it will burn off after the engine gets hot enough.

Can you provide detailed instruction on taking off the TB and IAC? I have the same car and I occasionally run in to same problem on cold startup. I too would like to remove it off the car to do better cleaning and your detailed instructions would give me more encouragement.

- Vikas

 

[porcupine73]

Were there any gaskets for the TB and/or IACV? If so normally new gaskets should be used on reinstallation as any air leaks around them can cause issues.

If the IACV was partially clogged, then it may idle high for a while until the ECU relearns its idle parameters. It would have had the IACV open further when dirty to keep the idle rpm in the target range; now that it is clean the iacv can be more closed to maintain the target rpm, so the ECU needs to learn that. A reset of the ECU will make it relearn all the parameters right away; one common way of doing it is disconnect the battery for a while.

 

[gendos01]

Here is some details on how to do it on 5sfe engine

You need 2 new caskets (my gaskets looked perfect , I've replaced them anyways )
1 TB - Metal Casket ($9 at my stealership)
1 IAC to TB gasket ($8)
4 IAC holding bolts ( optional , I strip 3 bolts $2.80 each )

Removing Procedure

1 . Disconnect vacuum and other air house from TB
2 Disconnect Big air hose (one that comes from air filter assembly ) .. I disconnected only TB end of the hose .. Could have been more convinient to disconnet entire 'BIG' hose
3. Disconnect bracket that holds acceleration cables (2 bolts )
4. Disconnect acceleration cables from TB wheel
5. Disconnect 3 hoses underneath of IAC (some cars have only two) Make sure you have hose removal pliers - otherwise its very hard to remove them . Two hoses pass coolant trough IAC , it might spill a bit of coolant over your transmission - not much at all , 3 Oz (consider some kind of the pan - I did not use it )
6. Disconnect IAC 'electric' connector . Push screwdriver into connector and press towards the front end of the car , use another screwdriver simultaneously to help disconnect that connector . Nice to have help of another person
7. Disconnect TPS(Throttle position senor ) connector - do not disconnect TPS from TB
8.Remove 3 bolts holding TB to Intake manifold
9 Remove 4 IAC bolts that hold it to TB . It was hardest and most time consuming part of the procedure . You need to use Philips screwdriver . I could not unscrew those bolts . I have striped heads .. I end up going to Sears and got manual impact driver ($25 life saver ) . Manual impact driver worked like a charm , loosened all bolts in no time. You do need 2 people to use it , unless you have a vise .. Be careful not to bend copper ports coming out of TB

Cleaning IAC and TB
I used tooth brash to clean in first
I used small screwdriver with cloth on it to clean IAC inside . While cleaning spray Carb cleaner as needed . Make sure carb cleaner is plastic safe . I used SyncPower
I did not unscrew plastic thing from IAC - as I has some yellow marks on it . Maybe it collaborated .
If you have compress air - push it trough the ports of TB and IAC


When everything is reassembled .. Turn your ignition key on for 30 sec , turn it off and then start an engine (I did not do it myself , I read it after the fact . But it should reset IAC setting in ECM)

I spend about 4hours taking it appart .. 20 min putting it back
Most time have been spent on IAC holding bolts , before I got impact driver (about 2 hours )
Disconnecting IAC hoses took about 40 min
Disconnecting IAC and TPS connectors took another 1 hour (it very easy once you know what way to push it )

 

[Vikas]

Wow, those are *great* instructions! Thank you!!

- Vikas