Expert: Mike Evans - 11/8/2010

Question
QUESTION: The Camry has almost 200,000 miles but has been running great with no issues. Recently, after being parked for an hour or so. It willnot start back. Also this morning my husband was on the way home and it just died and would not start back. The local repair firm replaced the fuel filter but this did not resolve the problem. They have checked and rechecked and cannot locate the problem. Any idea's?? Original engine but no problems at all until now. Thanks

ANSWER:      If I had to guess (and that's really all I can do at this distance), I would say that the engine is flooding.  One or more of the injectors is leaking into the intake, causing excess fuel to be delivered to the cylinders.  This is not a problem when the engine is cold, extra fuel is needed to get the thing started.  But, once it's warmed up (and even an hour is not enough time for it to cool down), the excess fuel will cause an over-rich condition which the engine will not tolerate.  Try waiting until it does this, then pull a plug while the engine is still hot.  I think you will see that the plug is wet with unburnt gasoline.  If this is the case, then I would replace all of the injectors (if one's bad, the others are soon to follow).

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QUESTION: Is this an expensive process? As far as replacing the injectors? Thans for your help

Answer
    You can get remanufactured injectors  for as little as fifty dollars each.  New ones can cost three times that much.  The actual procedure is a little involved; I wouldn't be surprised to see a labor cost of two to three hundred dollars.  So, you want to make sure they're bad before you replace them.  I believe an experienced do-it-yourselfer could easily do the work himself.