I have noted this weird intermittent startup "problem" on both my 90 Camry (2VZ-FE) and now my 2001 Highlander (1MZ-FE) and was wondering if anyone has an explanation. It took me a long time to figure out how to reproduce the problem. Here is what caused the most recent occurance.
This past Saturday afternoon (3:00P.M.) I parked in the driveway so that I could wash the car. After hearing the forecast for potential rain overnite I moved the car into the garage (7:00P.M). On Sunday morning I pulled the car back out of the garage to wax it. The car sat there until time to go to work on Monday morning. Everything seemed fine to this point.
On Monday morning when I started the car it sounded like the engine was going to jump out of the hood! It was shaking badly and I could hear all kinds of ticking noises from what I hope were just the fuel injectors. After a few minutes the shaking and missing calmed down and I drove to work without incident.
Can anybody explain what is going on here? It would appear that 2 engine starts without a complete warmup somehow causes the computer to forget how to properly control the engine.
Anyone have any other ideas or an explanation? This eeems like it would be an EPA issue.
Thanks,
Steve