Checking for info for a friend in Nevada. SHe Receintly retired her 88 camry & bought a used 2001 Camry from dealer with extended wty 4cyl auto aprox 85K. Has to crank for 5? seconds to get it to start when cold in the morning. Main Problem is 1-2 days after filling the gas tank up the CEL comes on Dealer has reset it twice & supposedly replaced the spark plugs? DOes it have a known problem with fuel evap ?? They are telling her some BS that she can only use Chevron GAS
Any idea what code(s) were present before they were cleared? Might be related to TSB EG004-03 (MIL on DTC P0300), which can also cause hard starting when the engine is cold. There's also a TSB EG013-03 (MIL on DTC P0440, P0441, or P0446) caused by a inoperative CCV VSV. Or it could be something else -- there's lots of things that can break in a car...knowing the stored DTCs is certainly a big help in narrowing down the problem.
Like the others wrote, you really have to get the DTC codes to know what's going on, these should be printed on her completed work order.
If the P0300 code, she should get a new electronic control module ECM (the current one crapped out); if the P04xx code, if lucky it's the gas cap that doesn't vent or keep vacuum properly, if not lucky it's the bad canister and plugged/sluggish vacuum switching valves.
If she just bought it recently, say within the last 30-90 days or so (depending on warranty), she should be able to ask the dealer to fix it or offer to trade for another car. Used cars lots normally allow this within a period of time.
The 97-02 Camry has a new charcoal canister design that doesn't work very well. A check valve (air/gas separator?) goes bad, and sometimes charcoal powder gets blown out the hoses through the entire EVAP system, plugging vacuum switching valves. Expensive I heard if you have that batch of canisters and if the car's gone out of warranty.
You're right, the dealer is giving her crap. All gas sold in the US met the minimum fed standard with detergent additives. According to the news in the past few days, Toyota had concealed information to avoid a recall for several years. I haven't read the pay-to-read article to know if this is related to the bad canister or ECM problem or something else.
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