Camry '95 - idle speed running down

Could simply need a tune up, or ignition timing is off , you have removed the pan and changed the transmission oil filter im sure.

Have you ever seen how thick the oil is when it is really cold out. It takes a bit more effort to pump thick oil through the engine. I also have noticed this lately during cold morning with lights one (alternator load), Defroster (AC is on), and then I hit the wipers to remove the moisture on the outside. Boy do those wipers move slow and you can get the blower speed drop. I usually turn off the defroster until I get moving again, because the AC is the largest load, and it would be silly and perhaps dangerous to turn my lights off. You can check your alternator, regulator and battery (which is like a capacitor when the engine revs are low). I replaced the battery with a cheap one (the minimum on the CCAs) and I am positive that this is the reason for my engine load increase. A cold car will usually perform a bit out of tune, because it simply isn't at operating conditions, yet. I am not saying neglect any symptoms, but in the winter I also notice cold running conditions that quickly go away after about 1 minute or so. Winter is brutal on cars. I never let it idle to get fully warmed up. Just jump in let her idle for 15 seconds or so and drive her gingerly for the first mile or so. Lot's of different opinions on this one, but I think cold idling just loads them up with carbon. This 4 cylinder really warm up fast, too. Just remember, running conditions for a tune up are usually performed at normal operating conditions and if you don't have symptoms when it's warm, then it is anybody's guess.

First - I am in West suburbs of Chicago - there is no winter here yet... :-) Yesterday it was 65F, very sunny, beautiful day... Today it is still 60-tish. Second - I own this car for 7 years, I know when it does something odd. This is not your regular oil thickening when the car is cold - my car has never strugled before like you have described - maybe when there is -20F outside, but not in fall at 60F. The battery is almost new, car starts like a charm. No problems with sluggish wipers or dimmed lights...

I probably misled you guys saying it happens only when the car is cold. I should not say this. It really happens when I start the car for the 2nd time after a very short trip. So true, car is not fully warmed up yet... but not cold. Let me give you a scenario - video rental store, couple of blocks away. I went there once, so I started the car, drove for 4 minutes, turned it off. Then went inside for 2 minutes to drop the tapes (they are in reconstruction and dont have the outside car-friendly drop-off box) and went back to the car. When I started car again and departed home, next red light I got the iddle issue.

So as you see, this is rather a problem related to starting a not fully warmed car.

That is my question... is it simple tuneup (whatever it means for my car) or something worse, ie automatic transmission problems... Remember, the way to bring the revs back to normal iddle speed is to shift from drive to neutral/park. It looks like the engine has not enough power to fight the resistance of transmission in drive and with breaks applied.

No, I have not done this yet. And my car is due for the transmission flush.

If your ignition coil is under the cap that is a classic symptom of oil on the coil shorting out after it has just started to warm up but goes away after 30- 60 minutes. Removing the cap and cleaning it good usualy fixes it, or a loose distributor cap alowing in moisture. Anyway you probably need a complete tune up as it could be a few things, even bad gas.

You mean trans drain, don`t do one of those Power flushes.

I have done the flush two, maybe 3 yrs ago and I was happy about it. Now I will do regular drain.

Two things control the cold idle speed:

Try spraying some TriFlow into the small rectangular opening at the bottom of the throttle body to free up the idle control valve.

Any help ?