The check engine light came on, but I knew I had a small exhaust leak. This winter when the car warmed up it would skip and hesitate a bit. We put it up on the lift and the flex pipe had broken completely through. Now that we have warmer weather it skips and hesitates more than ever. We plan on fixing the exhause pipe this week, do you think the rest of the problems are connected or is it something else?
Most likely electrical, plugs, wires cap or coil. Start with new plugs
Flexpipes don't break by themselves. I would suggest inspecting the engine mounts as a probable cause of that exhaust break.
I had another Camry before this one, the same year and model, and the flex pipe broke on that one too. I'm sure the reason is that I was living in a place where I would have to cross a bump once in awhile where I would bottom out. (no way around it) Unfortunately I totalled that one before the leak got bad. I live in a place with very bad road conditions, salt, sand, dirt, mud, rocks,etc.
Hopefully this didn't happen to you. No personal experience in this area, but have heard, that if an exhaust system is left open, the heated exhaust valves get a thermal shock when the engine is turned off and cold outside air contacts them. If the compression in the cylinders has been affected, problems would extend beyond just repairing the exhaust pipe.
------- Moralistic preaching about "closing the barn door after the (farm animal of choice has already left)": That would be a good example of why it pays to fix small problems promptly. If something goes wrong and one just keeps driving the car, additional damage can occur. If the flex pipe was damaged by worn motor mounts, that's another example. If you replace the exhaust pipe with a genuine Toyota part, you'll find the whole "mid" section is one piece = expensive part. Have heard of people having a muffler shop weld in the broken part for lower cost, which could be OK, but generally, when replacing parts is far better to stay with factory pieces. Other things that kill Toyotas: Neglecting a small radiator leak Never checking the oil level
----- Driving the car while it "skip(s) and hesitate(s) a bit" probably just damages it more slowly.
------------------- Helpful hint (in case you've got expensive engine problems and wind up buying another car): Sometimes, if you get the problem diagnosed quickly - it may not be "life threatening", and you can wait a while to save up, but generally it is best to fix things promptly and keep up on all the maintenance items if you want the car to last a long time - which is the cheaper long term than expensive surprises.
My mechanic does my work for next to nothing so I have to wait until he doesn't have anything to do before I can get my car in. Today we didn't have time to do the exhaust but we put in new spark plugs and cleaned the distributor cap. My ride home was fast and smooth! We're still hoping to do the exhaust over the next couple of days. Thanks everyone for your input!
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