Very odd. Yesterday as I was slowly coasting on level ground into a gas station, I was going too slowly, so I decided to press down on the accelerator pedal a bit. The car's RPMs increased (I heard the RPM rev up), but the car did not move forward any faster than my coast! LOL.
So after one second of this, I removed my foot from the accelerator pedal, and tried again. The second time was the charm. The 2006 Camry LE 4-cylinder moved like it's suppose to. There's only
15,000 miles on this 2-year-old car. What gives?
As mentioned, I gave the car some gas, but the increased REVs I heard were not translated into forward motion. I expected a bit more from Toyota. Very odd. I hope I don't experience more of this in the future. I had just started driving the car from a cold start-up about 12 minutes earlier. The temperature was about 76*F outside, and the coolant had reached operating temperature, although I'm sure the oil hadn't yet.
The later model Camrys were fitted with a new design six speed tranny. There were lots of complaints about this transmission when it first came out, and I suspect that this is what you are sensing.
We bought an Avalon, simply because it still was fitted with the older five speed unit which did not have this unsettling shift characteristic.
A sharp mechanic, dealership or independent, can probably counsel you on this.
Since this was a 2006 with a 4 cylinder, the car does not have the 6 speed transmission.....
I have seen cases where electronically controlled transmission from all manufacturers, not just Toyota, can "get confused" and shift into neutral instead of downshifting. If it was my car, I'd experiment and see if I could recreate the condition reliably. If I could, I'd take the car to the Toyota dealer and demonstrate it for the service writer. If I could not recreate the problem (even occasionally), then I would forget it ever happened :) In either case, I'd check the ATF fluid level, and if it is low, I'd be sure to use the correct Toyota ATF (purchased from the dealer, not an auto parts store).
They introduced the 6 speed in 2007, but only for the V6. The 4 cylinder still gets the 5 speed (even in 2009). The fly by wire complaints go back a little further....
Well my first check would be the ATF. If the level is correct and the color is OK and the transmission was not acting up, I wouldn't take it to the dealer. Chances are if you can't demonstrate the problem, they won't find it. I suppose you could have them read the codes (assuming there are any), but you could do it for free at AutoZone (or similar stores that read the codes for free). If there are no codes and you cannot demonstrate the problem, what do you expect the dealer to do? I know - charge you $75 for saying everything is OK - been there, done that.
Good information. I didn't know if the PCM stored "pending" transmission codes, or stored old codes.
So if the transmisison is acting normally, there is noting wrong with the fluid (level and color OK), and no check engine/transmission lights, do you think it would be usefule to visit the dealer?
The ECM does store pending codes for 1 trip for codes with 2-trip detection logic. I believe that if the code doesn't appear on the second consecutive trip, the pending code is cleared. While there are codes that do not illuminate the MIL, I have never run across an instance where one of those codes is stored and the MIL is not illuminated.
If the transmission is acting normally, the ATF level and color are OK, and there are no trouble lights illuminated, IMO, a trip to the dealer is unlikely to make a repair attempt unless the OP can duplicate the condition to demonstrate to the dealer. Otherwise, it would turn out to be a "unable to duplicate condition" trip. If the car's powertrain warranty is close to expiration, it wouldn't hurt to have the complaint documented by the dealer.
Well, Monday's mysterious gremlin hasn't made a return visit yet. The Camry's been driving fine ever since. Whatever happened on Monday remains a mystery.
The level of the ATF on the dipstick is fine, it's bright cranberry red, and doesn't smell burned.
The local dealership sells Toyota Genuine ATF Type T-IV for $7 a quart.
This morning a local gas station mispriced its mid-grade gasoline. The price was showing as $3.09 on the big sign that advertises prices--you know the sign that's visible from the street. I'm sure the pumps had it priced correctly at a dollar more: $4.09.
Another gas station is selling highway, low-sulfur, #2 diesel for $4.65. And they even sell specially dyed /Off-Road/ diesel on a separate pump.
Yet another station sells E-85 for $4.41, but I see a lot more stations carrying diesel than E-85. Still trying to determine if Hy-Vee premium gasoline doesn't contain 10-percent ethanol (E-10). According to the manager there, it doesn't, but he also says that premium everwhere in the state is ethanol-free, but I know that's wrong. Most premium everywhere is E-10, just like the lower grades. Trying to find ethanol-free gas is not easy.
Be thankful that you live in the USA! Over here in the UK, petrol (gasoline) and diesel prices are eye-wateringly expensive, and prices seem to be going up every week.
Prices are typically £1.20 and £1.35 per litre for petrol and diesel respectively. Given conversion factors of about 3.6 litres/US gallon and £1 = $1.89 (NatWest bank figure for today), that gives prices of $8.25 and $9.29 per US gallon - about twice what you pay :-(
Thank goodness for a fuel-efficient diesel-engined car that averages 50 mpg (40 mpg US).
Is ethanol in gasoline a US thing? I don't think premium unleaded petrol over here contains ethanol - just petrol at a higher octane rating (RON).
I've never seen a garage over here that sells red diesel, probably because there's thought to be too much of a risk that people would unwittingly fill up their car with it by mistake. I think it is usually specially delivered in bulk to off-road places that are allowed to use it (farms, building sites, boatyards etc).
Mortimer, some areas in the U.S. require that ethanol be used in gasoline. As of January 1 of this year, a Missouri law requires that non- premium grades contain 10-percent ethanol (E-10). Some pumps offer E-85.
I don't want to upset farmers, but lots of folks think there's substantial scientific evidence that the production of ethanol gasoline creates as much or more greenhouse gases than simply using normal gasoline. The new ethanol laws just seem to be a favor to big corporate agri-business like ADM, not a genuine desire to help the environment. And, of course, straight ethanol is very corrosive to automotive components--it's basically alcohol.
Anyway, for those who like the non-ethanol, normal gasoline, it's much harder to come by in Columbia as of January 1st of this year. As mentioned, a new Missouri law mandates that gas stations throughout our state must offer the 10 percent ethanol variety. (Previously, only St. Louis stations were under the ethanol thumb.) However, there is an exception to the new state law. Premium gasoline does *NOT* have to contain 10 percent ethanol. Regular grade does.
Not sure, but I think only 3 states right now require the 10 percent ethanol mixture in gasoline. The states are Missouri, Minnesota, and Hawaii. You'll find ethanol in lots of other places in the country, though, because of local city laws and federal mandates and/or programs focused on some metropolitan areas.
As of January, most stations in Columbia, Missouri only offer 10 percent ethanol gasoline now, but there are a couple stations that supposedly still offer the old, normal PREMIUM grade WITHOUT ethanol.
So far, I've found that the Sinclair gas station in Prathersville (about 2 miles north of Columbia) offers Premium grade without ethanol--at least that's what a manager there said. The regular grade, of course, by law has the ethanol. Premium, once again, is the only exception if the station owner wants to offer premium without ethanol. (There are two other exceptions to the law: gas at airports and if ethanol-mixed gas ever costs more at wholesale than normal gas.)
The other station I've found so far that gives you the choice of non- ethanol is the Randy's Market station (a Conoco), also in Prathersville.
If anyone knows of other stations in Missouri or in Southern Illinois near St. Louis with ethanol-free premium, please let us all know.
I would guess that ethanol is a US thing as we have lots of land that can grow corn and other things that ethanol can be made out of. Where I live I don't think it is at the pumps. I have not researched it, but have heard it will give less miles per gallon. That means it costs less per gallon but you use more of it so you may really get less miles per dollar.
How much do they charge for the non-road taxed diesel?
E-85 should be cheaper than gasoline, it contains less energy and you need to burn more of it to go the same distance.
Ethanol is a little hard to get to burn, so it acts as an octane booster. You can run a lot higher compression on straight ethanol than E-85 or straight gasoline, that's why Indy cars use it. However our road cars are advertised as flex-fuel. You can use everything from E-85 to pure gasoline. This limits the compression ratio to around 9.5 to 1 using premium gasoline. Your compression ratio can be as high as 18 or 19 to 1 on pure ethanol which will give more power and higher heat conversion efficiency than burning ethanol at 9.5 to
With E-85 you can go as high as about 12 to 1. So burning E-85 in our standard flex-fuel cars is a waste and very uneconomical.
E-10 is basically just an octane modifier at that ratio. It's cheaper than some other modifiers and a lot easier on the environment.
Yes, sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I realise that it's the same fuel with and without the red dye. When I was talking about "risk" I was meaning the risk that someone would accidentally stain their car engine with red dye (and the invisible chemical tracer) and thus would lay themselves open to accusations of evading tax by running their car on red diesel.
Mind you, when we had a fuel blockade in the UK in protest at high prices about eight years ago, fuel supplies got so short that eventually, as an emergency measure, the government relaxed the rules and allowed red diesel to be used in cars for a few days. I'm not sure how they planned to secure any convictions for using red diesel afterwards, because if you were caught with a stained engine (as long as they didn't actually find any red fuel in the tank) you could claim forever after that it was a legacy of that brief period when it was legal ;-)
Actually, *is* red diesel and central heating oil the same as white diesel, or does white diesel have additives to make vehicles perform better which tractors, boats and central heating boilers don't need?
I don't know. I'll have to check the price of the off-road diesel next time I visit that station. The name of the gas station is Midwest Petroleum and it sells Phillips 66 gasoline. It's on Range Line, just south of the Interstate 70 ramp, if any locals are reading this and can post the price for Retired VIP before I am able to.
I do remember that regular grade there is $3.99 per gallon, $4.09 for mid-grade, and $4.19 for #2 diesel. Regular grade still hasn't cracked $4 in Columbia, Missouri, but we're perilously close, only a penny away.
I try remembering the gasoline prices so I can upload them to GasBuddy.com . Once you've uploaded enough prices to accumulate 10,000 points, the GasBuddy site gives you access to their Master Station List, which I'd like to examine. It's the only reason I'm doing this non-sense ;-)
A different station's big sign mispriced mid-grade today by one whole dollar. The street sign's numbers, visible from the street, showed $3.09 for mid-grade, not the $4.09 it was suppose to be. I'm sure the actual pumps priced it right, though.
You mentioned that "E-10 is basically just an octane modifier at that ratio."
Yes, now that we have E-10 here, sometimes premium octane reaches as high as 93 and 94, rather than the usual 91 octane for premium. I think there's still a whole lot of
91 octane E-10 premium, though. I'd say most E-10 premium around here is still just 91 octane.
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