Hello Scotty,
Appreciate what you are doing for people, God Bless you!
This is Abhi from Sydney(Australia), currently I own a Toyota Camry Grande 2007(Automatic) with the 2AZ-FE engine with around 145k km now(I bought it at about 130k km, excellent condition, all servicing on time and records well maintained).
Until around 140k km, the car ran awesome with no issues with power and handling, but then I noticed it started struggling going uphill, and also some decline in mileage (from a consistent 9.5-9.9 lt/100km to between 11-12 lt/100km now).
This happened pretty quickly and I got the Engine Oil changed a couple of times after that, suspecting a poor batch of oil etc. I have also done the 150k km service suspecting the In-tank fuel filter earlier. After this major servicing, the car ran great for a week, and then returned to the same struggle with power and pick up at the start.
The car has been very well maintained and regularly serviced, the fact that it ran as expected right after the 150k km servicing suggests that the problem is not related to the age of the car. Toyota cars are known to be robust and 145k km for a mild suburban usage should not show ageing signs all of a sudden.
Other observations(just from a general perspective, as I do not have much idea about assessing a car's health):
1. When started in the morning, the engine used to stay at 1000 rpm (at "P" gear), then for few months, it used to stay at 1500 rpm for a minute or two before stabilizing at 1000 again. Nowadays, it starts at 2000 rpm and then takes about 2 min to get down to 1000 rpm.
2. While driving, the gear changes now seem to happen at higher RPMs, and hence the feel of struggling (more sound of engine but car still going slow). It runs fine once the speed is 60-70 kmph and it is not climbing.
3. The casing near the gear shift lever is getting hotter now as compared to a few months ago.
I was doing some reading and research and found an old TSB TSB-0094-11 (but in US, not in Aus) about this Engine which is about excessive Oil consumption that can damage Piston rings/Gaskets. Would there be a way to know if this particular car is also impacted by this TSB?
I tried to explain these symptoms to a few mechanics here, but they said it must be the age of the car, which I don't believe yet. Can I check or do something to bring back its glory and power?
Have you changed the automatic transmission yet? If not, go ahead and do the drain and fill. Do not flush it.
When was the last time you changed the spark plugs?
clean the MAF sensor and throttle body may help as well.
Thank you Yaser for the pointers, that is a bit advanced for me, I can't even recognize the parts when I open the bonnet of the car. But I have booked another mechanic inspection this Friday and will ask these questions.
Has the engine been using oil in between changes? Excessive oil consumption can clog your cat.
Thank you Glen, that TSB does mention excessive oil consumption, but I have not checked this (just get the oil changed every 6 months). I will discuss this with the mechanic in a few days. Take care.
Just an update on this after the check at the mechanic's today,
1. Transmission fluid was darker than a new one, but not ready for a change at this point (since it was done at 90K km)
2. Throttle Body was cleaned which had a heavy carbon build-up (there was a thick black smoke from the exhaust for few seconds after this clean).
3. A regular servicing was done as well (Engine Oil and Oil filter change)
4. The 6 month old Engine Oil did not lose a lot of its quantity to cause any suspicion of excessive burning of oil.
The car drove much better after this (and the "frequent high RPM without a corresponding speed" issue was not seen.
However, yet to see how it goes in the next few weeks, and whether the improvement today was just because of the servicing (and not because of the Throttle Body clean).
Will note in this thread if there are any relevant observations in the coming weeks.
Thank you all for help.