2001 Toyota Avalon stalls on cold start

rwiechmannrwiechmann Member Posts: 1
edited November 2016 in Toyota
I have a 2001 Toyota Avalon XLS with just over 100k miles, and is up to date on all scheduled maintenance. When I start my car in the morning it will turn over but almost immediately will shudder and stall. What I have been able to do is to immediately hit the gas (while still in park) and rev the engine at aprox 2,500rpm for 30-45 seconds. After that the engine will normally be fine and I can put it into gear. This seems to be more of an issue in cold weather. I live in California so it is not freezing, but has been in the high 30s/low 40s lately. This problem has only started presenting itself in the past three or four weeks.

Once the car is driving, it is fine, it is just getting it started the first time. If I have driven the car for awhile and warmed it up, I am able to turn the car off, and then turn it back on again with no issue. It is only after it has been sitting for a few hours and cooled off.

Another thing is that once the engine does start and stay on, it's idle rev is higher than normal by about 500-750rpm. That last only until the engine temp goes up, and then it settles back down.

My mechanic has taken a look at this and has plugged into the computer, but there are no pending or current alerts, so he does not know what the issue is.

Has anyone ever experience this before, and if so, what was the solution.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Your Privacy

By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our Visitor Agreement.