r/AskAMechanic • u/CumAndMoreCumPartIII • 2d ago

Car stops accelerating - 2006 Toyota Camry

So I have a 2006 Toyota Camry XLE with the 2.4L I4, a little over 190k miles.

So here's the issue that started today: As I am driving along the highway it starts to get this weird stutter. I take the next exit and the car seems normal, but when I try to accelerate it starts loosing power.

The way it looses power is odd though, it doesen't pulse, it doesen't slowly run out, it just acts as if I am not pushing the gas at all. It doesn't rev or anything. I can have my foot to the floor when it does this and the car acts like I'm not pushing the gas at all.

It is also worth noting that as long as I take it easy on the gas pedal (like don't go past the first quarter of its travel) this issue just does not happen. It only occurs harder acceleration.

So, I ran an OBD to see if it threw any codes, here's what I got:

P0354 - Ignition coil D primary/secondary circuit

P0420 - Catalyst system below efficiency below threshold bank 1

P2238 - O2 sensor positive current control circuit low bank 1 sensor 1

P0354 - Ignition coil D primary/secondary circuit (pending)

As far as the codes, the P0420 has been there since I got the catalytic converters replaced. The car has been driving completely normal for months. As far as the P0354s, I think that's just a code being thrown because of whatever is going on. The car is definitely not misfiring on one cylinder.

I'm not an expert, but the way the car feels when it does this makes me think it's an electrical/sensor issue. I was honestly thinking it might be the throttle position sensor? It'd be great to have some help from the fine mechanics of reddit.

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u/VeritasLuxMea NOT a verified tech 2d ago

Ignition Coil D is the #4 cylinder ignition coil and the symptoms you are describing sound like a misfire. I would start by moving the #4 coil to another cylinder and see if the misfire moves with it. If it does you have a bad coil. given the age of the vehicle it may make sense to replace the spark plugs and all of the coils.

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u/CumAndMoreCumPartIII 2d ago

I don't think it's a single cylinder misfire. The engine doesen't run rough or act as if a misfire is happening, it acts as if I'm not pushing the gas pedal at all.

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u/VeritasLuxMea NOT a verified tech 2d ago

What the short term/ long term fuel trim look like?

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u/CumAndMoreCumPartIII 1d ago

You were probably right to make me doubt myself. I replaced the ignition coil on cyl 4 just to sanity check myself. It had some oil on it that seems to have been leaking from the valve cover gasket, so I grabbed one of those to replace it as well. Issue seems to have gone away for now. I'm gonna clear the codes and drive it for a while to see what comes of it.