What could cause my Toyota to have an erratic idle?

Answer by  Sabharish (1610)

Erratic idle may be due to the injector leak in your engine. Another cause of erratic idle is the exhaust gas recirculating in to the intake. A faulty EGR is most common reason for erratic idle.

Answer by  OBWon (10)

First thing that comes to mind is a vacuum leak, possibly on the intake side. To check for this: Buy a can of Starter Spray/ Ether and slowly spray from the intake down to the air cleaner. If your RPMs increase, then your next job will be to figure out where the hole is that's sucking up the Ether.

Answer by  Tom22 (13)

The idle speed control valve can cause idle problems. Clean the throttle body thouroughly on the inside, use the spray cleaner and a brush to remove all the Carbon.

Answer by  chrissimo (27)

It would help to have year and model! On carburated engines improper idle settings. On fuel injected engines the throttle postioning sensor may be faulty.

Answer by  Hellhammer (131)

A dirty fuel filter, clogged injectors or faulty ignition components. Run a bottle of injector cleaner through the tank and replace the fuel filter. Check the timing if you can.