Six problems related to cruise control have been reported for the 1998 Toyota Camry. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I had used the coast on my cruise control to reduce my set speed from 78mph to 71mph, after about 50 yards, my cruise control sped up on its own to about 76mph before I tapped the brakes and cut the cruise control off. After about 3 minutes, I cut the cruise control back on and went to use the set button to set my speed at 71mph. When I pushed the set button, the cruise control did not 'lock in' to the 71mph but instead started to speed up beyond 71mph and at 75mph I tapped the brake and cut off the cruise control. The next day, the next three time I went to cut the cruise control on and went to push the set button to set it at the speed I was going, the car always took off beyond what I was wanting to set it at and causing me to tap the brakes and I was forced to cut it off because after I had tapped the brake and let off the brake it would start to increase speed again.
There was no prior events leading up to the car fire. The day of the fire the cruise control would not work. As the car was traveling, it decreased and increased in power quickly and frequently. While traveling on interstate 80 the car suddenly lost power, and the gas would not increase the speed of the car. We pulled off to the side of the road , and immediately noticed smoke coming out of the front hood of the car. We got out of the car and quickly saw flames coming from under the front hood. We could not get the hood opened because the flames were too close. We attempted to put out the fire by using four fire extinguishers from pedestrians. Before the fire fighters got to the site. The entire front of the car was engulfed in flames. We noticed about 50 yards of fluid on the ground preceding the site of the fire. The fluid was dark and resembled oil. It just so happens that we were moving that day, so we lost a lot of personal items in the fire (clothing, electronics, pictures). We only had liability auto insurance, so the car was not replaced. There was too much damage to repair the car.
When the cruise control was engaged and the brake pedal was pressed to disengage it there was no throttle response. When the vehicle stopped and the pedal was pressed to accelerate there was no throttle response. The consumer had to push the gas pedal forward and back to obtain acceleration. The dealer recommended a throttle body cleaning and idle speed control replacement.
Vehicle has a problem that causes hard starting and low idle rpms, consumer feels the idling air control valve could possible be a manufacturer defect.
Engine idles high at operating temperature, unable to identify problem . Mjs.
Engines rpms increase between gears when shifting, and also continues to accelrate after foot is removed from accelerator pedal.