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I have a 2007 Toyota Camry.

It won't rev past the red line. About 6250RPM approximately.

It doesn't matter if it's in P, N, or D or manually on the 1st Gear. It's still the same.

Any idea what might be causing this? I'm pretty sure that it went past the redline before, although I'm not sure when it stopped doing it.

I recently had my fuel filter, transmission oil and transmission oil strainer changed as part of routine maintenance.

Could it be related to this?

EDIT:

The engine is 2AZ-FE (2.4l 4 cylinder)

I remember that the revs went into the red before. Now it stops right at the redline, no matter how much gas I give.

EDIT:

I feel like I've kind of miscommunicated the issue.

The revs won't go into the Red (pas the white line). I thought that going beyond the white rev lines is normal once in a while, doing a hard acceleration.

enter image description here

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  • What was the rev limit it used to reach before? Which engine is this?
    – Zaid
    Mar 13, 2018 at 14:38
  • @Zaid 2AZ-FE, it went into the red comfortably 7000+.
    – Thihara
    Mar 13, 2018 at 14:49
  • Hmm, it could be running very rich now. Can you smell petrol in the exhaust? Can you get us the fuel trims?
    – Zaid
    Mar 13, 2018 at 14:58
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    I'm just wondering why you'd want to go into the redline area anyway? This is very bad for your engine. Mar 13, 2018 at 15:00
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    @Zaid - As I'm sure you're fully aware, this is not a good test. Mar 13, 2018 at 15:07

2 Answers 2

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Given you say "I'm pretty sure that it went past the redline before" I am going to assume that you aren't sure it ever did it.

Cars are not only not designed from the factory to exceed the redline, they are designed with safeguards to prevent the ability to do so. This could be done several ways including cutting spark or fuel. The redline is there because that is what the engineers determined as the practical mechanical limit of the engine. Your peak horsepower is typically reached a couple hundred rpms below it, so the ability to exceed it really does you no good, anyway.

As mentioned in one of the comments, the ability to exceed the redline is not an indicator of engine health and you should not be attempting to exceed it without proper supporting modifications.

To directly answer your question: It is highly unlikely that the maintenance performed affected your engine's ability to exceed the redline.

Re edit: No, it is not. That is precisely what the car is designed against doing unless modified.

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  • Right, but while it may not do me any good, doesn't the inability go there indicate an issue? I'm sure, I recall on a full throttle it goes a bit into the red lines and then shifts.
    – Thihara
    Mar 14, 2018 at 0:05
  • I am not aware of a vehicle designed to go beyond the redline from the factory. The redline is to indicate the end of the reasonable mechanical limits of the engine and due to this, the cpu cuts the fuel/spark/whatever before that point. Mar 14, 2018 at 0:22
  • I added a picture for my question to clarify, I feel like I've somehow miscommunicated.
    – Thihara
    Mar 14, 2018 at 0:23
  • I understood what you meant from the beginning. The engine is not designed to rev that high. Mar 14, 2018 at 1:09
  • I see, so are you saying that this is the normal behavior?
    – Thihara
    Mar 14, 2018 at 1:14
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Virtually all modern passenger cars have rev-limiters. By default they are set at the indicated "redline" on the tachometer, or very near it. It will not change during normal operation. Only in rare instances where certain engine sensors fail will it be lowered--but drastically to, say, 2,500 RPM. And the car will let you know with other indicators.

You won't have a condition that lowers it ~750 RPM from 7,000 to 6,250 RPM like you are describing.

Keep in mind many cars track actual RPM via ignition events, and the rev-limiter is typically a fuel and ignition cut-off. That, and the speed of the tachometer needle and engine can change are not the same. So when bouncing off the rev-limiter, the tachometer is not that accurate.

Now, to cover all bases, some vehicles can rev past the limiter in very specific cases. If you have a manual transmission (you don't), and you forcibly downshift from 6th to 2nd on the highway; this will destroy your engine. Some automatics will fail in a way that causes them to not up-shift correctly, which could allow the engine to coast past the rev-limit; this will also destroy your engine. However, the rev-limiter will activate in either of these cases, depriving the engine of fuel and ignition, but the vehicle's inertia rotates the engine past the limit regardless (if you were coasting down a very steep grade).

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    Also, please post the VIN so I can be sure not to ever purchase that vehicle.
    – Nick
    Mar 14, 2018 at 14:23
  • I am a firm believer in the Italian tune-up. Haha. Mar 14, 2018 at 17:38

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