1995 Toyota Camry; No Start Issue

[rocky37]

While my sister-in-law was driving the car, it suddenly stalled on her and will not start. I got the vehicle towed back to my house and I am trying to get the vehicle started. I am having no luck.
I have changed the spark plugs and wire (it was needed anyway). I checked for spark and it was fine. I disconnected the fuel supply (the hose from fuel filter to fuel rail), appears to be fuel coming out of the fuel filter.
Now that I have fuel and spark, the engine should at least kick over. All I am getting is the engine is turning over but no signs of starting.
I sprayed starter fluid in the intake, but no luck. It showed no signs of wanting to start. Am I missing something?

 

[RyanHeo]

Have you replaced an alternator? The car is more than 10 years old, the alternator could be gone. After the battery is fully charged, you can try again because you are already checked a fuel system. And checking the all of the fuses are next.
Thanks.

 

[rocky37]

Alternator has never been replaced. I believe I am getting good spark. I want to replace the fuel filter, but the flare nut will not turn. I can not remove the nut connected to the fuel filter.

When I removed the bango fitting and cranked the engine over, fuel came out of the filter. Should fuel spray out of the filter? If it should, about how high, 2 inches or so?

I did spray starter fluid in the intake, but no sign of the engine even wanting to start. The timing belt is good.

Do you think the spark is not strong enough? The distrubtor was replace about 20,000 miles ago.

 

[brianl703]

Will it try to start if you open the throttle just a little bit while cranking?

The idle air control valve or whatever Toyota uses for that purpose could be bad.

 

[porcupine73]

Hi. How many miles are on? Does this vehicle have timing belt or a timing chain? I suspect it may have broken.

 

[wantin150]

A broken timing belt would definitely cause those issues.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

If your timing belt/chain has jumped a few teeth, the timing will be retarded and it will behave just as you described. I've experienced this on my timing belt mopars as well as on my old 69 Chrysler 383 V8. If you can, check the timing. This will tell you if it is anywhere near where it should be.

 

[Vaca]

I'd suggest you check two things that others here have already suggested...

1) check the timing belt What engine? I know the 4 cyl. is very easy to check the timing belt by removing the top TB cover...

2) double check the spark....what part(s) of the distributor did you replace?

 

[Vaca]

Also, I wouldn't waste too much time with the fuel filter, as it is not likely to be the culprit....

 

[rainman49]

My money is on the timing belt

 

[rocky37]

The car is a 4 cylinder with about 210,000 miles. The timing belt was replaced at 190,000.

The whole distributor was replace, which included the ignitor. This time I replace the spark plugs and wire, since it needed it anyway. The spark appears to bright blue, it should be able to burn the fuel.

The car died out while she was driving and it would not start back up again. I am going to check if the timing belt jumped a few teeth. Now, if the timing belt jumped a few teeth, wouldn't it still fire up and not continue to run if I spray starter fluid into the intake?

I do not know how to check the timing without the engine running. I am first going to check the timing belt to see if it jumped a few teeth.

I will let you guys know.

 

[mechtech2]

Timing belt.

 

[rocky37]

mechtech2,

So you think the timing belt jump a few teeth? This what I am think right now, but shouldn't it still fire, but not run, if I spray starter fluid into the intake?

 

[wantin150]

I'm not sure if the 95 is the same but the 1991 Camry I had was pretty sensitive to time. I replaced the distributor due to a faulty seal. I marked it before removal and "thought" I put it back exactly. Nope. Even a mm off degraded performance tremendously.

Unfortunately, you'll have to find TDC and go from there. Is it possible to have someone crank the engine while you have a timing light hooked up? Would it rotate fast enough?

 

[wantin150]

And... is there enough fuel in the car to start it? I know you stated that it's getting fuel but could that be just a little residual? Not trying to insult your intelligence but stranger things have happened!

 

[rocky37]

I thought there may not have been enough fuel in the beginning (1/4 tank), so I add three more gallons. Still no start, I did hope it was out of gas.
I am going to try the timing belt thing. It may have jumped a few teeth. If that is not it, I don't know what else to look for.

 

[rocky37]

I finally found out what is wrong with the car. The camshaft pulley came loose and moved around with the bolt still attached. This caused the camshaft key to elongate the cam keyhole. If I decide to fix it, I will at least need a camshaft and camshaft pulley. Maybe I will get a used head for the engine. I am not sure if it is going to be worth fixing. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[mechtech2]

You can often perform a non-factory fix.
If you get the cam and gear aligned properly, you may be able to drill dowel holes to secure it, or some other common sense method.
A little ingenuity will save a lot of $, and should be permanent.

 

[Donald]

So at 210K miles the bolt just loosened up on its own? Seems a bit odd.

 

[Quest]

not unlikely Donald.

Trouble is, whoever serviced the timing belt replacement for him didn't torque the camshaft sprocket bolt back to specifications for him/her. This happens 1 out of 3 times for either the monkey overtorqued the bolt (and it snapped sometime down the road) or undertorqued it (oh yeah! most of those old-hands would rely on their ill-fated memory just to do the job..I know a least 4 backyard mech who does that) and eventually it will work it's way loose.

Regardless, this still calls for a replacement cam + sprocket to get it back to working again.