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89 Camry - Won't Start - Baffled....

We have an 89 4cyl, 5spd, 2wd Camry. On and off for a couple of years it has had intermittent problem. There seems to be little pattern to it, except it seems to happen more going up short steep hills. It loses power and sometimes cuts out/dies or at least is very wimpy for awhile. Then it has a hard time starting for a few minutes. This can also happen on the straight level roads. the computer had a TPS trouble code, so swapped that out - got rid of the code, but no change to performance. We unplugged the O2 sensor, the car did seem to run much smoother at idle, but no change with the car dying/lack of power.

As of this last week, the car will no longer start. The engine turns over but doesn't fire. I have just changed the O2 sensor, and put in another air flow meter/sensor. No luck. There seems to be spark, and the distributor is turning. Put in new plugs and fuel filter. Checked fuel pressure at the air chamber - came squirting out. The computer shows no codes. I would get it towed to a shop to be scoped, but apparently most scopes need the vehicle running.....I have run out of ideas, and am desperate for help. Anyone? TIA, Andrew

Reply to
MooseMan
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Just a guess Andrew, but you didn't mention checking timing belt or Coil output. I would recommend you take your car to the shop after going through what you mentioned.

Reply to
Allen Crawford

Reply to
MooseMan

Reply to
Gary Danaher

I was in almost the same situation described, with my 1986 Camry. It was running fine when we parked it, but a few days later, it refused to start. It cranked just fine, but never seemed to fire. Things I tried:

- changed distributor cap, rotor, and plug wires

- saw nice blue spark on each plug pulled out

- measured primary and secondary coil resistance - all within specs

- changed fuel filter (wasn't clogged), plenty of gas

- tested fuel pump by jumpering Fp and B+ connectors, with ignition on. Sounded ok (I could hear fuel going through lines).

- removed cold start injector; when engine was cranked, it put out a nice spray of gas

- verified timing belt had not slipped a tooth. When I had the engine turned to #1 TDC, I was able to look in an inspection port on the timing belt cover. The port on my car is sealed by a rubber plug (about 1"); I had to use a mirror and flashlight to see the camshaft pulley through the port.

I put in a new coil, and surprise, it started right up. In fact it runs better than it has in years.

Changing the coil is a little tricky. I followed the detailed directions I found at autozone.com, and pulled out the distributor. (You could probably change to coil with the distributor in place if you have a VERY short offset Phillips screwdriver.) Before I removed the distributor, I set the engine to #1 TDC, and the rotor at #1. I noted the rotor position, and used masking tape to mark the distributor timing. With the distributor out, the coil was simple to replace. Putting the distributor back in correctly was the trick. On mine, the gear had one tooth marked on the edge closest to the cap. When I lined that tooth up with a mark on the distributor, and put it back in the engine, it worked out just fine, with the rotor pointing the same as when I removed the distributor. I had a shop verify that the timing was still correct, which I thought was ok, since it was now running just fine.

Jock

Reply to
Jock

I've done the same, except check the fuel pump, though there seems to be lots of pressure at the rail. I've just ordered a coil - hope that's it...... Thanks for passing on the info.

Reply to
MooseMan

last year, my car refused to start in a couple of mornings. don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but after I cleaned the grounding contact of a cylindric capacitor on top of the distributor assembly, the problem disappeared. drove 40,000 kms since then, and the symptoms never re-appeared. I hope this helps.

Reply to
Tude

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