1988 camry will run but wont start - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

ChevelleSSLS6 · 10-26-2007, 03:37 PM

1988 camry, 4banger, 5sp.

Battery (delco 650cca) and alternator new about 8mos ago, and every so often it would need a jump start, for no explainable reason. Lights and everything were OFF.

Well, it did that to me earlier today and it wont restart once shut off without some extra juice. What's going on?

Doctor J · 10-26-2007, 06:53 PM

Are the headlights dim during the start?If alternator is charging (check with voltmeter) and all connections are good, it could be drain possibly by the trunk light is staying on due to mis-adjusted trunk latch switch.remove the bulb and retest.

monito · 10-26-2007, 08:57 PM

+1
alternator could be bad. hopefully you purchased one with a good warranty. Especially if it was reman'd

marc780 · 10-27-2007, 10:09 AM

Yes it might be the alternator is too weak. You can test it yourself easily enough, to do this buy a volt ohmmeter (often called multimeter), you can get one from harbor freight for $5 or from sears for 10, start the car however you can. Let it idle for 3 minutes or more, then set your new toy to read vdc (volts DC) either the 20v or 50v setting whichever one it has.
Now just put the probes on the battery, you want to see a reading of at least 14 volts (acceptable range 13.9 - 15.1). If it is lower reading than this, check your belt for looseness and slipping (you can try and turn the alternator pulley by hand - if you can do it, tighten or change the belt). Once any belt problems have been solved, test it again, if it is still low, remove the alternator and haul it to the auto parts store to have em test it and replace it if needed.

It is better to do all this sooner rather than later because a dying alternator might take the battery with it as it goes out.