dead Air flow meter?

[Friend Of P]

Hey, Everyone!
Hope everyone is well.

My 88 Camry with manual transmission (base model) recently stalled on the freeway. I was going about 60 MPH. The engine shut off and would not restart. The odd thing was that when it would crank but not turn on, I noticed that the RPM needle (i did the cluster swap) would stay at "0" .Othertimes, it would go up to around the 300-500 range. One time, the engine did run for about 15-20 seconds, but as soon as i gave it some gas, the RPMs went to about 1500 RPMs and, then, the engine shut off.

I was not having a problem with stalling at all until this incident.

I disconnected the battery for a bit, connected it, and gave another attempt at getting the engine to run, and it would. for about 5 seconds.

It continued to do the whole RPMs from staying at "0" and going anywhere from 300 - 500-600.

I gave up and was towed home.

Coudl it be the Air flow meter has gone bad? I don't know what else to look for.

any ideas?

Thanks!

[chubcobear]

Sorry Friend,
I think you broke your timing belt. T. Bear

[disregard]

How many miles on your car ? when was the last time the belt was changed ?

[Friend Of P]

It has 193,xxx miles on it. I did the belt, pump, seals about 6000 miles ago. ignition coil, maybe?

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by Friend Of P

It has 193,xxx miles on it. I did the belt, pump, seals about 6000 miles ago. ignition coil, maybe?

I'd take a stab at the air/fuel components(check and clean throttle body, IAC valve, EGR stuck open? e.t.c.) and the ignition system - correctly timed, spark plugs e.t.c....

[new echo owner]

Check for spark and fuel, and also make sure the engine didn't jump time! Could also be the pick up coils in the distributor.

N.E.O.

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Well, the first part of your post makes it sound like a timing belt breaking, but if it's actually starting then that's out (although it may have jumped a tooth as mentioned--if the tensioner wasn't adjusted tightly enough).

Another possibility is a fuel pump failure. If it runs at less-than-optimal pressure, it may be injecting foam into the cylinders. At idle, the engine can sometimes run with such a frothy input--but not well, and not usually for long. Just my two-cents' worth.

[Doctor J]

These first two tests can be optional: pop up the round 3 inch rubber plug of the upper timing belt cover and verify the valve timing.
Use spark tester andmake sure that spark can jump at least 3/16 inch gap to the ground.
If you have not removed battery again check the codes.
If you have no codes and good spark,
proceed to the next step.
Note: the fuel is delivered during cranking of the engine as long as starter is running plus another 3 to 5 seconds; after this time the fuel pump switch in the air flow meter takes over]
Jump B+ and Fp terminals inside diagnostic connector and attempt to start the enngine.
If engine runs, check the fuel pump control circuit.

[disregard]

Originally Posted by Friend Of P

It has 193,xxx miles on it. I did the belt, pump, seals about 6000 miles ago. ignition coil, maybe?

I dont think its the ignition coil, as I just replaced mine which was the ORIGINAL 1987 unit with 197,%$$ thousand miles on it. It was severely cracked all over and split open ! The plug wires cap and rotor were really old and worn out too and still the car started on the very first try even on cold mornings. The only thing that gave these bad parts away was a rough idle.

Check out your fuel pump. If its not that then have someone take a look at your timing belt as it may be skipping and jumping.

[Friend Of P]

thanks to all who offered suggestions!

My car is up and running!

To test that the belt wasn't broken, I took off the cap and noted where the rotor was pointing. I did a quick cranking of the engine and the rotor pointed in a different direction.

I removed the throttle body; felt if the hole leading from the EGR valve was clogged. it wasn't. I cleaned it a few weeks ago.

I replaced the whole distributor with one i had laying around the house. The one that was on had oil inside the cap and over the coil. Not sure why there was any oil inside the cap since i had replaced the o-ring on the shaft of the distributor a while ago. when I inspected it, i noticed the o-ring had a some slack and was a bit loose. maybe I got a different and/or bad part? who knows?! The spare distributor was installed. it was cleaner than the exisisting one.
I put everything back together. Crossed my fingers and cranked it. Started on the first try!

I did notice that the spare distributor fit more snug into its opening than the existing one.

Thanks again!