Engine died..heard snap... TV cable end broke, will not start again

[Stringpickin]

1990 Camry.. 6 banger auto,, 2VZ-fe...

Car was sitting idling while throwing in a few suitcases.. Was headed towards the car and heard a "snap" and the engine died immediatley..

My daughter and her boyfriend did not relay to me over the phone that the Snap was heard at the very moment the engine died.. I just found that out today. The way they reiterated it to me is that it just died while idling. And they noticed that the cable that goes to the downshift auto trans was broken on the end at the TB..

So what actually happened is how I explained it on the opening sentence..

Being i did not know that I figured oh okay that explains why my daughter was complaining about not having power coming up the long highway hill. Just wasn't downshifting..

So to try to find the problem I went down the list..

After trying a new(different) coil and had the old one tested and tried it again, tried a different igniter, A different distributor, a different tested working high tension wire, checked the rotor cap and distrib cap for cracks, checked voltage at the postive side of the coil and was 12.3..

I then jumped E1 and TE1. got error code 51..

Switch Condition Signal:: A/C switch circuit
• A/C amplifier
• Throttle position sensor circuit
• Throttle position sensor
• Accelerator pedal and cable

Does this mean the cable being off could literally keep the coil from sending spark to the distributor?? I checked the center coil wire while cranking the engine by placing it near ground and ZERO spark..

Could the snap and sudden release of the cable have twisted the position of the Throttle position sensor and closed a circut???

The AC amplifier?? I can't seem to find to much info on that.

Any help so greatly appreciated.. Thank you so much..

ps. no spark test.. but to make sure it wasn't finicky I did try starting fluid diferent times with replaced items and not once did I get a kick.. just crank, no fire ever..

thanks again so much. I sure need to get this fixed for my daughter and get my life back too.. LOL.. I know you Dads understand that.. or you Brothers too...

[white90dx]

Did you check the timing belt? They like to snap at idle...

Its a non-interferance engine, so you can just replace the belt (and water pump, pullies and tensioner while you are in there) and be on your way. Replace the kick-down cable too, obviously. I don't see how that would affect starting in any way.

-Charlie

[Stringpickin]

Hey Charlie,, thanks so much for the quick reply..

I am going to check the belt here in the next few minutes..

Funny how the troubleshoot section of the manual doesn't even list that as a possibility from the get go..

I figured it wasn't the belt though because as it cranks it sounds like I am getting compression and then after trouble shooting all of the electrical there is no spark anywhere..

But I just talked to a Yota mechanic and he said he doesn't believe the coil/high lead wire will create a spark if the belt is broke..

Does that make sense to you???

In either case I will check the belt asap.. if its not that, I will be back to square 51.. error code that is.. lol

string
aka

Barry

[Stringpickin]

I find it hard to believe that the troubleshooting section of the manual doesn't even list the timing belt as a possible reason why the motor doesn't start.. lol

so anyway, after checking all of the no brainer simple stuff I crank the engine over while looking at the rotor and sure enough no spin..

I feel pretty dumb to have gone through all the trouble shooting and thereby ignoring the idea it is a timing belt because I hoped it was simpler.

But if the manual would have said check timing belt a long time ago I would have done it.. I guess the hoping it wasn't the timing belt stopped me from seriously considering it..

What kind of threw me was that when I cranked the engine it sounds like it has compression, and there was zero spark at from the coil wire when I grounded it..

Now I know that if the belt is broke it doesn't send the signal from the distributor to the coil to fire.. If I would have known that also, I would have added up the fact that the lack of spark was due to the timing belt..

never to old to be dumb and to learn.. lol

thanks Charlie..

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by Stringpickin

never to old to be dumb and to learn.. lol

thanks Charlie..

Yeah... the time that my 3s-fe belt broke on me it was clear. And I was used to how the engine cranked so the change in sound was easy to hear. Maybe enough valves are closed that it still sounds fairly normal on your motor.

I hear the timing belt on the V6 is a bit of a pain, but if you are handy it can be done. Triple check that everything it aligned before buttoning it up...

-Charlie