93 Camry overheated and won't start now - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

wtjpcardinal · 05-11-2007, 10:44 PM

I have a 93 Camry that overheated this morning while driving on the X-way. We didn't know it until I saw out of the corner of my eye that the check engine light came on and then I saw that the temp gauge was pegged at H. I started to pull over and turned on the heater. It didn't put out hot air so I'm figuring it was a thermostat problem. It died as I pulled over and was smoking badly. Now it won't start. It's getting fire but is leaking water from behind the thermosat housing. It might be the housing or a freeze out plug behind it. It turns over but sounds almost like the timing belt could have gone out. Would it still get fire if it is out. Sorry for the long post, Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

GrkBallaG · 05-11-2007, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wtjpcardinal

I have a 93 Camry that overheated this morning while driving on the X-way. We didn't know it until I saw out of the corner of my eye that the check engine light came on and then I saw that the temp gauge was pegged at H. I started to pull over and turned on the heater. It didn't put out hot air so I'm figuring it was a thermostat problem. It died as I pulled over and was smoking badly. Now it won't start. It's getting fire but is leaking water from behind the thermosat housing. It might be the housing or a freeze out plug behind it. It turns over but sounds almost like the timing belt could have gone out. Would it still get fire if it is out. Sorry for the long post, Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like your waterpump took a shat on you.

Tommy · 05-11-2007, 10:54 PM

if your water pump seized, it could shread the timing belt, causing it not to start, and it would leak water pretty good. pull the t-belt cover off and have a look

wtjpcardinal · 05-12-2007, 12:13 AM

The water pump is behind the TB cover, right? Would the outside belts still turn if the TB is broken or slipping?

Stillrunning · 05-12-2007, 05:00 PM

P/S and alternator belts run off crankshaft pulley. They will turn even if your TB is broken. Pull the distributor cap off, turn the key and see if the rotor turns. If it turns your TB is ok. Reason for no start may be because leaking coolant got wires wet. Strange it didn't put out hot air from heater, if thermostat is stuck that would not cause cool water in heater core.

marc780 · 05-13-2007, 12:29 AM

I overheated my old nissan 200sx once, the engine died and so i tore it apart - it blew a piston apart and i put a new engine. I truly hope this did not happen to you, but I'd do a compression check before doing any more work, or you could be wasting your time on this engine. If any cylinder tests 0, the engine is probably history. But if compression is normal, then you may have blown the head gasket, at worst.

Tommy · 05-13-2007, 12:37 AM

hard to do a compression check with a bad timing belt. if the valves are open, its gonna show 0 compression.

wtjpcardinal · 05-13-2007, 03:21 PM

I pulled the dist. cap off and the rotor was turning and it was lined up with the #1 cylinder when it was at top like it should be. i don't have a compression guage but I put something over teh spark plug opening and it pushed it off, so maybe that is ok. There was no water on the oil dipstick. It acts like it wants to start but it just won't. I'm at a loss as what to do next.

marc780 · 05-14-2007, 08:22 AM

1. What did the plugs look like, any evidence of water? (Too clean or rust etc.) Doesnt sound like you ran long enough for the plugtips to be good evidence though
2. The only clues i can gleen from your post is that it has ignition, made some , smoke, died, and leaked water before it did. And the CEL came on right before it died.
So your informal test tells you that you probably have compression in all cylinders that is greater than zero.
3. I'll assumethat you're correct and that it does have spark, and fuel too, since it died after overheating and not from some other reason that you know about. I dont know if you can read the CEL without being able to run the engine, i've never tried it but i think that you oughta be able to since the code should already be stored.
4. Assuming for now you have spark, you have fuel, and since you're probably not underwater now hopefully, you have air. So what is missing from the equation? Air, fuel, spark, all these things you have to make the fire in the engine, the one thing missing could be...compression?

Since i cant see the engine and all i have to go on are some words, it sounds to me like a blown head gasket. If you blew the head gasket you could have SOME compression which is better than none (because it means you might still have an engine that can be saved) but you need to have MINIMUM compression. Assuming you have the 4 cyl (known as the 5s-FE - your post doesnt say so i'll assume as much)
minimum compression = 142 psi, max = 178. difference between each cylinder, 14 psi or less.

I submit to you that you either need to take it in or that you probably still need to do a compression check...your car is pre-OBD-II so you cant read the codes with a scanner - BUT - it may have flashing lights on the computer under the seat that will tell you codes.

http://www.**********s.com/camry/eg1.pdf (if thats a dead link the 1991 manual oughta be about the same)
http://www.camrymanuals.com/manuals/...Mechanical.pdf

Stillrunning · 05-14-2007, 01:29 PM

wtjpcardinal, this would be a good time to tell us the engine and miles.

wtjpcardinal · 05-14-2007, 09:28 PM

Sorry everyone. It is a 4cyl with 257K on it. We finally got it started, really didn't do anything except jiggle some wires around the dist. although I don't think thati t had anything to do with it. Maybe there was water in the TB cover and it was slipping? I still need to get in and find where the water is leaking. It is coming from behind the thermostat housing that is in front of the engine. That piece has the 2 lines that go around and eventually to the heater core. Would a freeze out plug be behind there? I'm gonna take my time with it and learn as I go. I've never change a TB myself, so now would be a good time to dig in there.
Thanks for all the feedback.

dc_98_cam · 05-14-2007, 11:56 PM

On my 98 model 4 cyl., there is a large O-ring seal, maybe 1.5 in. dia., between the water pump body and the engine block. If it is the same on yours, this part could have deteriorated with age, heat, or vibration, and be leaking coolant. Also, there is probably a smaller tube seal O-ring, and a small gasket type seal connecting the water pump. ... Actually could be any of those.
When you get the timing belt off, you should have accesss to the water pump.
... Seems that you also have an electrical problem of some sort . However, I don't have a distributor, and am not familiar with that assembly.
... If you haven't removed your crank pulley before, you might need something to hold it while you break loose the center hold down bolt (19 mm socket). I made the tool seen here from angle iron and two 1/4" x 3" iron pipe nipples. The total length is not critical. Mine was about 26" long. The only specification that is required is that the center to center distance of the two pipe nipples be about 2.25". This particular distance will accomodate the use of two #8-1.25 metric bolts, about 3"long that will screw into the crank pulley. This tool seems to work at about the 7 o'clock position, as you face the crank pulley. At the 5 o'clock position, the chassis rail causes interference.
http://picasaweb.google.com/drcorlis...27833954291154