95 Camry ignition problems

[jgams]

My 95 Camry with 4 cyl. has been acting up lately. We replaced the fuel filter, plugs, wires, rotor and cap which helped a little but it intermittently will be hard to start (cranks but no fire) or will run rough. Other times it starts and runs normally. Happens when hot or cold.

I'm thinking either the pickup coil in the distributor (have to replace the whole assembly cause no one sells just the coil), the ignition coil or possibly a wiring issue around the distributor.

Any ideas?

[Mike Gerber]

Check the ignition coil using a digital volt/ohmeter and the specs from any manual. There is a generation 3 Toyota factory service manual stickied at the top of the General Camry Discussion Forum you can use for the specs and troubleshooting steps. If it's the ignition coil, that can be obtained seperately in the aftermarket.

Mike

[jgams]

Well, I know what its not - its not the plugs, wires, cap rotor, pickup coils, ignition coil or map sensor. After several long hours of trouble shooting and head scratching I finally said F*** it and had it towed to the dealer. Its probably some stupid sensor that I don't have the tools to diagnos.

I'll update later.

[jgams]

So the dealer went through all of the same tests that I did. The car even started and ran ok for them - when I had it towed in that morning it would not start. They did not find anything conclusive (just like me) other than the air idle injection motor had a real bad carbon build up on it and was not functioning properly. I know from other cars I've had that this can cause stalling but not the difficulty this car has been having. Anyway $250 later they said it should be ready this afternoon.

[dc_98_cam]

Other cars with a problem similar to this have turned out to have faulty neutral safety switches. This is the part that is located on the steering column that is affected by the gear shift position... and can also be caused by its dirty electrical contact connectors. ... Sometimes the no start situation is affected merely by moving the gear shift selector back and forth a few times. .... If your problem shows up again, I would definitely take a look at this part. ... Not exactly sure where it is on the Camry. ... someplace in the vicinity of the steering column, probably.

[jgams]

Its not a no crank condition which would be caused by the neutral safety switch - its a no fire condition.

PS the dealer just called back and said the first time they tried it this morning it cranked right up. They tried it again an hour later - no fire. They hooked it up to the analyzer and now it looks like its the ignition coil. They are going to take the distributor apart, clean it all up and hopefully it will be done. It better be cause I am the point of being ready to junk this POS. The only car I ever had this much trouble with was a POS Ford Taurus.

[dc_98_cam]

Maybe some kind of internal short in the ignition coil. .... possibly affected by heat or ambient temperature... intermittent failure.