93 Camry coil location

[NAT01]

Hey guys, my 93 5s-fe died on me yesterday morning going to work. I felt a bit of a studder as I was driving down the street. Then there was more abrupt studdering, followed by the car dieng on me. It does have gas, I know this much. I'd like to go about checking the coil and distributor, but I see that there is no coil wire coming off the cap. Is there another way to check the coil? Is it internally built into the cap? All of the manuals and the pdf I d/l'ed show It being external. No information on checking an internal coil. I tried putting a hex wrench in the end of a spark plug wire and holding it away a small distance from a ground while someone cranked the engine. I was unable to detect any spark. But then again, I'm unsure if this is the proper way to test for it on this type of engine. Thanks for any help guys.

[dc_98_cam]

If you see a white wire with a red stripe in the vicinity of the distributor, that should be the distributor primary current wire. ... First check your fuse box for a fuse that says Start .... 10 amps .... I will have to check the wiring diagram again to be more specific.

[95PimpingCamry]

Your coil is locacted inside your distributor. If you have to accesss it, pull off the dist cap, then the dist rotor, then a small dust shield, and the coil will be right below the dist shaft.

[NAT01]

Ok, thanks guys. Just a couple more questions... should i be able to actually hear the fuel pump kick on? And also, was the way I tested for spark correct? Because I was unable to get any. That should mean that the coil is most likely the culprit? Thanks

-Chris

[95PimpingCamry]

It sounds like you did a valid test for spark, but remeber that it is only supposed to arc accross just a small distance. I also know that these engines have had coil problems, so it might be a good idea to replace the coil, I got one for under $50 at Advance auto parts. I found the easiest way to replace these is to remove the entire distributor, remove the cap, rotor, and dust shield, and then you can unscrew the coil. The coil is held on by 4 phillips head screws, so be carefull not to cam out the screws while removing the coil. Also you may want to check your fuses like dc_98_cam said before buying a coil.

[Mike Gerber]

Your spark test was probably valid, but just to be sure put one of the new plugs in one of the spark plug wires and lay the hex of the plug on a metal portion of the engine so it is grounded. Now have someone crank the engine while you observe the plug for spark.

Mike

[NAT01]

Exactly which fuse box would you guys be referring to. There are three different locations i checked. All the actual fuses are good. None of the relays's contacts looked burned/etc Thanks

*edit... I just checked for spark, grounding the spark plugs. I got nothin. Well, it's a start