92 camry NEEDS YOUR HELP!

[n3rdifed]

well right now my car is totally stumping me and my friend

we just recently changed the valve cover gaskets on the 3vz today. everything was all good then we found a broken hard line from the intake manifold to the fuel rail. fixed the line. put everything back together and then after our 8 hours of work it didnt even leave the garage

here are a list of the problems we noticed quick:
1. the temp gauge is all the way at high but the engines not hot?
2. the car starts but dies after 3 seconds

were thinking:
1. we placed the spark plug boots in the wrong places?!
2. the fuel line we "fixed" is the problem
3. sensor shutting off the engine?
4. i heard about a theft issue with the engine?



please we need help quick!
were planning to go to the junk yard to get a new line and boots but what if that isnt the problem!? and can anybody tell me what the hell is wrong with my temp gauge?


PLEASE!!! im in need of immediate help!

[Kep]

What was the car's condition before you started working on it? Did the temp thing start after you worked on it? Did it die after 3 seconds after you worked on it? Etc... How have you tested the temperature sensor? Which posts on the distributor did you attach to which cylinders? Is there an alarm on this car? Can you turn it on and off?

Kep

[5SlowFE]

1.No
2.No
3.Probably, I had a similar problem with my 4 banger after an engine swap. It turned out to be a broken coolant temp sensor. If the resistance across this sensor is out of limits, the computer won't fire the injectors. ( At least on my mine. ) Also, on mine there are 2 sensors, 1 for the gauge, and 1 for the computer. Is it possible that you damaged a wire to the sensor ( pinched it under the valve cover )? The sensor has high resistance cold and no resistance hot, pegged-on-hot would be a dead short in the wiring (likely) or through the sensor.
4. Haven't heard of, or ran into that problem yet, so I don't know. I doubt that it would affect the temp gauge, though.

Good luck.

[wisechild]

well we've fixed the coolant temp problem. now we're stuck with the biggest, the car won't fire up 'constantly'. It dies after 2-3 seconds.

heres a catch for all camry gurus out there....when i tried pressing the gas pedal the car dies out instantly. so i'm thinking, relay or fuse for the fuel pump. If not, its another electrical problem. It seems like the motor ain't getting enuf fuel.

any suggestions or 2 cents are welcome here. thanx.

ps: i'm also working on this same car.

[n3rdifed]

Originally Posted by Kep

What was the car's condition before you started working on it? Did the temp thing start after you worked on it? Did it die after 3 seconds after you worked on it? Etc... How have you tested the temperature sensor? Which posts on the distributor did you attach to which cylinders? Is there an alarm on this car? Can you turn it on and off?

Kep

it started dying after we worked on it
temperature sensor is fine now cause we found a unhooked plug

we started the car once and it ran for like 10 seconds
fired it up again and once we hit the gas pedal the motor just kills

does anyone have any thoughts?

[BMR]

To replace the valve cover gaskets, you had the intake plenum and throttle body removed, right? Double check you've got all the electrical connectors on the throttle body fully seated. Any vacuum lines left unconnected or connected to the wrong place? I just did my cover gaskets, so I know there's a lot of the little buggers; easy to miss one.

3 seconds is about how long the cold start injector runs, so I'm guessing your main injection system isn't kicking in when it should. Look closely at those connectors. Maybe a wire got pulled loose or something like that?

[n3rdifed]

well we went to the junkyard today and found the line off a es300 so that problem is permanently fixed

were thinking now its one of the relays
or a pulled wire

i think the relay is located somewhere in the dash on the passenger side of the car..could this be the culprit?

[wisechild]

circuit opening relay....i think thats what its called.

[n3rdifed]

question:
what if you spill coolant on your distributor??

[JayMax03]

Originally Posted by n3rdifed

question:
what if you spill coolant on your distributor??

if that did happen the car wouldn't fire up at all...