try starting this 95 camry 2.2L auto : spark,fuel and cranks but no fire

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

I have 1995 camry LE 4 Cyl 2.2L Auto Transmission with 200k miles.
Car has spark, fuel and it cranks but does not fire.
Changed rotor, sparkplug cables, spark plugs but it will not fire.
Had previously changed timing belt and spark plugs at 120k miles.
Car is in school parking lot and will not start.

Car ran fine and started all the time. Went to school and car got overheated and would not start now. Car got overheated as water pump leaked out about a gallon of coolant. There is no coolant in the radiator or Coolant Temp Switch (?) now. I tried to fill some water to take it home (about 5 mile away) but all water comes out of water pump. Car won't come home and need to replace water pump also.


I have read many posts and done the following but baffled now:

1. While Ignition key to Start, check engine light, oil light, battery lights are on. While on it cranks and cranks but will not start. Starting sound is like misfiring and not normal. I do not know how misfired engine sounds like !!

2. While engine cranks, rotor in distributor is rotating so timing belt is OK.

3. Ignition coil primary and secondary resistance is per specification. Did not have digital Volt meter but on analog voltmeter, primary coil has almost zero resistance and seconday coil has 10k ohm. Ignition coil terminals and high tension terminal has 12 volt when car key is to ON.

3. When spark plug boots are taken out and did spark test, they all four boots are sparking. Sparks are yellow and not blue. I thought this is because I have boots directly on exhaust manifold.

4. Replaced all four sparlk plugs with new one. Spark plugs were little wet but no oil on them. I thought oil may be in the cylinders due to overheating but no oil on any spark plugs. There are new spark plug cables, new rotor, new sparkplugs now .

5. Distributor pickup coil measurements are on distributor plug is within specification for G+,G-, and NE.

6. Clean IAC valve with carb cleaner.

7. For Fuel pump, primed it with four-five time move car key to ON and tried to start it. It will crank but will not start. Tried to hear near fuel tank, but did not hear much and it had some background noise. However, I connected +B and FP terminal in DC1 (Engine compartment) and I could feel the moving fuel in the return line to fuel filter. I have not changed fuel filter in 200k miles and wonder if I can change it now in parking lot!!
However, I could smell fuel in the exhaust while engine was cranked !!
Exhaust had unburned gas in it. I sprayed lot of carb cleaner in throttle body and tried to start it after cleaning IAC. It will not start.

8. Ran Diag code test by connecting TE1,TE2 and E1. Check Engine light blinks and has normal code. +B and E1 has 12 Volt to Ground on DC1 connector in Engine Compartment.

9. Checked EFI Fuse, IGN Fuse, AM2 fuse and EFI Relay continuity. Fuses are normal.

Now you try starting this engine !!

I love this camry and it has been very good to me and feel sad to let it go this way. Sometime wonder if I junk this car at 200K now.

Please help I am stuck. I am not auto mechanic but read it and do it.
Thanks in advance.

[toyomoho]

You appear to have covered the book on trouble shooting. Thus giving it the best guess attempt.

One thing, you state is the engine sounds like it is misfiring, can you elaborate on this?

Does the engine try to start, as in kick over? Or are you hearing the starter accelerate as is pushes up a piston on a cylinder that no longer has compression.

Suggest you try cranking the engine with ign system disconnected and connected then listen for any difference in sound.

How hot did the engine get, hot enough to damage the engine cylinders, blow a head gasket?

Coil resistance should be Primary 0.36-0.55 ohm cold, Secondary 9.0K-15.4K ohm cold. Thus coil sounds OK.

Wonder if the pump damage caused the belt to have skipped a tooth or worse. Did the pump seize up. Unlikely but the timing may be off if spark and fuel OK.

Can you check the position of the rotor at No 1 TDC compression, should be close to No 1 terminal on cap. If off one tooth this may be 15 degrees at the cam but just guessing.

Remove wire from dist cap and check spark, should have 1/2 inch spark. Blue or white spark not sure it makes a difference.

25K ohm per plug wire resistance.

Try pressing the gas pedal when starting.

Try unplugging the MAP sensor at the electrical plug.

You may not get any trouble codes as the ECU often needs to go through a check cycle at least once after certain conditions are met. Such as after certain engine temp, MPH reached, gear selection engaged, etc. As the car never drove under these conditions, no codes may have been tripped.

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

Thanks for the response. You are correct I used camry service manual troubleshooting guide.

Engine did not get very hot as cold engine car drove just 5 miles from home. My wife drove it and she did not notice temp gauge. She saw pool of coolant dripping from water pump weep hole.

When starting, engine sound like it is trying to start and hesitant. Starter does not accelerate. I think cylinder has compression but I do not have a way to measure compression.

When starting, engine sounds like out of tune ping pong sound!! (Does it describe it !!) It does not sound orderly. I do not know what misfire sounds like and has no timing gun.

Water pump did not seize up but do not know. Weep hole leaks lot of coolant. How can I test if water pump is sized up? Rotor in distributor is rotating so I guess water pump did not seize.

spark plug wires hace less than 25k resistance. Ignition coil resistance is within specification.

I took all four sparkplug cable out of spark plugs and put cables with boot (no sparkplug) on exhaust manifold. While starting, I see yellow spark on all four cable of about 1/2 inch.

I will check if rotor in distributor is at Terminal 1 when at TDC. Good suggestion.

Tried pressing gas pedal several time while starting. Tried changing transimission gears and rolled car 1 feet and tried starting also. It tries to start but hesitant and does not start.

I will do the following:
1. disconnect IGN fuse and start. Reconnect ING fuse and start. Report difference in sound.
2. Unplug MAP sensor and see if it start.
3. Check if rotor is at terminal 1 while at TDC.

[toyomoho]

A few more thoughts:

Check the engine oil level, if the engine got hot due to lack of coolant a lot of oil can be burned fast, as in a quart could be gone.

An engine turning over with 1 or 2 low compression cylinders will have the cranking RPM speed up as the piston goes up on the cylinder(s) with low compression. Then drop down to a normal cranking speed until that cylinder(s) comes around again.

A engine that is trying to start will sound as if it is trying to catch its breath. The engine quickly speeds up as the cylinder(s) fire then slows down as it move to a non-firing cylinder(s).

You can tell if a cylinder is low compression by disconnecting the ign system. The engine should have a constant cranking speed, not speed up and slow down.

The water pump seems to have a typical failure with coolant out the weep hole, but they can also self destruct.

Check for coolant cylinders, run the engine without plugs and watch for coolant being blown out.

You can try to start the car with the FP and B+ jumped.

A misfire can result in a back fire via the intake manifold or exhaust pipe. Might remove the intake air filter and determine if the air is blowing back through the air intake hose. Keep a distance in case the engine back fires through the intake.

You best bet may be to have it towed, it can most frustrating attempting to diagnose an engine when you are under these conditions.

If you do get it started obviously carry a jug of water with you. Leave the radiator cap loose to prevent system pressurization.

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

Thanks a bunch to toyomoho. Your ideas are very good and practical. Love these suggestions!!

I could not complete all work last night as it started getting dark. I got car towed to home now so it will be easier to fix now.

Here is what I did:
1. Engine has normal oil level. I did not see any coolant droplets or smell sweet coolant in engine oil. I think car drove only 5 mile starting with cold engine so overheating may not be very extensive (I hope!!).

2. Disconnected IGN fuse on driver side kick panel. Start car and hear start noise. It is like ding-ding-ding-ding with constant frequency of dings (equal time between dings). Dings sounds like engine is getting compression. Put the IGN fuse back, and start again. It was almost to start once but died. Repeated this test, and now hear ding-ding-ding-ding with equal time between dings. some time it attempts to start but does not succeed. I hope I am describing it right.

3. Tried to align crankshaft pulley notch to 0 (zero) by turning on ignition key to start in short bursts but could not align it in parking lot. Will try home tonight with spanner and see that rotor is at Terminal 1 on distributor when at TDC. This is your very good suggestion.

4. I like your suggestion to check if cranking speed up or down due to engine compression issue. I will visually see rotor while IGN fuse is removed and see if rotor speed up or not. I will watch if rotor has constant rotation or it speed up/down while IGN fuse is out.

5. Could not disconnect MAP sensor plug near timing belt cover. Will try tonight after work.

6. I willconnect FP and B+ and start tonight.

Now that car is towed home, I wonder if I fix start issue first and then replace water pump/timing belt or replace water pump, timing belt, and worry about starting issue later. Timing belt was replaced by dealership at 120k miles and now it already has 80k miles on this timing belt.

This is a BIG job for me. I have not replaced timing belt or water pump before but has motivation to learn it. I want to do it though time compressed. This Camry has 200k miles and has been very good to me for last 10+ years. I am very reluctant to let it go to junk yard. I do not know why I love this camry metal assembly so much !!

I am not giving up yet!!
Thanks for your help.

[Kep]

Ben, you are doing a super diagnostics job. Your approach has been just right.

I would be curious if you could open the timing belt cover and check to see that the TB teeth were in good condition. If the water pump froze it may have torn some teeth off. Toyomoho’s position-of-the-rotor check would also confirm this.

Your static coil resistance checks are good to condemn a coil (if any of the test results are bad then the coil is bad), however, they don’t necessarily exonerate it (if the tests are good the coil may still be bad). I sure would like to hear you report that you had blue or white spark instead of yellow. Check it at the cap like Toyomoho suggested if possible. Did you check the dis. cap’s center post resistance as well as the 4 plug wires?

The odds that something happened during the overheat to cause this are very good. However, it may be something that is just coincidental. If you had good oil and the water pump didn’t fail right at the beginning of the trip I tend to agree that the over heating didn’t damage the engine. Not for sure but it just doesn’t seem likely.

Keep us appraised and let us know how you fix it!

Luck,
Kep

[RadTheImpaler]

I am having the same issues with a 94 Camry. Can someone suggest a way to determine if fuel is getting to the rail. I am concerned about the coil since a simple spark check showed yellow spark here as well. I will test the coil and go from there. The symptom with this car is that the motor was pressure washed and then the problems appeared. Removed cap and look for signs of moisture but found none. Sprayed anyway but no luck. Anyone have an electronic copy of the repair manual that I could download? Thanks in advance.

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

Well, finally I got to the car repair. Sorry, I could not work on car as I am bit relaxed as car is towed to my home garage.

This is what are my findings:
1. Remove IGN fuse and start car to hear car cylinder pinging sound without ignition. Check Rotor speed and it appear to rotate with constant speed without any hesitation. IMy wife was using car key to IGNITION and I watched the rotor speed few times. I think all cylinders have similar pressure and cylinders may not be dead.

2. Check rotor speed with manual rotation of crankshaft pulley by spanner at alternator pulley bolt on passenger side. With car key out of ignition switch, I manually rotate alternator pulley with spanner and feel the pressure required for rotation. It feels lot tighter on some parts of rotation while crankshaft pulley notch is about 180 degree from 0 degree mark on engine body. Rotate clockwise from passenger side two rotations and it feels very hard (almost twice as hard) when crankshaft pulley notch is about 180 degree from 0 degree mark on engine body.

3. Now align crankshaft pulley notch to 0 degree mark on engine body and check Rotor location as suggested by toyomoho. Wow!! at TDC, Rotor is at 3rd cylinder terminal in distributor and not 1st cylinder. Make one more rotation and confirmed that at TDC , rotor is at Terminal 3 in distributor!!! Am I correct to say timing belt has slipped or untoothed and now timing belt is suspect. Due to water pump leakage and grinding (?) sound, need to examine timing belt. Anyway, I need to change timing belt and waterpump.

4. Connected FP and B+ in DC1. Engine will crank but will not start.
5. Removed MAP sensor connector (??). This is a black slim wire connector on passenger side from strut column to engine block behind alternator. Start engine but it will crank and will not fire.
6. Checked resistnace of distributor cap center carbon terminals and it is about 10K ohm. Anyway, got new distributor and replaced new distributor cap as well. All sprakplug cables have less than 20k ohm and i have replaced them with new cables anyway.

7. Removed sparkplug cable terminals at distributor cap and put them near terminal to see color of spark. I see whitish yellow spark. Spark quality looks powerful. I think ignition coil is fine.

So now I have new spark plugs, spark plug wire set, rotor, and distributor cap.
Car still cranks but will not fire.

Diagnosis: timing belt is a suspect. Need to open timing covers to confirm it. May be ignition timing is not right?

Please let me know if I need to do any more tests for timing belt?

Please confirm if my diagnosis is correct and I need to do any tests.

I am going to ask AutoZone if they have any tools I can rent for timing belt replacement and check ignition timing. Timing belt and Water pump is a big job for me and I am going to readup several good posting with pics here before I start it.

Thanks for your help toyomoho and Kep. Please review these finding.
Please help.

Ben

[Kep]

#3 is definately worrisome.

Is #4 correct or did you mean to say the engine cranked but did not start?

Do searches in both this forum and Gen 1&2 forum. There have been several good write ups and pictures of fabricated tools. Don't use a pulley puller on the harmonic balancer. Use a torque wrench when putting all back together.

Luck,
Kep

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

Thanks for the help
#3 suggests timing belt has some issue.

#4 had typo error. I meant to say engine cranked but did not fire. I have corrected #4 in my previous post also. #4 should read as following:

4. Connected FP and B+ in DC1. Engine will crank but will not start.

Does 1995 camry 4cyl Auto Transmission uses harmonic balancer? (Ref: use Don't use a pulley puller on the harmonic balancer.). I will be searching forum too for harmonic balancer.

I am searching Gen 1&2 forums for timing belt and water pump replacement now!!
Any references to direct links for timing belt and water pump replacement for 1995 camry 4cyl Auto trans is welcomed too!!


Thanks,
Ben

[Kep]

Sorry, I meant that the engine at TDC and the rotor pointing to cyl. 3 was worrisome. Your description was good.

Two good timing belt replacement descriptions:

My Timing belt change (very detailed, pics) Gen 4

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t109966.html

Somewhere there is a picture of a tool to hold the pulley while you loosen and tighten the nut. There is one made from angle iron and one made of wood. The angle iron one got me to thinking that you might be able to do the same thing with pipe and pipe fittings but I’ve never tried it. The wood is wonderfully simple.

Kep

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

Thanks for hints and links.

This weekend, I removed crank pulley using harmonic pulley puller. Took me almost 10 trips to stores and finally got two M6.0 x1.0 - 45mm bolt for the harmonic pulley puller. Instructions on your links were wonderful. I used starter jolt to loosen crank pulley bolt. Great idea!! Wonder where is the cover (between engine and transmission (??)) to put thick screwdriver in flywheel gear to lock crankshaft.

I have 1995 Camry LE 4cyl with 199900 miles. Last timing belt changed at 100k miles. Had original waterpump that leaked and sounded like chipping. Engine turns but will not fire.

Here is what I find:
1. Water pump had chipped the pump housing. Not bad but chipped housing should work ( i guess!!). Waterpump bearings are bad and timing belt was very tight. I could not rotate crankshaft to align it to 0 degree mark on plate ( i think because of water pump chipping !!)

2. Timing belt is not broken but I think slipped few tooth due to very tight waterpump pulley, oil leaks and hot water+coolant running from leaky water pump.

3. I think I need to fix oil leak in timing belt area. I see small leak behind camshaft but lot of leaks in lower timing belt cover. Lower timing belt cover had more than a teaspoon of oil splashed near oil pump area and crankshaft. Upper cover has little oil. I got seal for crankshaft and will be replacing crankshaft seal. I think oil splashed near oil pump gear could be from crankshaft leaks due to clockwise rotation of crankshaft timing gear.

Here are questions I have:
1. Should I replace oil pump seal and camshaft seal?
Is there any easy way to remove camshaft gear without removing top camshaft cover? Any SST like home made tools will lock the camshaft sprocket?

2. Do I have to remove exhaust and oil pan seal to replace oil pump seal?
How do I remove timing belt gear for oil pump without removing oil pan seals? Oil pan is not leaking and I am trying not to do it. I just want to replace oil pump seal. I am timid to remove 12+3 bolts for oil pump to just replace oil pump shaft seal so oil do not leak in timing belt area. I am not sure if oil pump seal is actually leaking.

3. My timing belt has no chipped tooth but it skipped few tooth. I marked timing belt at crank gear and cam gear anyway. How do I align new timing belt now so crankshaft at 0 timing and cam gear hole shows bearing notch for 2-4 rotations.

4. By the way, sparkplugs are removed. Why is camshaft and crankshaft both are very tight to rotate clockwise even though timing belt is removed. I need to rotate them to align for TDC. I am not trying to use force to rotate them.

Thanks for your help. I am very happy to do all these things with your help and articles from this forum. Thanks a bunch!! I love to learn. Now I know what it is !! I love toyota quality after seeing how much abuse it can take and keeps running !! Oh, bunny is there an end !!

Thanks,
Ben

[Mike Gerber]

Ben,

I suggest you go over to the Camry forum on AutomotiveForums.com. At the top of that forum are Toyota factory service manuals that you can download for free. The manual for the generation 3 Camry should have what you are looking for.

Good luck with the repair.

Mike

[1996camry]

My scanner is not the top resolution in the world, but I want to share details
of timebelt install instruction...

two links below

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/d...9622Lcamry.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/d...622Lcamry2.jpg


Have you check your distrubutor yet? It sounds like your rotor/buttons inside the distrubutor could bad.. I would check distrubutor because when it goes bad... sometimes it will not fire up...... if you're not sure...get one from junkyard cheap to try it out...save you $$$...

the links above I scan from my alldata book...to share details with correct installation of timebelt for toyota Camry...

hope this help...

[ben_95_CamryLE_4Cyl]

Thanks for both replies and links.

I had changed distributor but it did not fire. Timing belt had slipped.

I have removed timing belt now. I am trying to remove oil pump gear so I can put new seal. I removed cam sprocket and crankshaft gear but oil pump gear is giving me harder time without SST. I took slotted c-section and use 10mm bolt of 45mm and 30mm length bolt (to make F shape sst) and trying to lock oil pump gear to remove 12mm bolt. It does not have much depth in oil pump gear and my crude SST is not working. I am very reluctant to remove oil pan to remove whole oil pump.

I am going to try with thinner bolt of 6mm tonight and see if it can help me remove oil pump gear. I am trying to replace all 3 seals (camshaft seal, crankshaft seal and oil pump seal) in timing belt cover. I am skipping other oil pump gaskets behind 12 bolts of oil pump. Car is leaking some oil but I hope it is ok with almost 200k miles.

Thanks for help
Ben