Problems getting 96 camry started

[bcol]

Here is my previous thread that I've semi-worked past.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh....php?p=2936721

Cliff notes, 1996 camry manual transmission 5s-fe, sister's car, blew head gasket a couple years ago and rather than fixing this motor (after seeing the immense amount of sludge we found under the valve cover) threw it out and installed a 5S-FE from a 1991 MR2. We used ALL the camry electronics, manifolds, etc. The only thing from the MR2 is the block and head. Everything is hooked up correctly and it turns over but it won't start.

Yesterday my brother (ASE nissan dealer mechanic) and I confirmed that there IS fuel pressure (though it might possibly not be sufficient, it is at least flowing to and from the rail, but we did add fresh gasoline to it and the gas coming out of the filter looks reasonably clear) and we can get spark at the coil->distributor wire (though for some reason we haven't been able to visually confirm spark with a plug removed.. but it definitely arcs from the coil wire). However, we could not even smell fuel on the plugs when we pulled them out. So there must be an EFI problem at this point.

I have tested the entire ignition system (we thought it was an ignition problem originally) and everything checks out in spec, EXCEPT the distributor! My distributor only has TWO terminals on the plug -- the factory service manual says it should have FOUR (using this BGB: http://www.**********s.com/camry/). The resistance between the two terminals on my distributor is something like 160 ohms, which is similar to the values they give between the four terminals in the Camry BGB. That makes me think the dizzy is OK.

BUT from what I know, IF there is no CAM ANGLE signal from the distributor, the ECU will not fire the INJECTORS. (I also took pictures of the CAS when I had it out and the magnet didn't look like i'd have expected it to look... the magnet was not in the plane of the pickup wheel, but below it. Not sure if it's supposed to be like that, but since it ran before it was parked I feel like it should be fine.) The next logical step would be to confirm that the distributor/CAS is working (can't confirm) and then check OBDII codes (since this is a 1996MY car).

Unfortunately, the only code reader I could borrow is a crappy generic one and won't read anything. I went down to Schucks and they will rent me one with a $200 deposit. I'm a little short on cash at the moment and I'm assuming they'll hold my two hundred bucks for 30 days or so after I return the code reader, so that's not an option until payday.

Anyways, before I go and rent the code reader on Friday, I just thought I'd see if I could get any opinions on what the problem is. This is an early OBDII car, which seems to be the worst possible combination, and I don't know anyone with experience with them.

Any help is appreciated! Even if you can just confirm that we DO need a new distributor/CAS, or something. I don't want to rent that $200 reader and have it tell me I have to shell out $400 for a new dizzy.

Thanks!!

[chronoti]

still have the old engine? you said the coil now has 2 pins and the manual has 4 pins, what does the harness have 2 or 4 pin?

[bcol]

I'm talking about the distributor, and we are using ALL of the Camry electronics. The wiring harness and distributor are both reused from the Camry, they both have two pins.

I searched online all last night for a service manual for a 1997-2001 Camry with no luck.

[PortugalFocus]

Originally Posted by bcol

I'm talking about the distributor, and we are using ALL of the Camry electronics. The wiring harness and distributor are both reused from the Camry, they both have two pins.

I searched online all last night for a service manual for a 1997-2001 Camry with no luck.

You should be able to rent/loaner-tool a scanner from autozone and get it checked that way. Have you tried spraying ether in it to get it started?

[bcol]

Like I said, the only place in town that will rent a scantool wants a $200 deposit, and I won't have $200 to loan out for the month they're going to take to refund it until at least payday.

I tried spraying brakleen since it's basically the same thing, which didn't work. I might pick up some real starting fluid when I pick up the scantool.

[felpz123]

no mechanics nearby have a scanner?

[bcol]

I don't know, I was kind of assuming that since my brother's boss wouldn't let him borrow a scanner from their dealership, that someone I didn't know wouldn't lend me one either...

I have the scantool part covered, I'm just waiting for payday. I was just looking for opinions on what I could do without the tool.

[bcol]

The problem is that in August 1995 production and later cars, the cam angle sensor in the distributor was replaced with a crank angle sensor in the oil pump. Our car is a January 1996 production car. We had mistakenly assumed that the extra plug in the wiring harness that plugged into the sump of the old motor was an oil level sensor. That is why the distributor plug has two pins instead of four, and why the car is exhibiting all signs of an unplugged CAS.

[bcol]

Got the car running and out of the garage on Sunday. Spent all day swapping oil pumps, and put a new front main/oil pump shaft seal on in the process.

We started the car without the knock sensor hooked up as not only do we not have a place to thread it into the 1991 MR2 block, but the sensor was broken when we removed it. It throws a CEL but runs fine... it's a darn slow car but it doesn't feel like it's pulling timing at WOT at all. Not at all the same WOT behavior with the knock sensor unplugged as the 4A-GZE in my MR2. That guy just pulled ALL timing so it still made boost but was incredibly slow.

The only other thing is that the Camry oil pressure sender doesn't thread into the MR2 block very well. They look the same but the Camry sensor weeped oil as soon as we started it. We put the MR2 sender in and will have to wire it up. Just the one wire, so it's probably the same sensor internally.