Need help with diagnosis

[camsnow]

Basically, I was driving home on the highway in my 1996 Camry 2.2L when I tried accelerating to speed up on the highway. Well the engine revved up higher like it should only I felt no power from it, and after several seconds the car stalled out on the highway. I pulled over and the car wouldnt start. Sounded like the battery, because the starter would just click. Called AAA for a jumpstart, car started to barely turn over so had it towed to my house. Then I replaced the battery, now the car turns over but wont even begin to start. Any ideas? I thought maybe when the car was being jumped, maybe a fuse or something blew causing the fuel to not be delivered, but I am no expert at all. Can anyone help?

[Mister_Perkins]

Could have snapped your Timing belt..

First things first is to confirm you have Spark, and fuel though. Once you rule those out, pull the timing cover off and make sure the belts still attached.

[camsnow]

Originally Posted by Mister_Perkins

Could have snapped your Timing belt..

First things first is to confirm you have Spark, and fuel though. Once you rule those out, pull the timing cover off and make sure the belts still attached.

So I have spark, for some reason fuel pump is not turning on, could an attempted jump start have blown a relay for the fuel pump, cause the fuses are good. But I can't tell if the EFI relay is blown or not working. Is there a way to check if the fuel pump itself is good without physically removing it? or should I replace the relay(s) blindly and assume that is the problem?

[beantickler]

Try swapping the EFI relay under the hood with the open circuit relay under the dash.

Just a thought but does the cranking sound normal to you? Does it crank faster or slower or sound about the same as usual? I know you said you dont hear the fuel pump turn on but this is a good indication of broken timing belts with fast cranks.

EFI relays can go bad. If you suspect the fuel pump and you have pulled and checked all the main fuel related fuses (EFI, AM2, IGN) then try the swap.

[camsnow]

Originally Posted by beantickler

Try swapping the EFI relay under the hood with the open circuit relay under the dash.

Just a thought but does the cranking sound normal to you? Does it crank faster or slower or sound about the same as usual? I know you said you dont hear the fuel pump turn on but this is a good indication of broken timing belts with fast cranks.

EFI relays can go bad. If you suspect the fuel pump and you have pulled and checked all the main fuel related fuses (EFI, AM2, IGN) then try the swap.

Cranking is completely normal. Not the slightest bit different, and the fact that it continues to crank over and over at a normal rate without valves hitting a cylinder, I assume the timing isn't a factor. I have a theory that when the AAA guy tried to jump my car with three battery sources, it blew a relay, because he did connect the negative power sources to the engine block versus the battery cables. I would assume that because the power was surging through the system in an irregular and excessive manner it might have blown it.

[hardtopte72]

Camry engines are non-interference so if the Timing belt brakes the piston would not hit the valves. This is what makes these cars so great.

I would pull the timing cover off like stated above and check the timing belt. Also if you have a junkyard near you. You could grab a few relays and test out that way too.

[greggf]

Originally Posted by camsnow

Cranking is completely normal. Not the slightest bit different, and the fact that it continues to crank over and over at a normal rate without valves hitting a cylinder, I assume the timing isn't a factor. I have a theory that when the AAA guy tried to jump my car with three battery sources, it blew a relay, because he did connect the negative power sources to the engine block versus the battery cables. I would assume that because the power was surging through the system in an irregular and excessive manner it might have blown it.

Probably not. The AAA guy jumped your car correctly. The correct way to jump start is positive battery to postive battery and negative battery to ground (engine, chasis, etc.) on the car being jumped.

Are you certain your alternator isn't the cause? It sounds like your battery died because it was not receiving any charge as a result of your alternator possibly crapping out. And now, with a new battery you can crank, but not generate the current needed to run the engine. Just a thought. Good luck.

[Mike Gerber]

You can quickly check for a broken timing belt on this model by removing the distributor cap and have someone crank the engine. If the rotor is turning, the timing belt is still intact.

Mike

[csaxon]

Timing belt.

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by camsnow

for some reason fuel pump is not turning on,

How do you know? I have never been able to hear my fuel pump.