2007 Camry LE I4 engine blew up - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

sinisterouge · 11-16-2009, 09:40 PM

So I had just left Best Buy and was heading down the highway to the gym for a workout when out of nowhere my camry just died. The lights stayed on, radio, all the electrical stuff seemed fine. The engine however just went kablooie.... No smoke or anything like that. The engine bay look free from any noticeable problems, nothing leaking or anything. I have never had any problems like this before. Once I had coasted safely to the shoulder I popped it into park and tried to restart it....no dice. It wouldn't even attempt to turn over. I live in MA so a trooper who pulled over to assist called a Help Van for me.

http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Highway/emergency.aspx

He tried to jump it but to know avail. He suspects it is a problem with the alternator. Currently it is sitting at the dealership waiting to be looked at in the morning.

Has anyone ever had a problem like this before?
My car is an 07 Camry LE with just over 54k miles. It still has a powertrain warranty on it. Would the warranty cover the alternator if that is what it turns out to be? Thanks for your help!

gdanaher · 11-17-2009, 10:08 AM

Problem is likely not the alternator. It had just started up just fine and you didn't mention any slow cranking. All electrical stuff was still working. You made no mention of the alternator idiot light coming on. It would not turn over when attempting to jump start. Information missing here is--did the lights dim out when you attempted unsuccessfully to restart the car? The engine needs a certain voltage and amp draw to continue to operate so if the alternator wasn't working the engine would be working off the battery, the idiot light would be glowing, and it would take awhile for the battery to drop to that magical voltage where the fuel pump won't work any more and then the thing would shut down for the lack of fuel. If you are attempting to jump start and nothing at all happens--not a grunt, the lights don't dim, then my guess is that the problem is in the ignition switch or the wiring related to it.

Netforcer · 11-17-2009, 11:27 AM

new to me... let us know what the dealer says

sinisterouge · 11-17-2009, 07:42 PM

Yea no initial startup problems at best buy about 10 min before it happened. No warning lights came on before it happened. The lights that came on after it happened were the normal ones that always come on when the key is in the "on" position but the engine is off. When trying to restart it though, now that I think about it, all the lights did dim when trying to make the engine turnover. It grunted once or twice when attempting a jump but after giving it more time to charge successive attempts did nothing but make the lights dim.

It's been at the dealer since last night and I've yet to receive a call from them but I will update when I know more.

510Ryder · 11-17-2009, 08:08 PM

if all the electrical components work on your car, it may be a stretch of a guess but not just thinking thats it not getting power but something else wrong with it i would say if might actually be the actual fuel pump, your car isnt getting the fuel pumpd to keep it running, i am only saying this as it happened to my baby mommas car quite a few times and we just couldnt figure it out sometime it would start up just fine then all of a sudden bam car stops all lights and everything still working, just car wouldnt not start, it ended up being the fuel pump, we changed that and it didnt happen anymore, you might want to ask the dealer to look into that, even with this being such a newer car, but it was also the first year these new camry models were produced

11-17-2009, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinisterouge

Yea no initial startup problems at best buy about 10 min before it happened. No warning lights came on before it happened. The lights that came on after it happened were the normal ones that always come on when the key is in the "on" position but the engine is off. When trying to restart it though, now that I think about it, all the lights did dim when trying to make the engine turnover. It grunted once or twice when attempting a jump but after giving it more time to charge successive attempts did nothing but make the lights dim.

It's been at the dealer since last night and I've yet to receive a call from them but I will update when I know more.

^^ sounds like one of the cells in your battery failed. borrow a known good battery and try it out. i bet thats all it needs.

gdanaher · 11-17-2009, 08:43 PM

Nah, if the engine is running you can actually remove the battery and it will continue to do just fine, running from power from the alternator. I'd guess it is related to the fuel pump in some way, but his latest comments about the lights going dim makes me wonder.

sinisterouge · 11-19-2009, 12:55 AM

Ok so after nearly 2 days of not getting a response from the dealer, I called them. They told me that they had no idea what the problem was and that it would be at least another few days so they could tear down the engine to try and figure it out.....

carlo$ · 11-19-2009, 07:55 AM

i would guess a bad battery, a bad alternator or a blown fusible link somewhere. Did you add any electronics to it? maybe a bad installation that created a problem. camrys are very reliable and refuse to believe something major just happened.

sinisterouge · 11-20-2009, 03:35 AM

I bought and used a 150w power inverter to charge my 80w laptop that I plugged into a 12v outlet. I also had my gps plugged into the other. But I do believe those both have safety fuses that would blow rather than doing any harm. Other than that I haven't done anything else. I was about to, as I have with my past 2 cars, install new speakers, subs and an amp but I hadn't touched anything yet.

toysarefun · 11-20-2009, 08:02 AM

Stupid dealerships, I hope your warranty covers it. Sounds like a major electronics failure, so typical of cars these days, also can be difficult to troubleshoot apparently. Sounds like a direct short in the alternator, I have only had this happen to me once, and it did take the battery with it. I was able to turn around real quick and drive about a half mile or less before the car quit.

Smoke was coming out of the alternator.

sinisterouge · 11-23-2009, 01:51 PM

So I finally got a half answer to why my car died on the highway last week.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=321656

Apparently the engine blew a hole in itself. Has anyone had this happen? It's been at the dealer since last monday night(11/16). It is now 11/23 and they say it's going to be another 1-2 weeks before I get it back. I am nervous because I fear it is my fault, and that the warranty won't cover it.

I changed the oil myself, as I have always done with all 3 of my previous cars, without any problems. I used Mobile Clean 5000 5w20 with a fram oil filter. The mechanic says that there appears to be clean oil in the engine and that it he sees no reason why it wouldn't be covered but he still has to continue looking at it for further damage and to find the reason why it happened. Anyone ever had this happen? I've never heard of a problem like this.

njerald · 11-23-2009, 03:55 PM

Why start a new thread for an old problem????

Redline_Me · 11-23-2009, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njerald

Why start a new thread for an old problem????

Who knows, someone merge his threads.

Did they say what broke?

sinisterouge · 11-23-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redline_Me

Who knows, someone merge his threads.

Did they say what broke?

No, they couldn't give me a cause. All they knew was that the engine blew and that they were going to look for further damage. They are going to keep me informed if they learn anything else.