Not getting fuel?

[Bear]

Hey all, new guy here. Unfortunately, it's because my 1988 Camry is finally giving me fits that I can't figure out. In the ten years and 100,000 miles I've had her she's never let me down... Until now that is.

The problem is that one day about a month ago I was driving along on a nice warm day (not hot) and she decided to just stall on me going down the road and wouldn't start up again. After about 15-20 mins. she finally started again like nothing was wrong. I drove another 5 miles or so and started the process all over again.

As I've been trying to diagnose the problem it's only gotten worse (shorter distances and longer wait) in fact now it won't even start and run unless I spray some gas into the intake (really hard to do going down the road )

The fuel filter seems ok, the fuel pump is operating (not sure if it's 100% or not). Obviously getting spark. It just doesn't seem to be getting any fuel. What gives?

I'd rather not just start randomly throwing parts at it. I just don't know where to go now. Injectors, relays, ECU, Catalytic Converter, O2 sensor what?

Any help would be much apprecitated. By the way I'd never be confused for a mechanic but I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and have done quite a bit of maintenance and repairs on this and other cars I've owned.

Thanks!

[jm_2thow]

i had an 89 that wasnt getting fuel, but that was because it sat for freakin ever, the little regualtor thing thats on the fuel rail on the incoming fuel side got corroded shut, like all that white shit just glogged it up, i stil cant get it to start but alteast im gettin fuel to the fuel rail now, i gave up, either the injectors are glogged or theres an electrical problem somewhere

[djprefix]

Do you have fuel pressure before and after the regulator?

[Bear]

Hum, good question. Is there an easy way to find out? From what I can tell you need really small hands to get back in there without taking off a bunch of stuff, but that's from memory. When I get home I'll check it out and let you know.

If I check the fuel pressure at the Cold start injector will that tell me if I'm getting pressure past the regulator or is that injector on a seperate line than the fuel rail?

[djprefix]

Originally posted by Bear
Hum, good question. Is there an easy way to find out? From what I can tell you need really small hands to get back in there without taking off a bunch of stuff, but that's from memory. When I get home I'll check it out and let you know.

If I check the fuel pressure at the Cold start injector will that tell me if I'm getting pressure past the regulator or is that injector on a seperate line than the fuel rail?

You can get to it easily from underneath the car. I think the cold start injector goes to the fuel rail, haven't seen a 3sfe in a while, so I can't be certain.

[Bear]

My bad, I was getting the pulsation dampener and the regulator mixed up. It look's as though I'll be able to work on the regulator w/o taking anything off.

Any thought's on if a clogged Catalytic Converter could be causing my problem? What's the best way to take that off?

[djprefix]

Originally posted by Bear
My bad, I was getting the pulsation dampener and the regulator mixed up. It look's as though I'll be able to work on the regulator w/o taking anything off.

Any thought's on if a clogged Catalytic Converter could be causing my problem? What's the best way to take that off?

If you have a CA car then you'll have to check both. Just take the exhaust manifold off and then it's like 4 bolts to take the cat off of that. If you have a CA car then there's one that's after the downpipe that just has 4 bolts, 2 on each flange on either side of the cat.

[Bear]

OK now I may be getting somewhere, where I don't know. I'm back to my original problem (Starts fine, runs fine until warmed up then stall).

Apparently it wouldn't start because I had the Air intake hose off the throttle body and it was getting to much air.

Also, I took out the O2 sensor and a plug of some sort from the bottom of the Cat. Not sure if that help it start and keep running or not though.

Anyway, I'm still looking for ideas on how to keep her from stalling once she's warmed up!

Could the Ignition coil or distributor be bad? How could I tell?

Thanks in advance.

[jornie14]

taking the O2 sensor out and running the engine may have helped you start the car. I think the camry runs on a closed loop algorithm (meaning it adjust fuel values based on O2 readings) which means if you have your O2 sensor out of the exhaust the ecu will up your injectors opening time thus supplying more fuel (kinda makes it like a carburator if you have low fuel pressure).

When your car stalls is there any common conditions? Like it only stalls while at idle or after you accelerate. I have had problems with an RPM dropoff and stall after accelerating or downshifting.

First thing you want to check in situations like these is for vacume leaks in the manifold/plenum. Common problems are pcv valve, egr valve and modulator and bad hoses.

-jornie

[Bear]

As far as common conditions, not really. It's stalled going down the road at slow speeds and high speeds. Sometimes it won't stall outright but rather won't start up after a short trip into a store.

I'll go ahead and check out the vacuum lines and other items you suggested for leaks. It would sure be nice if a cracked hose was causing all it is.

Thanks again.