Need HELP!!!!

[d21x]

Car: 1996 Toyota Camry LE I4
134k miles
never maintained (never changed oil/spark plugs, etc for 3 years)

This is a friend of mine's car. He was driving it and it all of a sudden died. Upon inspection, the car does crank. Spark plugs were old and had some oil on it. I replaced the spark plugs and the car still does not start. I grounded the spark plugs to the head, and their is no spark (maybe its because i had a bad ground?).

Now im thinking it could be either the spark plug wires or distributor. Or maybe even the timing belt, but when i crank the engine i dont hear valves hitting the pistons so i dont think that is the problem.

I'm not to familar with the camry's distributor. is it an internal or external coil? from the looks of it im assuming it's external. I did not get a chance to check the fuses/relays. Does the camry have any history of them dying?

The car does get fuel because i can smell it when i took the spark plugs out. Other than the problems that i've listed up there, does anyone have any ideas as to what else could be wrong? thanks!!!

[Sportivo Concepts]

Have you ever heard of Sludge?

C'mon, I let my gurl who knows nothing about cars except what bodykits and rims she likes even said that if it has never had a oil change you have a build up of oil called sludge.

Anyways take off the oil cap, if you see a dark thick substance kinda gooy or burnt like theres your problem.

Your friend is lucky not to have thrown a rod.

You gonna have to do a complete power flush, or even break down the engine and clean everything throughly.

There are some dealerships who does the Oil Power Flush but not sure what they charge. My shop generally charges $150 for Toyota 4cyls and others like Honda get charged more..

Serious, you got major sludge build-up and it wont be easy to clean even with a power flush.

[Nick]

well that takes care of the bonehead no maintenance


as for the no start its probably a timing belt issue, take off the timing belt cover and i''ll bet that its broken off

[d21x]

Originally posted by T-Tuning Customs




Have you ever heard of Sludge?

C'mon, I let my gurl who knows nothing about cars except what bodykits and rims she likes even said that if it has never had a oil change you have a build up of oil called sludge.

Anyways take off the oil cap, if you see a dark thick substance kinda gooy or burnt like theres your problem.

Your friend is lucky not to have thrown a rod.

You gonna have to do a complete power flush, or even break down the engine and clean everything throughly.

There are some dealerships who does the Oil Power Flush but not sure what they charge. My shop generally charges $150 for Toyota 4cyls and others like Honda get charged more..

Serious, you got major sludge build-up and it wont be easy to clean even with a power flush.

even if that is the case, the engine should still start.

[d21x]

Originally posted by Oldman
well that takes care of the bonehead no maintenance


as for the no start its probably a timing belt issue, take off the timing belt cover and i''ll bet that its broken off

if the timing belt is broken, and i try to crank the engine, shouldnt i hear the rods hitting the valves?

[grapefury]

never changed oil for 3 years.. dang

[OEMonkey]

Now im thinking it could be either the spark plug wires or distributor.

if its the spark plug wires, that means ALL your wires are arcing. highly unlikely. since you said its a 96 with a distributor, check the coil. problems with your ignition primary circuit(like a bad coil) would cause a common problem to all 4 cylinders. problems with the secondary(eg, a bad plug, or wire) wont.

to check the timing belt(if you cant do it visually). remove distributor cap and crank the engine, if the rotor spins, the belt is not broken.

[d21x]

Originally posted by d21x
if the timing belt is broken, and i try to crank the engine, shouldnt i hear the rods hitting the valves?

ok, n/m after some searching, this engine is non interference, so that wont be a problem.

[Nick]

damn i just read, no spark... get a haynes manual and you can test the ignition coil and ignitor

you can get them for pretty cheap at a junkyard

[TRDragoon]

you know......paying $100 for maintenance service at Toyota Dealers every year is not that bad.....if you dun wanna end up like this....

[5Sfte]

Originally posted by d21x
if the timing belt is broken, and i try to crank the engine, shouldnt i hear the rods hitting the valves?

For a guy with so many cars, you should know that your rods will not hit the valves unless you go through the pistons.

[d21x]

Originally posted by 5Sfte
For a guy with so many cars, you should know that your rods will not hit the valves unless you go through the pistons.

sorry im a lil out of it from all this turkey!!! i meant pistons

and in my first post i said pistons!!!

[d21x]

Originally posted by TRDragoon
you know......paying $100 for maintenance service at Toyota Dealers every year is not that bad.....if you dun wanna end up like this....

sorry, it wasnt my car. i did tell him that if he ever needs oil changed or anything, i could always do it, as long as he brings the oil, etc over.