Died & wont restart - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

e8squid · 09-17-2005, 08:01 AM

Hey everyone,
New to this forum and i'm asking for help for my Mom-inlaw. While driving her 89 Camery DX to work today, it just died on her and wouldn't restart. The engine cranks real good but no light off. Someone at her work said her timming belt probaly broke. If this was so, would you be able to feel the lifters and such working. I put my hand on the valve cover and it feels like evrything is turning which I wouldn't think would be if the belt had broke. To me it sounds like it just aint getting a spark or no gas.

Anyone know of any common problems like this and their remedies????

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

chronoti · 09-17-2005, 08:11 AM

i hate it when people say it's the timming belt.

go with your gut feeling, you can go to harbor frieght off ulmerton and belcher, they have alot of cheap diaganostic tools if you want. check for spark 1st, then fuel, and then look at the timming belt.

the only things i'm not sure about with the 3s is, is the 3sfe timming belt or chain, also if it's interfearance or noninterering (did it kill the vlaves if it did break)

88 LE · 09-17-2005, 08:28 AM

Quick check to see if the timing belt is broken.

1. Remove distributor cap. 3 bolts.

2. Crank the motor and have someone else look at the distributor. If the timing belt is broken the rotor will not turn.

3S-FE uses a timing belt and is a non-interference engine.

deekay140 · 09-17-2005, 10:16 AM

probably the coil,, pretty common

keylogger · 09-17-2005, 03:00 PM

probably, the starter, if it just clicks

Gary_602Z · 09-17-2005, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keylogger

probably, the starter, if it just clicks

?? Better re-read the post! He said it cranks over good, plus it died on them! Don't think it is the starter.

Gary

karazy · 09-17-2005, 04:41 PM

On a sudden death, always check the fuses first, before you start ripping things apart.

McTimson · 09-17-2005, 08:26 PM

This same thing just happened to me on my Tercel, and it turned out to be the distributor cap. The connections had corroded so much that the rotor was just hitting black spots on the cap, so no spark was getting through. I just had to file them down to make it a good contact, and it worked fine.

I found that out by jumping the diagnostic port in the engine bay - I highly recommend getting a Haynes or Chilton manual, it shows you which terminals to jump, and the correspinding code values. When I jumped my terminals, the CEL flashed once, then twice, and in the Haynes book, it says that means something is wrong at the distributor. It was very handy, and saved me from having to find a ride home.