Help - Celica died

[therym]

I was driving to work, no problems what so ever and the car died doing 60 mph. I pulled over and the car turns over but will not fire.
There was no warning, no hesitation, no stutering, no kncoking , nothing. Just went from a smooth 60 mph to the engine dying. Have lights, radio, air, turns over but doesn't fire. Help! Stranded 40 miles from home!

[therym]

Anyone have information on how large the gas tank is on a 92 Celica ST with a 1.6L ?

maybe I just ran out of gas but I would have thought the cruising range on the car was farther than 280 miles.

Edmunds.com says 15.9 gallons. Sound right?

[TRDcelicaGTFOUR]

either you ran out of gas, or your fuel pump isnt delivering fuel. My 2 cents.

[lcarocha]

Timing belt took the road south

[Zrain]

Oooo keep us updated, if it is the belt id like to know if the mottor survived and all the valves are intact.

[therym]

I did not want to hear the belt theory!

Hoping I ran out of gas but the numbers dont match up to taht theory. Fuel pump I would be happier about. Timing and bent valves .... wife would kill me.

[Zrain]

nanana theres a runing taly of mottors that blew there timing blet's and like 90% of them got away clean with no bent valves...

if your going the work yourself, just pop off the top cover and take a peek inside and see if the belt is intact or not. if it isnt, slap a new belt on there and im shure it will start right up..

(make shure you know how to replace a timing belt, and get all the timing marks in the right place)

[Pineapple]

%S-FE is not interferance, so no bend valve with broken timing belt. If you got bent valve, it won't even crank.

[therym]

cranks perfectly, just doesnt fire.

The vehicle has 244500 miles on it with a factory replaced engine with 100,000 mi on it. Maybe the fuel pump is the original. I don't have the luck for it to be a coil wire gone bad or anything.

[Zrain]

pump..... perhaps, but it wouldent die instantly. it would just run like shit and stall and sputter and then die. fuel pump death is not silent, im still voting timing belt.

[therym]

Nooooooo........

So, how hard is it to change? Tough to get to? I am somewhat mechanically inclined so I have a good chance of being able to do myself if I do not have to take the engine out.

Had it towed to a shop as I am stuck at work and my daughter has surgery tomorrow. I should know by 5pm. Wish me luck.

[therym]

Timing Belt snapped. They said they will replace it , all the seals belts, labor and including towing $285.00

Sound fair? It is either that or me having it towed 40 miles home for $135 for me to try and fix it. Not including the $40 for the tow to the shop and the $50 for the diagnosis.

ooh, yeah,. And they said with the 1.6L the belt snapping will not affect the valves or anything else. Car will just die.

[lloydjv]

The price sounds somewhat fair, but if you have a little time on your hands and are willing to learn, you can do it for a lot less. the timing belt should run you no more than $30.
If you have a decent set of tools, a Haynes manual, 2 jacks (one for the engine) and some patience, you can do this. You may also need a crank pulley remover, some of those pulleys are on tight.

[therym]

Well, after working out the numbers it is easier and less costly for me to have the shop that diagnosed the problem to fix it.

$40 for tow to shop - $50 diagnosis - $30 belt - $25 for gaskets - $ 140 labor = $285

NOt having then do it...
$40 tow - $50 diagnosis - $135 40 mile tow to home - $30 belt - day to try and do it myself is very hard to come by...

Besides, I try to reserve my time in the garage spent on my 99 Convertible Camaro SS if my wife is going to give me time in the garage.

The timing belt just cost me my first upgrade to the SS...