1991 Camry "just stopped running"

[davidinmaryland]

Hello, I'm not gonna bore you with all the details, but, a 1991 4 dr Camry sits in my driveway, 4 cylinder, not sure what else you would need to know.

Anyway, a good friend of me drove it daily, is an excellent car, but, he told me, on the way home from work one day, he said, the car just stopped running. Won't start at all. Had it towed to his place, then, we towed it to mine. I have not done a thing but some light research (seems like the timing belt is a common culprit).

But, several people have asked whether the valves get trashed when this happens, and I can't answer that.

I am not in a big hurry to fix this, it's not emergent. But, if my ex doesn't provide my daughter with a vehicle, this one will be available for her to use when she is with me. (My ex didn't put squat towards out older daughters 3 vehicles I provided her!, so........it's her turn)

So, if someone can provide me with that infor about the valves I would appreciate it. And if someone wants to mentor me through the logical checks and work to determine the most correct course of action to repair this vehicle, I would be greatly appreciative. I am quite handy with most all hand tools, and access to many more.

Again, thanks for reading this, have a great day!

[toyomoho]

Remove the distributor cap and see if the rotor is turning. If not it is the belt. The engine should NOT be damaged from this.

[davidinmaryland]

Thank you for the info, it took a lot of time, (I work two jobs and am reassembling my motorcycle), but I did get the distributor cap off, and had my daughter crank it, the distributor DID NOT turn. So, I guess it's timing belt replacement time. Do you know of anywhere I can obtain a list of parts, and tools, along with some guidance so I can get this job done a little more efficiently than my try, try, and try again method I always seem to get in. I wouild appreciate it. Thanks, and have a great day.

[Dave's]

Should be a non-interferance engine so you're ok there. There are some pretty good posts here with pics on changing the timing belt. Try the search function. If I find one I'll post back.