First, check your plugs. A plug gap gauge is a buck at Autozone. Plugs are cheap. Replace the plugs and the wires too if the wires are more than three years old. They may look ok but the insulation breaks down with time.

 

I replaced the spark plugs about 2 months ago but not the wires. Should I try the NGK wire set from sparkplugs.com?

 

First of all cranking and turning over meant he same thing; the act of the starter rotating the engine until the engine fires and runs on it's own.

Second, we need to know what year car and what engine you have. 4 cylinder or V6? Generation 3 (1992-1996) cars are different from the generation 4 (1997-2001) cars. It would also be helpful to know how many miles are on the car and what if anything has been done to the car in the area of maintenance and repairs.

Mike

 

Hey mate,

Does the car run fine after you've actually turned it over successfully?

I don't know if it might be fuel related too... bad fuel filter, dodgy injectors etc.

As per previous posts, check the leads... they should spark. If they don't spark enough or at all, it could be the leads or distributor giving you grief too.

 

I'm sorry for not clearing things up:

The car is a 2001 Toyota Camry LE 4 cylinder with about 75,000 miles on it.

The car had an idle issue and occasional sputtering when accelerating. I cleaned the throttle body fully and that took car of that issue. I also seafoamed the car about 3 months prior and changed the oil and spark plugs a day afterwards. The car never had any problems after those two events.

I ordered a set of wires and plugs (correct ones) from sparkplugs.com so hopefully it will fix the issue when I receive them through UPS.

 

UPDATE!

the NGK plugs and wires came today and I just finished putting them in. Gapped it to 0.043 and torque the plugs at 13. Sadly to say, the same problem still exists.

I'm thinking of changing the fuel filter now. Any other advice as to what may be the problem? BTW, any brand recommendations for a fuel filter?

 

This should be done at night.
Once engine has started successfully,with a trouble light on, spray misted water in the vicinity of ignition wires and distributor..
Sometimes engine will immediately sputter. Leave engine running.
Turn light off and observe under the hood. Keep hands clear!!
Do you see arcing of ignition spark occuring anywhere?

 

The car doesn't have a distributor and what you are suggesting seems dangerous...

 

I had similar starting problems with a 95 bonneville.
Carbon traces from deteriorating spark plug wires around the coil paks were causing weak spark.
i cleaned around coils, replaced wires and plugs and problem was cured.
The water mist revealed arcing at coils and leads.

 

sounds just like my car a while back..
my problem was with the camshaft sensor. the connections were bad. after i got it back connected car started up fine

 

camshaft sensor...do you mind explaining where this is located and how were the connections bad? Did the connection get loose or do I need to clean it with some electrical cleaner?

 

not sure on 4 cyl but it should be in the cylinder head above the power steering pump

facing the front of the engine left side of the engine. in the back of the head near the top.. should see a connector with 2 wires

should look like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-9...ZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2c4eefb486&_trksid=p4506.m20.l1116

 

UPDATE!

Fixed the car and it turned out to be the crank sensor!

 

Well done. Thanks for posting the final solution.

Mike