hey guys.im recently going through a major problem with my camry.couple days ago i was leaving my job and ready to turn my car on and head on home.but it never started.it would crank fast but just wont start.smelled like gasoline inside my car.i ended up getting a ride home from my cousin.the next day i take the plugs out thinking it could be an ignition problem.all of the plugs were soaked in gas.i also checked the distributor and was getting enough spark.i cranked the engine with no plugs in it and the pedal to the floor to get the engine unflooded with gas.once that finished i dried up the spark plugs and put them back in.tried turning the car on and the engine turned over but wouldnt start still.i changed the distributor and double checked all the fuses and every other component that was electrical and everything checked fine.timing belt is still good also.compression is also good.now im wondering if it can be an ecu problem.maybe my ecu went bad?my parents had a montero that kept flooding with gas on them and it turned out to be that they had a faulty ecu.please!!!!!!!! someone help me because im loosing my patience and am about to throw the car in the trash.thanks

also when the engine cranks i put my hand to cover the throttle body and it isnt sucking any air.doesnt it need air to start?

Check the little butterfly valve in the intake tube. Pull the cover off the air breather and look inside the top of the box and you will see the little valve. If that is stuck the car will NOT start. Something like a mass air flow sensor....

also when the engine cranks i put my hand to cover the throttle body and it isnt sucking any air.doesnt it need air to start?


My first guess is that the timing belt broke.

My first guess is that the timing belt broke.
With spark the belt is still in one piece.

With spark the belt is still in one piece.

I stand corrected. I missed that in the OPs description.

I stand corrected. I missed that in the OPs description.
This kind of problem is hard to figure out. It took over a week to find out my dist. was bad. I was getting spark but found out it just wasn't strong enough. A 89 Camry I was working on had the same problems with the oil leaking in the dist. so we changed it out and the car stared right up but died after stopping to eat dinner. It started up after a few minutes but ran rough. Turned out to be that damn weak flapper spring in the intake tube was stuck open(mass air flow I think) cleaned it off and the car runs like a top now. This was fixed after talking to a tech on the phone for about 20 minutes chasing down every possible lead he could give me.

Sounds like the timing belt is intact but, did it slip? I had one slip so far that it wouldn't let the car start. Try pulling the TB cover off and see if the timing marks are aligned with the rotor pointing at #1. Please let us know the fix.

I'm having the same problem with my brothers Camry...

It all started with the Dist catching fire from oil leaking through O-ring and time belt jumping.

We replaced Distributor complete assmbly and also replaced timming belt.

We timed cam and crank. Disty is pointing at #1 when at TDC and it still will not turn on. just cranks...