i have got a 93 camry that only cranks when i turn the key but will not start.:banghead:

I looked the engine over but cannot find anything that looks out of place or is not connected. I check the fuel pump and it works.

i've tried everything I could think of does anybody have any ideas that I could try?

Are you getting gas at the injectors? Did you try anything with the ignition system?

If the exhaust smells like gas then you're getting fuel. ..turn your attention to the electrical part. Find or purchase a spark test tool and connect it. If you're not getting a spark, then I'd check your distributor or ignition coil.

I got stranded once in the parking lot with my '92...was pulling away from my parking spot and the ignition coil just up and died. As you describe, it would crank fine, just wouldn't start. Thus, I needed a tow home (luckily only a mile away).

Here's some good diagnostic info...

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/73/b8/0900823d801573b8/repairInfoPages.htm#hd1-1-1

thanks for the info i'll test the spark and post the results.

I would vote for the ignition coil, adequate resistance as measured or not.

could it be that the timing belt is broke or jumped time.:screwy:
or maybe the fuel filter is clogged?

If the timing belt has broken, when you crank the engine it will make a higher pitched noise than usual because all compression has ceased. The crankshaft and pistons will spin faster creating the noise. Another check is to remove the distibutor cap and watch for the rotor to spin while cranking. If it doesn't move the belt has broken. If you can easily turn the rotor by hand, the distributor shaft has broken. You can determine if the timing belt has slipped by performing a timing check using a timing light.

Timing belts should be changed every 60-80K miles as scheduled maintenance.

I took the distributor cap off and had someone crank it and watched for the rotor to turn and the rotor turned but there was oil inside the cap and on the ignition coil and everything around it do you think that could have caused something to break or foul out?:confused:

Now you know the timing belt is in one piece but, keep in mind it may have slipped. Since you can't get it started the only way to verify correct timing is to remove the belt cover and see if the timing marks align. Also keep in mind for a slipped timing belt to cause a no start, it would have to slip quite a bit. Make this the last thing you look at.

The oil in the cap sure could be the problem. I would clean it up as best you can especially the rotor tips and plug wire contacts. Recommend you do the resistance checks on the pickup coil described in the Autozone link jdmccright sent you. To cure the oil in the cap you'll have to replace the distributor oil seal.

I took the distributor cap off and had someone crank it and watched for the rotor to turn and the rotor turned but there was oil inside the cap and on the ignition coil and everything around it do you think that could have caused something to break or foul out?:confused:

You have oil inside of the cap? Time to replace the Dist. These are known to leak oil internally after a while and there is no fix for this. Not a hard job since the Dist only goes in one way on these motors. Just make sure to use plenty of vasoline around the O-ring to make it go in easier. The reman. Dist. are a little tricky to put in since the shaft does not have the nice machined finish as the original ones have. I have done 2 of these myself. It just takes a little time. Good luck and post back.

The internal shaft seal on the dist can be replaced. I'll have to find the details from a thread I wrote somewhere. Just clean out the dist with brake parts cleaner and let it dry out. Put the cap back on and see if that fixes your problem. If it has no effect I would pull a plug. Reattach the plug lead and crank the engine to see if you have spark. If you have spark you might try pulling the intake hose off the throttle body, open the valve and squirt a little bit of starting fluid in there, put the hose back on and try cranking it. If it fires it might indicate a no fuel situation. SteveB

About the dist shaft seal. Found a good source for the internal distributor shaft seal. http://www.applied.com/ pn 10X20X7TC for around $6.00 per seal. It is a 10mm shaft dia/20mm outside dia/7mm deep/tc douple lip seal. The stock seal is 5mm deep but the 7mm unit goes in and works just fine. Mark the postion of the distributor base on the cyl head to ease re-installation. Remove 2 electrical connectors. Remove 2 12mm bolts that secure the dist to the head. Pull the dist out of the head noting the positon of the rotor. This is not critical, as you can't put it in 180 out, but it makes life easier. There is an external seal on the dist body that you may as well replace since you have the dist out. Remove the rotor and unsnap the dust cover that sits on top of the coil and shaft. Disasssembly of the distributor inards is pretty straight forward. Just be sure to observe the gaps between the pickups and the dist shaft triggers. I set mine at about .005" and it has worked on both of the distributors I have done this to.
Be sure to mark the relationship between the drive dog and the shaft before you knock the pin out. To remove the pin in the drive dog use a punch and hammer. I carefully blocked the distributor body up so just the drive dog set on the slightly open jaws of a vice. Knock the piFound a good part source for oil leaks from the distributor shaft seal which results in oil inside the distributor. n out and pull the dist shaft straight out of the dist body. Now you should see the seal you need to replace. Insert the new seal and put everything back together. You will notice the new seal is thicker than the old seal but it works just fine.
SteveB
:popcorn:

I have a 92' camry V6 and I'm having the same problem. I tested and I have 12 volts to my primary coil. Testing the resistance of the primary I get a reading of 5-7 ohms. the specs. call for 0.21-0.32. I went to the wreckers and tested 2 coils they had available, both tested the same as my primary coil, 5 ohms. the test of primary to secondary is fine being about 10 k ohms.

I then took the lead off the distributor cap leaving it on the secondary and held it about a 1/4 inch from a bolt and cranked the engine. No spark.

Is it a coincidence that 3 coils could all read the same, 5-7 ohms and be defective? :screwy:

I take it the 0.21-0.32 is a very critical resistance !

I have a new coil coming in tomorrow and I sure hope it is within spec.

Anybody else run into a similar situation ? Input is welcomed.

Thanks.

If that was the reason those cars were junked, then yes. You were wise in going for a new coil...well worth the few extra dollars for peace of mind versus getting a used one with lots of miles on it. Post back with the resistances of the new one if you can.

I remember my nuked one had similar results as yours. The secondary on the dead one was in spec, but barely. The new one was all right...this was a few yrs ago though...the mind forgets such details.

You have oil inside of the cap? Time to replace the Dist. These are known to leak oil internally after a while and there is no fix for this. Not a hard job since the Dist only goes in one way on these motors. Just make sure to use plenty of vasoline around the O-ring to make it go in easier. The reman. Dist. are a little tricky to put in since the shaft does not have the nice machined finish as the original ones have. I have done 2 of these myself. It just takes a little time. Good luck and post back.

maybe, maybe not. check out this link.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=5021039&postcount=2

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY

I took a plug conected it to see if there was a spark and nothing, no spark at all.
I will check the shaft seal and see if it broken. I think it might be time to get a new car what do you think should I?:confused: I will give some of the other post a try. any more ideas would be much appreciated.:smile:

Did you ground the plug threads?

to ground the plug threads do i just hold it to metal? or how exactly do i do that?

Just hold the plug electrode tip (with well insulated gloves or pliers) against the engine block with the spark plug wire while turning it over. When threaded in its hole, the plug is normally grounded via contact at the threaded hole. I recommend using a spark gap test tool. Being hands free, it is safer...abt $10 at your parts store.

I have a 92' camry V6 and I'm having the same problem. I tested and I have 12 volts to my primary coil. Testing the resistance of the primary I get a reading of 5-7 ohms. the specs. call for 0.21-0.32. I went to the wreckers and tested 2 coils they had available, both tested the same as my primary coil, 5 ohms. the test of primary to secondary is fine being about 10 k ohms.

I then took the lead off the distributor cap leaving it on the secondary and held it about a 1/4 inch from a bolt and cranked the engine. No spark.

Is it a coincidence that 3 coils could all read the same, 5-7 ohms and be defective? :screwy:

I take it the 0.21-0.32 is a very critical resistance !

I have a new coil coming in tomorrow and I sure hope it is within spec.

Anybody else run into a similar situation ? Input is welcomed.

Thanks.


I put the brand new coil in I bought from a Toyota dealer. Fired the engine and it caught and then stopped after a couple of seconds. Could not get it going again. Took the lead off the distributor cap and put it a 1/4" away from a strut bolt, turned the engine over and no spark !
Thought I would try with a bare piece of copper wire in the secondary coil and held it close to the same bolt. No spark. I have 12 volts at the primary.

I'm trying to figure what to do next ?? :banghead:

Any help would be appreciated !! :licka:

Thanks.

My immediate thought is a blown fuse or fusible link. Next thought might be distributor wasn't bolted tight, vibrated out of position and quit.

When it ran, was it smooth and normal or slow and loping/missing? Every little clue helps.

My immediate thought is a blown fuse or fusible link. Next thought might be distributor wasn't bolted tight, vibrated out of position and quit.

When it ran, was it smooth and normal or slow and loping/missing? Every little clue helps.


It only fired for a couple of seconds . Not enough time to get a handle on how well it ran. The part I'm having trouble understanding is why there would not be a spark at the end of the high tension lead and then the copper wire I experimented with ? If there is no spark at that point then no current is flowing into the distributor cap and providing a voltage spark to the plugs. This is a fundamental requirement unless I'm not seeing something ?

Have you looked through this. It's from the Factory Service Manuals listed at the top of the forum. It may or may not apply depending on which engine you have. http://www.turboninjas.com/camry/ig.pdf

Have you looked through this. It's from the Factory Service Manuals listed at the top of the forum. It may or may not apply depending on which engine you have. http://www.turboninjas.com/camry/ig.pdf

Thanks for the information. I looked at the manual, however it doesn't refer to my engine the 3VZ-FE.

Might be something here: http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/73/b8/0900823d801573b8/repairInfoPages.htm

Might be something here: http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/73/b8/0900823d801573b8/repairInfoPages.htm


I've looked on Autozone and no help. I found this link on Autoforums and have copied it here. I have performed all the steps as listed. Couldn't do crankshaft position sensor since my engine is a 3VZ-FE and doesn't have one.

I am at the " Check the IGT signal from ECM " I checked this and had a reading of .013 VDC. what should the voltage be ?

I haven't tested the igniter because I can't find information on how to do this.
The last item says " try another igniter".

Question: How does the igniter work in the system ?

Can it prevent spark at the high tension lead when I turn the engine over ?

At this point I still do not have spark !
The engine cranks fine.

It's been a week since I couldn't start it. NEED HELP !!

FROM OTHER POST:
Re: Car won't start



When it won't start. First check spark at the distributer from the coil. Crank holding coil wire 1/2 inch from ground

If you have spark, scope it to make sure it is adequate in voltage and correctly timed. Low voltage is coil, timing is adjustable.

If no spark, check power to coil and igniter. With ignition switch on, check that there is battery voltage at ignition coil (+) terminal.

If there is battery voltage (should be), check resistance of coil

cold
Primary (+ to -) 0.36 - 0.55 ohms
Secondary (+ to high tension) 9.0 - 15.4 kohms

hot
Primary 0.45 - 0.65 ohms
Secondary 11.4 - 18.1 kohms
If bad, replace coil

If the coil is good, check resistance of signal generator (pickup coil)

cold 135 - 220 ohms
hot 175 - 255 ohms
If bad replace distributor housing assembly

If good, check resistance of crankshaft position sensor
cold 985 - 1600 ohms
hot 1265 - 1890 ohms

If bad, replace
If good, check air gap of distributor 0.2 - 0.4 mm (0.008 - 0.016")

If bad, replace distributor housing assembly
If good, check IGT signal from ECM

If bad, check wiring between ECM, distributor and igniter, then try another ECM if possible

If good, try another igniter. Ignitor is next to coil on the driver-side strut tower. Says "Toyota ignitor" on it.

You can't test the ignitor. Maybe if you had really specialized equipment, but not anything we can afford. Here is a good discussion of ignition system:

http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h23.pdf

I would call the dealer to find out the expected IGT signal voltage.

I Spent 2 Weeks Looking For The Problem. Put In New Coil, Checked All Fuses, Circuit Breaker After Taking The Glove Box Out, Replaced Igniter With A Used One Just To See If It Would Make A Difference. It Didn't. By The Way The Resistance Values In Ahoms On The Old Coils I Tested And On The New Coil Were Th Same 1-5 Ohms....not The 0.21 To 0.35 Listed In The Literature. Checked Resistances On Everything I Was Told To. Took Distributor Cap Off And Cleaned Contacts And Rotor.

Finally After Trying Everything And Without Transportation All That Time And Asking For Input, I Had It Towed To The Garage That I Use. Put In On Diagnosis Which Cost Me $90.00 For That And Found Out The Distributor Cap Had A Small Crack At One Of The Lug Points Where It Connects Onto The Distributor. Replaced It And The Rotor And Away Varooooom Away We Go !!!!

Is There Not A Simple Way To Find This Out Yourself Without Going Through What I Just Went Through ?????

Please Don't Say Read The Codes......i Tried 5 Times And There Was No Code Flashing !!!!

Cost: As I Said Diaganosis - $90.00, Dist. Cap $48.00, Rotor $14.30, Remove & Replace Cap & Rotor $32.00, Towing $55.75 ( Paid For By My Insurance For Roadside Asst - $50.00) Total Net $221.37 Incl. $21.21 In Taxes.

I Replaced My Dist.cap And Rotor 2 Years Ago - Total W/taxes $40.00 !!! Diy If You Can.

I Hope This Info. Will Be Of Help To Somebody.

Moral Of The Story. I'm Not Really Sure, However Next Time And I Know There Will Be A Next Time, I Will Start With The Least Expensive Item And Replace.

The One Thing That Still Is A Mystery To Me. I Put A Copper Wire 12 Gauge Into The Secondary Coil, Held The End 1/4 " From A Bolt, Cranked The Engine And Didn't Get A Spark.
I Still Don't Know Why ! What Tells The Secondary Coil Not To Send A Spark From A Distributor Cap That Is Leaking ????