I recently was given a 1987 toyota camry by mother in law. I was told it only needed a fuel pump, so I replaced that and of course the strainer. Seemed to work for a little while but it got worse. Someone else told me that I should try the distributor, so I changed that also and still no bueno.

What the car did (when it did run) I would start the car with no problems and drive it for a few mins and after driving it for a bit it would just shut off (engine) all other elec. would work but no running. I would sit for a few mins then try to start and it would turn over and would take about 10 mins to get going again. I would drive it home no problem and then try to start it right after i turned it off and got home but then it didnt start:banghead:. I am soooo frustrated with this car. I know that it was a gift but it was a gift that came with a headache. Any help would be awsome.

I recently was given a 1987 toyota camry by mother in law. I was told it only needed a fuel pump, so I replaced that and of course the strainer. Seemed to work for a little while but it got worse. Someone else told me that I should try the distributor, so I changed that also and still no bueno.

What the car did (when it did run) I would start the car with no problems and drive it for a few mins and after driving it for a bit it would just shut off (engine) all other elec. would work but no running. I would sit for a few mins then try to start and it would turn over and would take about 10 mins to get going again. I would drive it home no problem and then try to start it right after i turned it off and got home but then it didnt start:banghead:. I am soooo frustrated with this car. I know that it was a gift but it was a gift that came with a headache. Any help would be awsome.
when you say you replaced the distributor do you mean the distributor cap or the whole distributor including the built in coil? The coil in this generation camry are known to develop a hairline crack in them that raises hell with the car when the coil gets hot.

Regards,
JOET1966

Yeah it was the entire distributor, I know on this model and some others that the cap comes with the wires built in also and I also have replaced the cap and rotor also what I have been told and what I have done in the past whenever I have replaced a dist.. Just today I tried to start it again and I got a little puff of what looked like smoke or maybe even some gas/air mix vapor shoot out of the area around the fuel rail. Since the mother in law had the car she said it has gotten slowly worse, for and '87 it has low miles especially for a toyota @ 140k so I didnt think that it could be the injectors, but I have never really messed with that part of any motor.

Have you changed the fuel filter?

Yeah that was the first thing I replaced, I usually try the simplest/cheapest fixes and work my way up I have learned this the hard way. I also changed the filter when I changed the pump.

Maybe you have water in your gas tank and lines. Try draining the tank and filling it with good gas and some Heat or other water-absorbing additive.