97 Rav4 coil into 96 camry DX....should this work?

[clampjockey]

i recently bought a 96 Camry Dx, 4cyl. with a blown engine. as a spare time project, i took a block from a 93, put the head from the 96 on it (put new water pump , timing belt, tensioner pulleys, and head gasket in it) and put the engine into the 96. it ran for about 1500 mi but didn't run well....it would run o.k once it was up to speed, but would idle terrible, sputtered at low speeds and was hard on fuel (compared to my 94...about 150 mi less per tank) now it won't start at all. i've had similar problems with my 94 not too long ago, where it had fire but wouldn't start, and i was certain it was a fuel problem, but brian from the site here convinced me to try a different distributor, once i did it fired right up....so i kinda figured my problem with the 96 could be similar....except on the 96 the igniter and coil are external from the distributor where on the 94 they are internal. so i decided to try the coil first....here's where i kinda run into a dilema. i bought one from a scrap yard, but when it arrived, it had, marked in yellow marker (typical of scrap yards) 97 Rav4. i compared the new coil to the old one....they look identical in size, shape, plug in etc.....except they have different part #'s and the brackets they mount to are a bit different. i removed the old coil, cut slots into the old bracket, welded the rav4 bracket to the camry bracket and attached the rav4 coil to it and hooked it up.......no go. now i ordered the igniter, but i'm starting to wonder if i made a major faux-pas by putting that rav4 coil on. Are they the same?
should i back track and re-replace the coil with one from a camry?

p.s. i also put a new plugs and distributor cap on it but didn't change wires and rotor button yet.

[jdmccright]

I looked up AutoZone part numbers and they don't have the same number. The RAV4 has a 2.0L 4-cyl while the '96 Camry uses a 2.2L 4-cyl...different engines altogether with different spark requirements. I'd take the RAV coil back and demand the coil you paid for.

You've got an OBD-I engine block in an OBD-II car. Which ECM did you use? The '96 or '93? These engines have different codes and running parameters, and there are more parameters being analyzed on the '96 that may not be capable on that '93 block. But you don't mention any trouble codes, so I presume you got that part hooked up correctly.

One thing I learned from changing timing belts is to set the crank and cam at 0° TDC and then mark the crank's and cam's timing gears with the current belt position and then transfer those marks to the new belt. Otherwise, you can have the cam and crank aligned at 0° TDC, put the new belt on, but upon turnover the crank will start turning before the cam due to slack in the belt...they go out of sync and runs like crap that way.

So, recheck the timing marks and adjust, clean up the cap & rotor contacts, get the right coil...might as well check those plugs for fouling and clean/regap. Hope this helps!

[clampjockey]

i used the ecm from the 96 of course, since i put the engine in the 96. the blocks are identical from what i can tell.... i had to swap the part with the oil pump because the 96 has a slot for what i'm assuming is the crank sensor and the 93 doesn't, swap motor mounts, and maybe the odd sensor being different, other than that they are the same. i used all the sensors etc. from the 96 and everything hooked up fine and there aren't any extra harness plug ins unplugged anywhere. when it was running it was throwing an engine code, but i forget exactly what it was (mis fire in 3rd cylinder i believe....but i'm not 100%)....now that it doesn't start, i obviously can't get any codes right now.
i will re-check the timing belt....but i was carefull to have the marks lined up at tdc and NO SLACK in the belt when rotating it. i even rotated it quite a few times in the shop with the timing cover off to make sure the marks stayed lined up, before installing it in the car. After the car ran, i had to take the cover back off to adjust the tensioners tighter, and the marks lined up then as well.
Anyhow, sorry for rambling, and thanks for answering my question on the coils.....just to be clear, the verdict is that the coils are different and not interchangeable whatso-ever, and i better get my hands on another coil....i can't return this one i'm sure after the hacking i did to the brackets and welding them together, but i did some searching and found one at another scrap yard, with the bracket and igniter off another 96 camry, so i guess i'll backstep and re-swap coils.

[jdmccright]

Personally, I'd opt for a new coil. Anything in the junkyard from those years will likely already have lots of miles on it already. It's not that much more and you'll even get a limited warranty (~1 yr).