2001 toyota corolla starting problem

:nono: Ok, I am about at my wits end. I have a 2001 toyota corolla with 68,000 miles on it. The other day I went to go somehwere, I turned the key..it started, sputtered and quit. When I tried to start it again, it wouldn't. I know that flooding is an issue so I gave up. Now, my battery is the original ( bought the car new in 2000 ). The dealership could find nothing wring except that there was some gas int he fuel line and it was flooded. Why oh why did this happen to my car and why can they find nothing wrong? Anyone have an answer? help.....

This one is easy, your MAF sensor is bad. The symptoms you describe are right on par with what happens, the MAF shows way too much air and the engine throws in a crap load of fuel. Pick up a new MAF off ebay or a junk yard for $20 - $30 and pop it in and you should be good to go. A good way to test for this is to unplug the MAF sensor (it is the box with wires going in to it on your air box and start the engine, with the sensor disconnected the car will go in to limp mode and turn on the ECU CEL and the car should run fine.

Electronics often become intermittent before they totally die (and some never totally die), so that's why your problem will appear to go away when you're at the dealer.