Distributor swap question

Is it possible to swap a distributor from a 94 camry (internal coil/igniter) into a 96 camry (external coil/igniter) and still run normal?

(bump)
Brian?
anyone?

Not sure, but my guess is no.

well, after giving up on my 96 camry for a while, i decided to throw a few more parts at it. after wasting a little more time, $$$, and knuckle skin....I've decided to start from scratch and try to trouble shoot the car as if it were my first time looking at it.....immediately i see that i have no fire at the coil, which leads me to believe that i have a connection problem from the ignition switch to the coil. instead of trying to find where in between the problem is, could i splice the electrical connection, run power directly from the fuse box, ground it, and get power to the coil? should that work? would it hurt anything to try it?

Is it possibly a bad coil? That is the weak spot in that ignition system.

no, it is brand new and the second one i've swapped into it as well as a distributor, igniter, plugs, and most recently a crank sensor all to try to remedy the no fire problem.

http://www.alldata.com/ They sell a years service for around $29.95.
Worth the money print off the wiring diagram. Use a 12 volt test light or DVOM and check for power to the hot side of the coil with the key on and somebody else trying to start. If you can get to the coil negative the test light should blink when trying to start. I would find the relay and put your finger on it when trying to start it should pulse. Relays should be available at the parts store.

Where did you get the coil from, aftermarket or Toyota? The reason I ask is I had the same problem with my 91 Camry. I changed everything I could in my electrical starting system including an ECU only to find out that the aftermarket coil:nono: I bought did not meet the OEM resistance specs. Went ahead and forked out $80 on a Toyota coil and everything was fine.

Anyone who reads these forums regularly will come to know that the aftermarket coils aren't worth the savings...I can provide first-hand data to prove it.

The original coil on my '92 went 179k miles and would have cost ~$70 to replace then (February 2006).
Replaced it with an AutoZone coil and it died in August 2008 after 23k miles. $45.
Replaced it with another AZ coil and it died in November 2009 after 23k miles. Another $45.
Wised up and got a Toyota coil...$85. Probably won't have to replace it again until the wheels fall off.

Let's also add in the towing costs for each time it died...$100 each (I have a motor club so I'm guessing, each failed within 20 miles of home).

Had I gotten an OEM in the first place I would have prevented two failures and two towing charges ($290) the price difference due to inflation ($15), the time waiting for towing, and the repair time.

If it's aftermarket, take that POS back (if you can) and get an OEM.

the first one i tried was from a scrap yard, the second, from the toyota stealership @ $125 can. i have since tested all of them and they all checked out. (were in the ohm range listed in haynes manual) my problem is i don't have any power going to my coil, which is leading me to believe it's a problem between the ignition switch and the coil. anyhow, i towed the car out of my driveway, and parked it for the winter again....once the weather is warmer, i'll pick at it again to try and get it running again.....until then though, i'm wiping my hands clean of it. thanks for the help.

Did you ever get this problem fixed? I'm curious what you found.
Regards,
Ron

If there's no power to the coil, or igniter, then it could be a blown AM2 fuse or a bad igniter ground.

I had a problem about 2 years ago on my '92 Camry, 4 cyl. Problem: "cranks but won't start." Bottom line was the condenser located inside distributer was bad (shorted out). The 20 or 30 amp fuse (in the engine compartment and may have been the AM2 (I don't have papers with me now). Typically the shop would have replaced the entire distributor, but since they tried & failed to find the problem, I replaced the condenser (tricky because space is limited and especially difficult if your fingers are cold) and the car fired up) $3 part versus a distributor.

No.....I haven't fixed this problem. I towed the car out back behind my house and left it there for the winter. I believe I was leaning toward it being an ignition problem.....I have no fire at the coil, which was swapped out twice (the second was brand new, dealer issued) I've checked all fuses SEVERAL times.
I've also bought a new bracket that the coil and igniter bolt to after hacking the old one and modifying it to fit a coil from a rav4, so it shouldn't be a bad igniter ground. I've also swapped out the crank sensor with one from the dealer, distributor (second hand but looks like new) cap, wires, plugs, rotor button. Still NO FIRE!

Go through the checklist on page IG-6 of the ignition section of the '94 manual stickied at the top of this forum.

Hi everyone
Thanks for all the suggestions.....I still haven't fixed this car, but I put the battery on a charger today and I'm going to haul it back up to the main driveway tomorrow and start picking at this again and I'm not leaving it until I have it running. I have 1 quick question before I start back at it though,....if I have no power (going in to) at the coil but power at the (going into) the igniter, then my problem would be a faulty igniter.....am I right? so if I check tomorrow and find no power at either the coil or the igniter then the problem should lie somewhere between the ignition switch and the igniter.....correct? sorry for asking the same questions over and over for the same problem on the same car, I'm just not very knowledgable when it comes to electrical systems. Thanks again in advance.

Also, if I were run power from another source, would I feed the igniter or the coil?

Finally!!!
I had the wires to one of the injectors pinched in the valve cover.....once again it turns out that I'm my own worst enemy....lol. now throws code 0340 camshaft position sensor "A" circuit (bank 1 or single sensor)
anyone have a pic of what it looks like?