1990 Camry LE V6 automatic won't start

[spaceshuttle]

While driving home the other night, my 1990 Toyota Camry LE V6 automatic was acting kind of rough as I was going down the road (average speed around 50 mph)...kept acting like it was wanting to stall (that "skip out" feeling, I'm not sure how else to describe it), but it never did. I made it home okay.

This morning when I tried to start it, it sounded like it wanted to turn over (The usual "wrrrr", no clicking or anything like that), but it just wouldn't turn over. I got it to turn over one time, and the only way I could keep the engine running was by contantly giving it gas. I got off the accelerator and it ran by itself for a minute or two, then died. I haven't been able to get it to turn over even momentarily ever since. The battery is almost brand new. Lights, radio, electronics all work. Any ideas?

Note: This car has had a recent problem with the head gasket leaking and causing cooling problems. Stop leak didn't seem to help, so I have to fill up the reservoir everyday and keep an eye on the radiator's water level. Not sure if this could have a possible connection or not.

[don24mac]

Well, since you mentioned the head gasket, have you noticed excessive steam (white smoke) coming out the tail pipe when you drive? How does the oil look on the dip stick? Does it look normal or does it have a whitish tinge? how does the coolant look? Did the engine overheat excessively? If so there could be internal problems.

If everything seems normal from the above questions, then check for any loose or disconnected, or broken vacuum hoses.

Is the check engine light on? If not, when was the last tune-up done? Especially when were the spark plug's, wires, etc. checked? Sounds like it could be an ignition problem. Check for strong bright spark at the spark plugs.

[spaceshuttle]

don24mac,

I haven't noticed excessive steam, except of course on cold mornings, which can be expected. When it's warm outside, there's no steam. The oil looks great, and it's just barely below the "full" mark. It was changed about a month ago.

The engine temp gauge has gone 3/4's of the way to red line a couple of times...because of the head gasket problem, the coolant was apparantly leaking into one of the car's cylinders and taking it out, along with taking away coolant and making it to where it couldn't cycle (therefore, the engine started overheating). As long as I check every morning and make sure both the coolant in the reservoir and radiator are okay, it doesn't overheat. Both the radiator and reservoir are currently full/at the full mark.

Vacuum hoses checked okay.

I didn't notice the check engine light come on. I'm not aware of the time of the last tune up (as I just got this car in July)...I'll take a look at the spark plugs/plug wires and see what's going on with them. We originally thought it was the starter coil and switched it out, but we're having the same problem.

If anyone else has any ideas, feel free to chime in!

[spaceshuttle]

Here's what my grandfather and uncle figured it to be...a bad starter coil and a bad distributor rotor. Figures, huh? The car is working great now.

Thanks for the post don24mac. <g>