First, I am a noob to this board, but I did perform a search with no luck on the specifics of the event I am about to describe.

My wife's 2000 Camry with a 2.2L with 107K has been sitting for a few days. I started it up and it immediately died out. When I attempted to restart, the starter had no resistance as if there was no compression. I am thinking rings, head gasket, or timing belt (original) at this point. I cranked it over several times and noticed that it started trying to catch, even though the starter still had no resistance. I held the throttle at ~1/4 open and the engine roughly caught and then starting running like normal with no noticeable skipping. I then turned to car off and started it again. This time the starter sounded normal and the engine fired as it normally does.

I did this several times and each time, the engine started and the starter sounded normal. I put some pressure on it with the brakes (car in gear) with no issues. Drove into town with no issues and it has started fine ever since.

The catch is that when this happened, I was the only one home so there was no one to tell me whether or not the serpentine belt was spinning.

My wife says that sometimes it does that when the car sits for a while, but she had not noticed what the starter sounded like.

The car does lose a good bit of oil (quart every month or so), but does not burn oil. There is a leak on the oil pan, but not enough to even leave a puddle on the ground when it sets.

That being said, is it possible that the oil is leaking around the cam and/or crank sensors and pooling when the car sets causing the sensor(s) to foul? If so, how could this explain the starter sounds?

Any thoughts?

 

If the engine eventually starts and runs normally then the belt is still intact and the cam/crank pulley alignment is OK (belt has not slipped, jumped timing, etc).

Timing belts can jump a pulley tooth cog, slip, etc or break but once done these issues don't fix themselves.

If the timing belt has never been changed in 107K miles suggest start thinking about changing. The normal period is 90K miles, belts do break however if it does the engine will not be damaged but of course the engine will not run.

Needing to apply throttle in a fuel injected engine is not normal and not recommended as the engine can flood. The engine computer adjusts the injector timing to add more fuel when the engine is cold.

Hard starting can be caused be problems with the Intake Air Control (IAC) valve on the throttle body. This valve control engine idle speed. If you have the skill might clean the valve. An internet search on "cleaning IAC valve 5SFE" will produce hits on this process. The engine model is a 5SFE.

Could be a fuel pressure issue, no pressure means no fuel to the injectors. The fuel pressure regulator is located in the fuel tank with the fuel pump.

The next time this happens might check for ign spark.

When the engine does start after this problem, does a cloud of exhaust fumes come out the tail pipe, as in excess fuel is now being burned?

As to the leak.

How much oil is added per week versus how many miles driven?

Might check for leaks when the engine is running. Specifically from under the timing belt cover area. The engines oil pump is under this cover. I can happen that the seal on the oil pump drive shaft starts to leak. When the engine is running this seal is under oil pressure, thus it only leaks when the engine is running. If leaking, there will be a drip from under the timing cover area when the engine is running.

The crank/cam sensors are located higher then the bottom of the timing cover. If a bad leak the oil would pool at the bottom of the cover. However the seal on the cover is not oil tight, it is a dust/debris/water seal and oil can easily leak out the bottom (no pooling).

As to the starter/engine sounding different (engine cranking faster or slower) might determine what is normal. Is is possible the engine is really cranking at a slower rpm (deemed the new normal) then when it turns over at the real normal rpm this appears to abnormal?

And sometimes an engine can be trying to start but does not, the result is the engine cranks over at a higher rpm.