o.k, it started like this....... on day i had run it very low on gas. about 15-20 miles after i put a half tank in it, it started acting just like the fuel filter was clogged. i found that if i stop on the side of the road for a couple mins that it would start right up and i would get about 3-4 miles and it would act like the filter was plugged again. it was late by now and my only objective was to get it back home. i quikly realized that instead of pulling over that when it started to act up again i would throw it in nuetral, turn it off and coast as long as i could, which was 1/2 mile to a mile,i would hit the key and it would start right up and i was good for another couple miles. and then i would start the coasting process all over again. i got it home and figured it was the fuel filter and by turning the motor off all the debris pulled into the filter had a chance to flow back towards the tank, giving me a couple miles befor it worked back up to the filter and clog it again. so i picked up a filter the next day and put it on and went to start it, and it wouldn't start until pumping the pedal while turning it over for 3-5 mins. everything was good after that except when the motor cooled off, like the next morning. then it was back to pumping the pedal and turning it over for 3 minutes or so to start it. i took the advice and cleaned the throttle body and butterfly, which was fairly clean on this side of the butterfly and was black on the other side, so i cleaned the best i could and shot carb cleaner in the square hole right before the butterfly. even with all that raw carb cleaner i hit the key and it fired right up. problem solved right.........wrong. .now it fires right up when i hit the key. i get it out on the road and was pretty stoked that is was fixed. but then just like before it started acting like the filter was plugged again so popped it into nuetral turned it off and coast a little ways down the road. i hit the key and it fired right up. so a guy tells me to check my coil for cracks, sure enough a crack running the whole width. so i picked up a new coil puy it in and fired right up took out for a test drive and i'lll be damned if that didn't change a thing. this is my only vehicle so i'm kinda forced to drive it. on my way home last night it took me 2 1/2 hrs to go about 9 miles. lots of steep grades and it seems to be more prone to happen while even slowly trying to accelerate. i have no clue on how these fuel systems work, except that they are different from say my 72 K-5 blazer. but anyway i've extinguised about all my money on trouble shooting up to this point and am not working today due to the lack of a running vehicle and will probly be the story tomorrow as well. any suggestion, tips, a point in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Thank you, y13supio


it's the 4cyl motor with 280,000 miles on it. i put a tune-up, timing belt, crank seal and cam seal in it about 5000 miles ago.

 

Year of car?

 

sorry. 1992 camry 4cyl automatic transmission it's got 280,000 miles on it and i did a complete tune-up and timing belt crank seal and cam seal about 5,000miles ago

thank you, Jon

 

Does seem like lack of fuel issue.

The fuel filter can in the engine compartment seldom plugs up but suppose it is possible.

Is it possible you got some bad gas from the station, this does happen.

I have sent a private message to you with a link to more info.

 

hey Joey,
the filter in the tank (the sock?) on the bottom of the fuel pump was probably 75% clogged. took a can of carb cleaner to it, and it runs great. initially i thought it was the filter under the hood that was clogged. that's why i was so frustrated because it didn't realize that there was a filter in the tank to.

a couple months ago i blew the timing belt. i had an oil leak that i figured i'd fix while the front of the motor was torn apart. so i put new cam and crank seals along with the new belt. i still have the same oil leak. on another forum, a guy was telling me alittle about the oil pump "o" ring. but he wasn't to specific. i asked the guys at my local part store and they don't have a clue and i've never heard back from the one guy. this only leaks when the motor is running. do you know what this could be? "o" ring? gasket? i don't have a clue, but i'm getting sick of putting oil in this thing.

Thank you, Jon

 

Good job on the fuel tank sock.

For the oil pump. With engine running, look at the lower timing cover area that faces the back of the car. Removing the tire helps but of course be careful when the car is jacked up.

If it is the pump seal you will see a drip coming out from under the lower part of the cover.

Note: The pump is located above the crank and toward the back of the car. Thus the leak may not be under the lowest part of the cover (under the crank area).

If it is the oil pump, then you will need to take it off to fix it. You just need to remove the pump, not the much larger housing it bolts to containing the oil pressure valve, etc.

The oil pump drive shaft turned by the belt has a lip seal pressed into the oil pump housing, much like the cam and crank seals. To access the seal you will need to unbolt the drive sprocket, then pull out the oil pump gear with the attached drive shaft.

To unbolt the sprocket, hold the oil pump gear in a vice, etc placing some soft material between the gear and jaw vice faces then unbolt the oil pump drive sprocket.

Remove and replace the pressed in seal.

Notes: The oil pump has 2 gears, a drive gear and a outer driven gear. There is a dot spot faced on each gear face. Make sure both dots are facing the same direction during installation.

The oil pump housing has a preformed O-ring around the edge. It is best you replace this O'ring as it distorts over time and may be difficult to push back into the grove on the pump housing.

The seal is available from aftermarket and maybe if you look hard enough the preformed O'ring. If this is all you need to do suggest getting both from Toyota.

If you need to remove the timing belt, use something to mark an arrow for the direction it rotates. You want to re-install it to operate in the same direction as before it was removed.