hi everyone, I am new to this forum, and I own a 1995 Toyota Camry LE 4 door V6 with 174K miles. recently, I was in a minor accident due to harsh weather conditions, sliding into a SUV. due to the impact, the hood, front grill as well as the radiator what is slightly caved in, and the complete headlight assembly shattered. The damage caused the fan not to work as well. I was able to drive the vehicle home but when trying to start it today, it was not cranking over.battery is still good and have plenty of juice. what would be causing the vehicle not to start? i apreciate all helpful feedback as well as any suggestions 2 get my Camry up and running again.

Thanks again,

Joe

ps... posting pictures after post.

 

Not crank over or crank over and not start?

 

Hey Joey. I'm having trouble loading pictures from my phone to show the damages but to answer your question, as I turn the key to start nothing happens, no crank. I called a local Toyota dealership and they said I might of blown a fuse when driving home as the fan was not working and vehicle started to overheat with minor smoke as I got home. in addition, they also suggested that I could have blown a head gasket. when checking the coolient, I was unsure if there was any oil present. is there a way to tell if I did blow a head gasket? Are there any other reasons why the vehicle is not starting?

Thanks, Joe!

 

No crank over can be for a number of reasons.

Do the headlights work?

When you turn the ign key to ON does the dash indicator lights come on. Then when ign key turned to START do the lights dim or does nothing change all all?

For fuses check Starter fuse, AM 2 fuse, and AM1 and Main fusible links. There are fuse boxes in the engine compartment, one behind the drivers side ash tray/coin box on the far left lower side of dash (lid comes out) and one behind the passengers side kick panel (Starter fuse).

The fusible links are large fuses that are bolted into the wiring. If one if these is blown you need to unbolt the fuse from the wiring from behind the box, not just pull it out. The smaller colored fuses pull out.

If absolutely now power to the car check battery connects to cable, battery cables, etc.

The starter motor solenoid positive battery cable runs from the + battery terminal to the solenoid. The solenoid is wired to the ign switch via a relay. When the ign switch is turned to ON, the starter relay is powered, this relay then powers the starter solenoid (small diameter wire attached to solenoid).

As to overheating. Typically if the head gasket is blown the engine will still turn over, unless the engine had seized up. You can check for this by attempting turn the crankshaft pulley bolt CW (access via passengers side wheel well) and check for free movement.