I call for the camry gurus to show me the light. Im in desperate need of help here so anything you can think of would be great.

The car: 95 camry 4dr, 2.2l auto, with 165,000 miles. turns over smoothley. ran like a top pre problem, never burned oil or lack of power or any other sign of an emerging issue. Only existing issue is some motor mounts are allowing the engine to slap a little on acceleration.

Went to take off at a normal pace from a stop sign and it just died. now it cranks and cranks but wont start.

So far Ive checked:
It has spark on all cylinders but im not sure if it is strong enough or at the right time but it sparks consistantly so that should be enough for it to at least try to fire up.
It doesnt post any codes from the at home retreval method. system says "no problems"
EFI relay and fuse are fine
fuel pump works when I do the diagnostic port operation check and im getting flow past the filter.
Timing belt is intact and in time with the cams and distributer. (well Im pretty sure at least, not ruling anything out)
I sprayed some starter fluid into the TB several different times and it didnt even want to pop or fire.
Weird thing is starter fluid doesnt do anything but when I crank it over and over, I cant smell a build up of fuel. Or at least I dont think I do.
So I have spark, it appears to be in time, and I cant smell fuel when it cranks but have it when I spray starter fluid into the intake and still it doesnt even try to pop or start or anything.

Ok what do you guys got. save me please.
Thanks in advance.
-Brendan Dean

 

Well you did a lot of diagnostic work. I wish everyone would attempt half of what you did.
Do you have compression? That would be my next move.

 

yes. compression is the next step. that along with fuel rail pressure, a stethascope on the injectors and checking the coil for propper resistance. I would have got these done yesterday but I ran out fo day light and the car is parked 30 miles away. I just talked to the local toyota dealership mechanic and he confidently said check the coil. he said it might spark out side of the cylinder, but inside the cylinder, the coil isnt strong enough. He also said this problem was kinda common. despite my attempts not to, im kinda getting my hopes up.

 

For sure that under compression a weak spark will not work. If you got a good blue spark on your spark test then I would say coil OK, but a simple OHM test should prove out the coil. If you need test specs let me know. But starting fluid is pretty easy to ignite so even weak spark would do it. If you have compression I would check coil then fuel pressure.

 

Well from what I remember the spark looked pretty weak but I just thought, eh, its a camry. probably doesnt need alot of spark. I plan to check the resistance of the coil today. I have some specs for it but if you could give me yours I can cross refrence to make sure mine are correct. Yes starter fluid should ignite easily but if the injectors were working properly, than this created an increadibly rich environment, which is even harder to ignite. Ill keep ya posted since this information is useful to the camry community i fugure.

 

FSM Coil Inspection: (Not California)

Primary Resistance - Cold - .36 - .55 ohm Hot - .45 - .65 ohm
(Between +/- Terminals) (Positive is on your left facingcoil)

Secondary - Cold - 9.0 - 15.4 ohm Hot - 11.4 - 18.1 ohm
(Between + and High Tension Terminals) (Positive on Left - HT on Bottom where windings are)

While you're in there you might as well test the pick-up coil resistance.

] - Ne + Cold - G+G- 185 - 275 ohm
] - Ne - Ne+Ne- 370 550 ohm
] - G - Hot - G+G- 240 - 325 ohm
] - G + Ne+Ne- 475 - 650 ohm

There is a condensor as well. If it's bad you won't get ignition. But I suspect that if you're getting some sparkit's OK. Good Luck.

 

I've replaced a million of these coils. There a little expensive but, at least your car will be running

 

so updates for ya... checked the car with a timing light. confirms that I have ignition when I need to and strong enough to ignite the cylinder. I also checked the coil. came out to .5 for primary and 12.5K for the secondary. so no problems there unfortunatley. I also used a stethascope on the injectors and it sounds like they are fireing. really weird thing is it really tried to start today. it firedand ignited several times and wouldnt give up. so very confused, my brain hurts. just look at the time of this post, obviousley keeping me up at night. hahaha, well its not really that funny.

 

Did you rely on the firing of the timing light as confirmation of enough voltage to ignite fuel? If it is inductive then I don't think it needs much of a signal to fire a good light. Butcoil seemsto check out.

Injectors clicking does not mean fuel. Those stethascopes are pretty sensitive and can be deceptive as they will pick-up clicks all the way down the fuel rail.But at least you are getting at least some injector activity.I would check fuel pressure.

I guess you did not check compression?? If we assume you have 1.Spark 2.Timing 3.Fuel, then only two things left for all ingredients needed are compression and air.You have confirmed timing belt OK so only other reason for no compression (all cyl'ds) would bevalves not opening (doubtful) or blocked exhaust or intake, both long shots.Vacuum gauge?Other possibility might be massive vacuum leak. Did it die at idle or at speed?

 

Pedro: well I was assuming that if the timing light went off it indicated that I have a good spark. Do you think the spark could still be not strong enough to ignite a mixture? can I get a tool that can test for the spark plug voltage? what should this voltage be do ya think? what else could cause a weak spark? like I mentioned before, the coil seams to be alright, so whatelse would cause a spark to go weak and not die out. Im still not sure fuel or spark but am focusing on spark for the moment since the starter fluid didnt indicate that it is a fuel problem.

can a coolant temp sensor or MAP sensor failing on this car cause it to not inject fuel, or inject way too much?

thanks for your help