I'll have to get VIN and PM you tomorrow. The distributor has the 2 pin connector on the back side for the coil that has the White/Red Stripe and a Black/Red Stripe. There is also another 4 pin connector on the front side but I have been comparing that to the diagrams and have not been able to figure out what it does or goes to. There is a Yellow, (White maybe), Black, and Red. I'm going to look through the diagrams again and see if anything stands out. But with there only being 4 wires, shouldn't there be a pickup of some sort, unless that is internal. However I don't see any way for the ECM to be involved with the timing.

The diagram I am looking at (Chiltons Online) shows different colors depending on TMC or TMN production vehicles. Either of which are the colors I'm seeing at that connector.

 

Got the water pump and Timing Belt Kit replaced this weekend. The belt was stretched by at least 1 cog. I'm hoping that takes care of it. I'm going to try and fire it tomorrow. I'm hoping I don't need to pull the valve cover and check for damaged valves. Not exactly sure what will happen if it gets to that point. I do know that while I was turning it over by hand to line up the marks it skipped over the water pump a time or two. From what I could tell the timing was still on... mark on balancer/pulley lined up with 0* on timing cover. The Cam wheel was a bit confusing but I found a 'V' larked on the "bearing cap" and I got the small hole in the Cam Wheel as close to lined up with that as I could. From the video I saw, that hole and the keyway on the crank should be in the same linear plane. I must have got it right if that is correct.

 

the 4 cyl is not a interference motor , on the cam pulley the timing mark is the hole in the gear line up with the notch on the cap , DO NOT USE THE DOT MARK BESIDE IT . is a bit tough to see the timing mark i use a inspection mirror to make sure is right on , if you doing this job at home and don't own a bench press to reset the hydraulic tensioner. probably going to need a new one then ($100 + if it is oem)

 

This one doesn't use a hydraulic tensioner. It's just a spring that pulls against one of the idler pulleys for the initial tension and then the bolt is tightened. Pretty rinky-dink but at least it works. It doesn't appear to hold tension though. So as the belt ages it just gets slack vs. a hydraulic tensioner which would take the slack out and prevent the belt from jumpping.

Last time I had to reset a hydraulic tensioner I used a giant pump pliars.

I saw one car that used the oil pressure to pressurize the tensioner. Can't remember if it was a Camry or not though since it used a chain instead of a belt.

 

Got it fired up this morning. After some sputtering and holding the throttle open a bit it started running on it's own. I disconnected the battery again to clear any possible code thrown during my first attempt(left a few wires unplugged).

Took the car for a short drive and still have a Check Engine Light on. I've tried renting a code reader but I think the connector was different than the underhood port.
I'm going to be doing some searching today but is there a way to retrieve the code without going to the dealer?

Upon returning to 0% throttle it will stumble and recover. I just want to make sure there isn't something else going on that needs addressed or if I need to give it a good inspection for a vacuum leak.

 

Turns out there is a diagnostic port under the dash. I also found out I forgot to plug in the intake air temp sensor while I was inspecting the distributor cap. Everything is fine now.

Thank you for the help.

 

enjoy it

 

Well... car is back with no-start again.

Pulled the upper timing belt cover to make sure the belt is tight and it appears good. It recently got a new battery&alternator so I checked connections first.
"Started and ran about 3 minutes then died." was all the information I got. It smells of fuel after cranking so I know that's not the problem. Plugs are not wet so it's not flooding. I held the pedal to the floor in case these cars have "choke mode" and that didn't even sputter while cranking.
Pulled a spark plug and attempted to check for spark but I was out in the sun so it would be very hard to see from drivers seat.
Test of the coil came up with .6ohms which seemed a little low. Pickup was 359ohms which is out of range specified by Chiltons Online. It could use a cap/rotor which I will probably do no matter what, but until then I'm going to see if I can test the distributor a bit more. Possibly check timing as well just in case.

 

Poor ign spark can cause a host of issues.

 

I still need to check voltages when I get back to the car. I'm hoping it doesn't come to a distrbutor.
Is there a procedure for setting timing? I saw something about a jumper between Te1 and E1 that sets timing to 10* BTDC. Will this equal 0* base timing, or will it read as 10* advanced on the timing cover?