Car shut off while driving
 

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen. New member posting first trouble spot with my sons 1993 Toyota Camery 4 cylinder.

I just had to retreive it from about 4 hours away and(Bethesda MD) bring it to the hospital (my house) on a stretcher (car dolly). She's resting (219,000 miles) comfortably in the drive way as the storm SANDY passes through.

Apparently the car has had issues previously where it would not start from a cold start and then finally started.

Just recently the car shut off while driving but it didn't start this time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I didn't really look at it too close yet, I'm charging the battery waiting for the storm to pass. The battery died because I had the parking lights on during the rescue operation.

I plan on checking for spark and fuel to start. Any other help would be appreciated

Thanks John

Make sure the timing belt did not break. Remove distributor cap, crank engine and check for rotation of rotor.

Check for hot spark. Spark should be able to gap 1/2 inch. The coil case can crack resulting in poor spark and starting issues in damp conditions.

Check all fuses. There is a fuse box behind the drivers side ash tray, lower left portion of dash.

Fuel pump only runs when engine is cranking or running.

have you check the timing belt?
I suppose it broke... if that's the case replace it with good one.

ok, the rotor does not spin so I guess it is the timing belt.

I'm taking the covers off to see whats up with the belt.

Are there marks to line up the crank and get it back in time?

Do these vehicle engines have TDC? Or do you just line up the crank and cam shaft.

Not familiar with Toyotas I run an S70 forever.

There are marks to align the crank and cam pulley. When the marks are aligned properly to install the belt, the engine will have the No 1 cylinder at TDC on the compression stroke.

The link below has some info, the engine is the same as the Celica:

http://www.justanswer.com/uploads/sk..._91_celica.pdf

As the belt is broken don't use the info on marking the belt. Align the crank and cam marks as show when installing belt. After belt installation recheck the alignment as stated by rotated the crank 2 times CW.

All done, thanks for your help, the diagram was very useful.

I did have one self inflicted problem. When I pulled the crank pully with the puller I nicked some of the threads inside with the pulller. I had to find a 14 x 1.5 tap to chase the threads. Gave me an excuse to buy a set.

I did have a hell of a time torquing the crank bolt to 80ftlbs. Is there a way to lock the flywheel somehow?

Everything worked out well.

Thanks again. Much appreciated.

John

There is a tool that installs in the bell housing starter motor hole to engage one tooth of the flywheel.

Or

Find a flat board. Drill holes in the board to bolt it to the the crank pulley face using the puller holes. Then drill one large hole between these holes for the bolt wrench socket.

Cut the board long enough that when bolted to the pulley and the pulley rotated the board binds with the floor or chassis. Then tighten the crank bolt.