94 5S-FE GEN III NO START

[Mark1957]

Water pump failed @ 130K. Drove for two weeks 1 mile each way to work and back carefully monitoring temp gauge. Saved enough $ for new pump, timing belt, idler pulleys, spark plugs, fuel filter, H2O temp sensor, and drive belts. The day she died I was leaving for work, started normally, shifted into gear, started to pull out of parking space, and engine stopped. Never any problems with engine until now. No codes. Cranks fine. Paperclip spark check good, throttle body cleaned, Haynes fuel, ignition, and EGR systems checks complied with, triple check TDC. Still turns over fine, just won’t start. Any way to test the ECU? Also, tips for connecting remote starter will be greatly appreciated. :o

[DFBonnett]

Have you tried spraying some starting fluid into the intake? If it then tries to fire you have a fuel problem. Perhaps the new pump failed. This is not unknown to happen. If it doesn't try to fire you have an ignition problem.

[Mark1957]

Have you tried spraying some starting fluid into the intake? If it then tries to fire you have a fuel problem. Perhaps the new pump failed. This is not unknown to happen. If it doesn't try to fire you have an ignition problem.

DF, Thanks for response and yes starting fluid sprayed directly into throttle body produced no combustion. Did not replace fuel pump, just H2O pump. Paper clip check of fuel pump was good. Could hear it running and fuel line from filter to rail was rock hard. Depressed pedal during procedure and couldn't hear injector clicking w/o stethoscope. Internal coil ohm checked good. Haynes wasn’t very clear about secondary coil location. Your thoughts?

[DFBonnett]

Since the starting fluid had no effect, it is almost certainly an ignition problem. Download a manual from here... http://oregonstate.edu/~tongt/camry. Diagnostics should be more comprehensive.

Since the coil checks out, consider the igniter as a possibility.

[Mark1957]

Thanks for the link, DF, I'll re-accomplish the ignition checks without skipping a step and have the igniter tested at Auto-Zone.

[Mark1957]

True or False...2 revolutions of camshaft timing belt sprocket = 1 turn of the distributor? I would have bet the bank I was TDC! Pulled TB cover off and low and behold I’m 180 out. Forgivable if statement is true. I only wish some would tell me how to do a static checkout of just the ECU, without having to parcel through a ton of sensor fault code trees. Is there a fault code for just an ECU failure? Also, anyone ever connect a remote starter to a 5S-FE?

[Mark1957]

False, 1 turn of the camshaft sprocket = 1 turn of the distributor. Had a second pair of eyes check crank, cam, and rotor for TDC. Still cranks, but no combustion. A friend has a “96” 5S-FE Federal with A/T also that’s running fine. Can I swap the ECUs for troubleshooting purposes?

[Mark1957]

No, 96 ECM won't work on 94, however 95 will. Swaped ECM and distributor, both from junk yard, still no go. Will recheck TDC.

[Mark1957]

Lessons Learned:

1. Timing belt drives water pump impeller spindle.

2. Water pump spindle bearing will eventually warp.

3. Timing belt will slip and engine will shut down.

4. Unless you have a hard "Check Engine" light don't assume the water temp sensor failed and the ECM put the engine in "Fail-Safe" MODE.

5. If the "Check Engine" light illuminates during key rotation this not only assures the bulb is OK, it signals a good ECM self-test.

6. If your spraying starting fluid directly into the throttle body and you get "blow-back", it's a pretty good indication your timing's off.

7. Don't assume the punch mark at the 10 o'clock position on the cam sprocket bearing cap is the timing index. The line at the 12 o'clock position is.

8. $280.00 later I learned a lesson on engine timing.

Thanks for the help. This is a great forum.

Mark

[Leighcm]

Thanks for the great post...I imagine some of that could be useful info for many people! (glad to hear it's fixed!)