Need some help with 5S, Not a Celica, but still a 5S Options

[d3ath2009]

Recently did some work on my mother-in-law's car. Not a Celica, but a '99 Camry with a 5S so it should be close enough that diagnosis on here may be helpful. I replaced the head gasket, put on new timing belt and water pump, got everything back together and now the car just won't start. At first it would start to hit on ether, but then it eventually quit with that so at this point it may be flooded out, but not entirely sure. I am wonder if its possibly not getting fuel. Timing is good, did it by the book and i checked everything half a dozen times to be sure. It has compression and is also getting spark. Any ideas as to what would cause it not to start and/or how to remedy a possibility of air in the fuel lines? I can hear the fuel pump running after trying to turn the engine a few times, so it should at least be sending fuel up front, but I don't know if its getting to the injectors yet or not. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

[slavie]

No distributors on the Camry engines. They run two coils in a wasted spark system, and it's pretty difficult to wire it incorrectly due to the wire length. Either way, once coils is cyls 1+4, the other is 2+3.

1. Take the spark plugs out, crank it over, smell if you're getting gas. You'll be able to smell it easily. Air in fuel system is not a factor, as it's a pressurized system and the air would get purged almost immediately.
2. You said you did the timing by the book, but did you install the intake and exhaust cams correctly? They can be a little tricky as there are multiple sets of dots. I've done it in the past - lined up the wrong dots that looked suspiciously correct. Took me 2 days to troubleshoot, including replacing the crank position sensor which I found to be slightly out of spec in the process but which wasn't the issue.
3. Make sure everything electrical is plugged in. Through if you're getting spark, chances are all the essentials are plugged in.
4. Check fuses.
5. When you said engine has compression, did you measure it? Does it have full ~180 psi or thereabout, or does it just have "some" compression?

If you have air, spark, and fuel, and it won't start, then your timing is wrong. Starting fluid is very flammable, and will ignite from spark even if you have no compression.

This post has been edited by slavie: Dec 22, 2017 - 10:54 AM

[d3ath2009]

No distributors on the Camry engines. They run two coils in a wasted spark system, and it's pretty difficult to wire it incorrectly due to the wire length. Either way, once coils is cyls 1+4, the other is 2+3.

1. Take the spark plugs out, crank it over, smell if you're getting gas. You'll be able to smell it easily. Air in fuel system is not a factor, as it's a pressurized system and the air would get purged almost immediately.
2. You said you did the timing by the book, but did you install the intake and exhaust cams correctly? They can be a little tricky as there are multiple sets of dots. I've done it in the past - lined up the wrong dots that looked suspiciously correct. Took me 2 days to troubleshoot, including replacing the crank position sensor which I found to be slightly out of spec in the process but which wasn't the issue.
3. Make sure everything electrical is plugged in. Through if you're getting spark, chances are all the essentials are plugged in.
4. Check fuses.
5. When you said engine has compression, did you measure it? Does it have full ~180 psi or thereabout, or does it just have "some" compression?

If you have air, spark, and fuel, and it won't start, then your timing is wrong. Starting fluid is very flammable, and will ignite from spark even if you have no compression.

Correct on the coil packs and they were numbered on them anyway. making it very difficult to screw up. I called it quits at about 9:00 on night #2, so I'll have to wait till after my rotation of midnights before I can get back to it. Haven't had a chance to pull the plugs yet, but plan to after Christmas when I get a day off. I checked the timing half a dozen times to be sure it was correct. There are two single punch marks in close proximity to each other on both cams. I set it with one set together and the other set, positioned above the first, looked like they would meet when they came around. Went through probably a dozen times checking electrical pulgs, the only one I am concerned about though is the coolant temp sensor. I found it had one wire broken off and the other broke as I was unplugging the connector. they are currently rigged into place after some dismantling of the plug to get the pins out for use, but I cant say they have the greatest connection. Could a coolant temp sensor cause the engine to not start??? I've got a new pigtail on the way. Fuses and relays have been checked. I do not have a compression check tool, so by saying it has compression, I mean that it took some muscle to try and turn the motor when it was on the compression stroke. would ether still ignite if the plugs are fouling out due to too much fuel or ether in the cylinders?