Car died... won't restart, UPDATE: Car still won't start... please help Options

[ThisGoodNight]

Car cranks/turns over just fine. Has plenty of spark and fuel. Car was acting squirly day before it died. When leaving work, the car started and idled very roughly ~600 rpm. Held my foot on the gas for about 15 seconds seemed to clear it up, drove home without any problems. Started up next morning and drove to work without any problems. When leaving work, car started, ran for about 5 seconds and promptly died and could not be restarted. Unfortunately a buddy of mine was checking fusses and I believe he reset the CEL because it's not throwing any codes. Anybody got any ideas?

This post has been edited by ThisGoodNight: Jun 1, 2009 - 8:01 PM

[alltracman78]

If you have spark and fuel, check your timing belt, make sure it didn't jump teeth.

If you have spark, fuel and compression your engine WILL start, so your missing something somewhere.

[ThisGoodNight]

If you have spark and fuel, check your timing belt, make sure it didn't jump teeth.

If you have spark, fuel and compression your engine WILL start, so your missing something somewhere.

Appreciate the reply and thanks for the suggestion. I changed the timing belt ~50K ago but anything is possible.

[ThisGoodNight]

If you have spark and fuel, check your timing belt, make sure it didn't jump teeth.

If you have spark, fuel and compression your engine WILL start, so your missing something somewhere.

Many Thanks alltracman78, you were dead-on right! I popped the top timing cover for a peak, timing belt was totally mangled. I think I will plan on doing the cam and crank seals while I have it apart. Are there any other reasons why the belt would fail so prematurely?

[95celgt]

cuz its not an oem belt?

[GriffGirl]

belt tension incorrect?

[ThisGoodNight]

belt tension incorrect?

Actually, it looks like the camshaft seal was leaking oil. I went ahead and replaced the cam, crank, and oil pump seal as well as all the tensioner bearings. Hopefully this wil take care of it. Thank You Everyone for their input.

[95CelicaST]

Problem solved! 6GC wins again!


Huzzah!

[ThisGoodNight]

Update: After changing the timing belt and the various seals, the car still won't start. It's exhibiting all the original symptoms. It just cranks over, it doesn't even try to start. I've re-checked the timing belt and it's exactly where it should be. The fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are all new. I've checked the fuel pressure it seems to be okay (44 psi). I tried starting fluid and it doesn't even try to start. Does anybody have any ideas where I should go now?

95 Celica GT - CA spec - 150K

This post has been edited by ThisGoodNight: Jun 1, 2009 - 9:53 PM

[808celica]

Update: After changing the timing belt and the various seals, the car still won't start. It's exhibiting all the original symptoms. It just cranks over, it doesn't even try to start. I've re-checked the timing belt and it's exactly where it should be. The fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are all new. I've checked the fuel pressure it seems to be okay (44 psi). I tried starting fluid and it doesn't even try to start. Does anybody have any ideas where I should go now?

Distributor isn't on the "new" list. mine did the same as well as others. try getting a new one.

[ksporry]

check air sensors?

[ThisGoodNight]

Update: After changing the timing belt and the various seals, the car still won't start. It's exhibiting all the original symptoms. It just cranks over, it doesn't even try to start. I've re-checked the timing belt and it's exactly where it should be. The fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are all new. I've checked the fuel pressure it seems to be okay (44 psi). I tried starting fluid and it doesn't even try to start. Does anybody have any ideas where I should go now?

Distributor isn't on the "new" list. mine did the same as well as others. try getting a new one.

How would I check my existing distributor to see if it is working correctly?

[ThisGoodNight]

check air sensors?

Could you please be a little more specific? The engine compartment of this car is still a little new to me...

[ZGear]

You may wanna check the Cooling Temp Sensor as well. For some odd reason my buddies 5s in his camry did the same thing, just wouldn't start up and then replaced his sensor and it was all golden.

[ZGear]

Update: After changing the timing belt and the various seals, the car still won't start. It's exhibiting all the original symptoms. It just cranks over, it doesn't even try to start. I've re-checked the timing belt and it's exactly where it should be. The fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are all new. I've checked the fuel pressure it seems to be okay (44 psi). I tried starting fluid and it doesn't even try to start. Does anybody have any ideas where I should go now?

Distributor isn't on the "new" list. mine did the same as well as others. try getting a new one.

How would I check my existing distributor to see if it is working correctly?

Take off the one of the spark plug wire and have it close to a metal object....keep in mind it may shock your hand if you don't wear any gloves. Crank the car a few short burst and check to see if there's any spark. If there is then you have power to the distributor, but advise you the check every spark plug wire. If one of them does not have spark then you may need to replace the specified wire. If none of them works, you may need to clean your distributor/rotor of any moisture//oil/dirt and do the test again. If nothing the distributor may be shot or even the resistor pack.

This post has been edited by ZGear: Jun 2, 2009 - 1:19 PM

[ThisGoodNight]

Update: After changing the timing belt and the various seals, the car still won't start. It's exhibiting all the original symptoms. It just cranks over, it doesn't even try to start. I've re-checked the timing belt and it's exactly where it should be. The fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are all new. I've checked the fuel pressure it seems to be okay (44 psi). I tried starting fluid and it doesn't even try to start. Does anybody have any ideas where I should go now?

Distributor isn't on the "new" list. mine did the same as well as others. try getting a new one.

How would I check my existing distributor to see if it is working correctly?

Take off the one of the spark plug wire and have it close to a metal object....keep in mind it may shock your hand if you don't wear any gloves. Crank the car a few short burst and check to see if there's any spark. If there is then you have power to the distributor, but advise you the check every spark plug wire. If one of them does not have spark then you may need to replace the specified wire. If none of them works, you may need to clean your distributor/rotor of any moisture//oil/dirt and do the test again. If nothing the distributor may be shot or even the resistor pack.

I've already checked plug #1 and it was throwing a pretty good spark, but I think I will check them all like you suggested. It's just really confusing to me why this thing won't even fire on starting fluid. Thanks for your suggestions.

[ThisGoodNight]

So after rechecking the spark plugs, timing, and fuel pressure, as well as numerous start attempts, I finally got the car to fire (after 30 secs of cranking). The car ran rough for a few minutes (I'm guessing it was flooded), and eventually cleared itself out and is now running perfectly. Has stopped and started all day without incident. I'm happy that the car is running again but I'm concerned that I never fixed the underlining problem. I'm not sure why it decided to start but I'm gonna hope that whatever was wrong with it is now corrected. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

[808celica]

Mine did the same. the only way to find out is find someone willing to trade dizzy's for a while. mine did the same. it shut off one day, didnt run, started somehow, then it finally died.

its like how sometimes a tv remote doesnt work, but if you bang it around it does. And when you bang it too much it will finally just poop out.