Why won't my car start?

Asked by Jcaul16249 Jan 18, 2015 at 10:34 AM about the 1994 Toyota Camry

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Recently, I was driving it to the store when
It suddenly shut off. And wouldn't start back
up. Before this it had over heating problems.
It also had cold starting problems only
when it sat in one spot for more then 3
hours. We found out the water pump broke
and we replaced it. Once we did, the car still
would not start. We checked the timing by
checking compression and it was fine, it's
getting spark at the spark plugs so that's
good, tried spraying starter fluid in the
intake but won't even do a thing. Can't
figure this out.

1 Answer

103,735

Before you start spending big money on random parts, first buy a can of throttle body cleaner and go right through it. Also dismantle your IAC valve and clean it. Here is a short how to video on cleaning the IAC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsP2-HKz7vE If car still has a no start condition, make sure you are getting fuel. Check your fuel pump fuse and relay. If those are good, see if you can hear the fuel pump hum. You can remove the gas cap and put your ear to the hole, or touch a screw driver to the bottom of the tank and put your ear to the plastic handle. If someone turns the key to the Accessory position, you should hear the pump kick on. If fuel pump is operating, you may have a bad TPS (throttle position sensor) or a bad CPS (crank position sensor). Not sure if you want to spend the money on a shot in the dark. If the check engine light is on, you may want to buy a code reader or if you know somebody with one, have them check the error codes before dumping money on guess work.

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