I'm lost, anons. I've never worked on a car before, but I have an issue where I'm kinda on my own, and I really don't wanna give up a 90s-era car if I don't have to.The Situation:>drive 2000 Camry (4cly; 5S-FE) we've had since I was 8y/o.>park it in garage for vacation>move it back to grass upon return - Runs Fine>dad takes it to grocery story a day or two later>move it out of grass to mow a couple days later - Engine is shaking like crazy and there's low power>test drive it - Check Engine light blinking>drive it to usual (3rd party) shop>Cylinder misfire; supposedly poor compression on all cylinders, nothing they can do>drive home and park it (July)>ask Toyota forum; get a bunch of recommendations on things to check>run engine briefly a couple times to test some very basic things>most recent run (late August) seemed less shaky, no CE light, but had low idle (~400rpm). Seems to run fine @~1500rpm when holding gas. Strong fuel smell overall.>take awhile to buy OBD2 scanner & torque wrenches, and it's summer which means it's hot as hell>finally have tools I need>college semester starts and eats my free time like crazy>semester is finally ending, outside temperature is finally room temperature, and rain isn't constantI finally have the time and environment to work on this, but I'm still kinda nervous on how to proceed.Current assumption for next test is to put some duct-tape on the air intake tube (removed for access, but realized the thing's cracked and tearing), then swap the ignition coils, put intake tube back in, plug in OBD2 scanner, and do a test-drive around the subdivision.That'll at least tell me if the misfire still happens and/or if it's moved cylinders.One concern I have is how to go about starting it after 3+ months. Last couple times I had to press the gas to get it to turn over, but someone in a forum thread told me that's a bad idea on fuel injected engines. Should I just keep letting it crank until something happens, then?
>>28744851Yeah you can crank on it and it'll be fine.
If it's suddenly shaking like crazy and low power then it's dropped a cylinder.Simply remove the spark plug wires one at a time to see which cylinder is no longer firing - when you remove a spark plug wire and it makes no difference to how the engine is running you know that's the cylinder that isn't firing.Once you've found which cylinder isn't firing, simply put a spare spark plug into the spark plug lead and hold the body of the spark plug against a metal component of the engine and ensure that it is still sparking.If it's not sparking you have a failed coilpack. >t. replaced the coilpack on my 3S-FE a few months ago when it suddenly dropped a cylinder
>>28744892This anon speaks wisdom. Listen to him.
>>28744851Sounds like a mouse has chewed up a wire somewhere, likely a ground.
>>28744851>move it out of grass to mow a couple days later>Strong fuel smell overall.this anon nailed it:>>28744897
>>28744892Well, based on codes provided by the shop, I know it was Cylinder #1's fault. Don't have a spare sparkplug, but how expensive are they from Advance or AutoZone? I might just pick one up for the hell of it.One weird test I did, was I took one of those contactless voltage testers (for testing if an electrical outlet is live), and held it against the sparkplug wires. It was giving a constant repeating beep (as if they were live outlets) across wires 2-4, but wire 1 was making it beep a little erratically. Not sure if that's a sign that it *is* the coil giving a bad output, or if the electrical signal just won't transfer if the plug has too much oil on it to spark.Also, when replacing the coils, do you recommend OEM, or is aftermarket fine?(And what about the intake tube while we're at it? I definitely need to properly replace that if the car can survive.)Oh, andSomething possibly important I forgot to mention is that there's oil intrusion, according to the shop.However, the car's been a mild burner for years, so IDK if that'd just be standard fare for this car.
>>28744897>>28744937Not saying it's impossible, though after 20+ years of living here, I've never seen a mouse or rat around our yard.Squirrels? Yes.Opossum? Giant one IN our garage once.Snakes? Yes.Anoles & Geckos? Yes.Those horrifying big palmetto bug roaches? Yes.Mouse or Rat? No, strangely.
>>28744945if the intake tube is cracked youre probably getting unmetered air into the engine. This can cause all kinds of rough running and mess with air fuel ratios. start there. replace. try rockauto.com
>>28744945Might be your spark plug tubes leaking, I've had to reseal those on a couple of my 5S-FEs - after about 300,000kms the sealant seems to get old and lets oil seep onto the spark plug. It's not the easiest job, getting the tubes out is pretty hard - I use a pipe wrench but you have to be careful not to damage the tube if you don't have 20 spare ones lying around like I do. Then you have to clean the threads up pretty good and put some new thread sealer on it and torque it back in.Should do valve cover gaskets while you're at it too, and the valve cover tends to come loose after the first heat cycle when you put it back on and you have to tighten it again.
>>28744989Nah the 5S-FE runs on a MAP sensor so it will run just fine from a bare throttle body if it needs to, still a good idea to make sure you're not sucking unfiltered air through a cracked intake pipe long term.
Just last week i was reading something on a miata forum and it sounds eerily similar to your problem. Guy traced it to a weak fuel pump.
>>28744851>press gas>Someone say that's a bad idea on fuel injected enginesI am calling wive’s tail on this one. Maybe true for some goofy early 80s something I don’t know about. All you are doing is opening the blade on the throttle body. All the other stuff happens when the engine is running.
>>28744851>Engine is shaking like crazybad spark plug, spark plug wire, or coil.
Jesus Christ.Bunch of nowrench basement dwellers.>runs fine>suddenly doesn't run fine.>shaking>smell gasIts a fucking coil pack.12 bucks on rockauto.Youre welcome.
>>28746100Oh wow thanks for repeating the answer given in the second reply, what would we do without you?
>>28744851sounds like it runs fine
