What a nice way to end the day....NOT!

My car is a '92 Toyota Camry,  V6 with air.   Engine is type 3VZ-FE.  
The car has 120,000 miles on it and is now about due for its second regularly scheduled
timing belt change,  every 60,000 miles.   The first change was done on time.

I'm driving home and hit the gas a little harder to accelerate around an unusually slow driver.
The moment I do it,  the engine starts missing and continues to do so all the way home. It is
accompanied by a rich smell like the smell of a candle you just snuffed out or a match you
just lit.   It runs ROUGH all the way home, and as I got to the end of the drive, I hit the gas
a bit and it acted like it completely flooded out.   Backing off the gas, it continued to run.
After I parked it in the driveway,  I left it running, got a flashlight, popped the hood, and
took a look around, tugging wires, checking vacuum lines, etc.    Nothing made any difference.

Engine temperature, via the temp gauge, was normal.

The exhaust was definitely puffing as you'd expect with a severe miss.   It's missing enough that I think that more than one cylinder is out.

I shut it down and attempted a restart.    No success in restarting, but once it did try, but all it did was diesel VERY badly.

No engine warning light shows up on the dashboard,  but the light tests OK during the power-on self test.

Any ideas?    Timing belt, maybe?  Computer issue?  Some sensor gone bad in the induction system?

CJ

I'll do the distributor, plugs, and wires tomorrow, and probably the coil, too.    The three plugs on the back of  the engine are going to be a BITCH to change, though.  (V6, transverse mounted, large intake runners in back, you know the drill)  But the front three couldn't be easier!

The catalytic converter....well, maybe, but for the fact that the problem came on instantly like flipping a switch,  and at the precise moment I stepped on the accelerator fairly hard and fairly rapidly.   I didn't exactly floor it,  but I did hit it like you would if you decide to pass someone NOW.     And the RPMs didn't even climb before the missing began.    I think the cat is a lower probability.

The timing belt option had certainly occurred to me but I can't even begin to guess if that's it or not.  Granted, it is about due for a scheduled change,  but they've got a good margin of safety built in.   I'd find it odd if it were to jump when it was EXACTLY 60,000 miles old.

Tomorrow's another day.   I'll deal with it then.





CJ

Not smoking.   Oil level is unchanged.   Checks of all fluids appear normal.


No engine light.   But I haven't been able to restart it as of yet anyway.




CJ

I hope it's something fairly simple, external to the engine, and inexpensive like that.

The coil does seem to be a prime candidate at the moment.

I'll do the dance tomorrow and see what happens.   I'll post my findings.

CJ

It's due for a tuneup anyway.  

I'm pretty religious about scheduled maintenance,  but in this case the problem might be because I bought the car from my parents,  and they don't remember when the last tuneup was done....and since they keep all their maintenance records and I've been through them,   it could be LONG overdue for plugs, wires, etc....


CJ

A deficient fuel condition (bad fuel pump) shouldn't cause the rich, candle snuffed out or freshly lit match smell, though, should it?    That smell indicates a very rich condition, wouldn't you say?

CJ

Had some time to think about it.


This engine is an overhead cam V6.  So it has a separate camshaft over each bank of cylinders.

If the timing belt had slipped on ONE of those camshafts but not the other,  three cylinders would still run and the others would not.   Result:  A severe miss and unburned or partially burned fuel in the exhaust system.    The car could probably not be restarted, either.

That's the symptoms I'm experiencing, exactly.

I won't be surprised if that's the diagnosis, too.


It's on the way to see the mechanic, via tow truck.   There goes my holiday savings!

CJ