Camry dies with no warning, no sputtering. Sometimes you don’t know it’s died until you loose the power steering, warning lights come on etc. If I am at speed I usually just shift it into neutral start it back up and continue on my way. It has done this on and off for 2 years. It’s becoming more frequent, and usually does it when it is cold. Rain does not effect it. I feel pretty sure it is electrical, maybe the coil, or ignition switch?
I’m gonna wildly guess it’s the distributor. The coil in these is actually part of the distributor assembly and can be changed seperately, but the manual recommends changing the entire assembly. The cost isn’t that much different, the work is less (you have to pull the distributor to get the coil out), and you’ll also be changing the components that tell the system when to fire.
The only reason I’m suggesting this is because I know this to be a common old-age malady on this vintage engine and it sounds like you’re losing spark. And these type of intermittant problems can be hard to diagnose, especially in pre-OBDII vehicles. Having said that, a weak fuel pump or clogged filter are also possibilities. So you may want to do a fuel pressure check before spending any money.
Thank you for your info. The car runs great 95% of the time, and that makes it hard to take to a shop to be diagnosed.