Hi, I have a Camry 99, LX 2.2L (99k miles on it) that just died while I was puling out of my driveway. Unfortunately, it wont start anymore. I had problems with alternator for the past 2 years. Last year I just replaced the alternator and the battery. It all went well after that. A check engine light for EGR Valve came on, replaced the valve but the light comes back after 30 mins. Anyway, the car runs so I ignored the check engine light. Then this problem occurred. Before going to the alternator replacement again, I first did a tune up. Replaced all 4 plugs, high tension wires, and the coils. The engine seems to choke at first start, then the rest of the trials are the same old cranking. The battery seems ok, pulls 13.8v when the engine is not running (I couldn’t make it start anyway). I could not check the engine light too because the engine wont start. I may say I’m the guy who do small repairs, changed my own timing belt and water pump and do my own oil changes. But this one caught me on a dead end. I don’t know what to do next. Can anyone help me? It would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
Check for spark while cranking the engine over.
If there is no spark, the crankshaft position sensor may have failed.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=40425&cc=1759&jsn=343
Tester
Ok will check. Thanks!
check for spark using a spark tester
compression test
check fuel pressure . . . tee in and tell us what you got
see if the engine will briefly start with ether
I assume the engine uses timing belts and one may have broken. If you have spark and the engine doesn’t respond to a small squirt of starter fluid then a broken belt is most likely the problem. A compression test would prove that or just inspect the belts.
So the engine was running ok, then one morning it would crank fine, but not start? Good ideas above about checking for spark at a spark plug during cranking, and if you have spark ok, as mentioned above you could try spraying a little starting fluid into the intake and see if it will start and run briefly at least.
hmmm … one other idea, the egr problem. If the egr were stuck open for some reason, that could prevent the engine from starting. That’s how I tell the egr works on my Corolla, I use a vacuum pump to cause it to open for a test, and if the egr valve is working the idling engine immediately stalls. & remember the egr performs a function beyond emissions, so ignoring the warning light isn’t such a good idea. Besides emissions it also prevents the insides of the cylinders from overheating during rapid accelerations and going up long steep hills. Note that the warning light for the egr doesn’t imply the egr valve is bad necessarily, just that the egr function doesn’t seem to be working. There’s a fairly complicated bunch of gadgets that decides when and how much to turn on the egr , and if something in all that failed it could also trigger the egr warning light.
Hi Cougar, thanks for taking time to reply. I just did the timing belt and waterpump last summer at 92k miles. I think everything went fine because Its running for a year now since I replaced it.
Thanks Db4690, I will do that probably by monday. I have an emergency flight tomorrow. Thanks for helping out everyone! Great weekend to y’all. 
Wow GeorgeSanJose, its getting more complicated now. Yeah I changed the valve with a new EGR. Erased the code, but it will turn on again after a few minutes. Hmmmm.
Not that it has anything to do with a no-start condition but I would imagine the EGR pipe may be clogged up with soot and needs the chimney sweep routine done to it.