Hello,

I have been reading through all of the posts and I pray that my problem
will be resolved through the wonderful advice that I have read.   But just
in case, I thought that I would throw my situation out there and see what
comes back.

I have just replaced my alternator and battery to my car and I was able to
drive it after YEARS of neglect (It has been sitting in my driveway unmoved
for over 2 years).   A "friend" suggested that I purchase some Lucas Fuel
Injection cleaner so that I could clean out the fuel line since the car
had been sitting for so long.  I didn't think too much of it and I trusted
him to "put the cleaner in directly through the fuel line so that it would
do a much better job at cleaning the fuel line instead of letting it go
through the gas tank".  He insisted that this was the method that he and
the "boys" used when he worked in an auto shop.  

I stupidly let him do this and after a few minutes, I noticed all of this
white smoke coming out of my exhaust and he said that it was normal.  He
revved the engine once and then I began to hear noices coming from the
exhaust which sounded like someone was making popcorn.  Well needless to
say, after another couple of minutes, the car died!   The engine quit and
when cranked, the car did turn-over, but it sounded really weak and it cut
off.  This happened a few more times and he put the car in drive to "get
the cleaner moving" and the car just kept cutting off.  

Since the last shut off, it hasn't cranked again!  That was about a month
ago.  I have had the ignition changed -- nothing!   The car will not spark
when cranked.  The car makes a pitiful sound as if it wants to start, but
the spark is not there.  

The spark plugs have been checked and they do need to be replaced, but
they are not the problem.  The kicker to all of this is the fool didn't
put the injection cleaner into the fuel line - it was the power brake
booster!   The day when all of this occured, I noticed that my breaks,
even the emergency brake, weren't working.  I'm hoping that the cleaner
has dried out and that the brakes will be fine once I can get the car
started, but I find it very odd that the car shut down after he put that
solution in the brake booster.

I was looking forward to putting my car back on the road --  it only has
132k miles on it.  My cousin, who works on cars, has thought that the
distributor may need to be replaced and that's the cause for the lack of
spark.

Any thoughts on what damage could have been done at the hands of this
idiot?   (Well I'm the bigger idiot because I trusted him to do it!)  Any
help that anyone can offer would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!  

--
Message posted using http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.toyota.camry/
More information at http://www.talkaboutautos.com/faq.html