camry coil, wtf? parts guy vs us - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-24-2007, 12:31 AM

Today I went to the parts store and the guy there said for my 1988 camry four cylinder there's two coils- for $70 each after my 'buddy' discount. Everything I've read here (and judging by looking under the hood) indicates just one coil inside the distributor, similar to the GM HEI setups, but with the coil beside the rotor, not above.

When I bought the car it came with a cap and rotor that appears to be new, and a set of used wires in the trunk in similar shape to those under the hood. I might swap the cap and rotor first as an experiment to see if that's the problem... making sure the 'spare' cap isn't cracked.

So, before I get one, I'd like to know which aftermarket brand (oem type, not msd or anything since it's just a dd) is best for these camrys (I've heard borgwarner is good), and lastly is installation a snap? (remove dist. cap, a couple screws and a wire unplugged and replugged later it's done)

I have no tsm of any sort with me, and will probably be doing this during the downtime I have at work and am able to sneak out and get some work done.

Until I figure out what all needs done here, I'll just straighten out my bent wiper arm... I lost my keys and a storm came through so I threw a tarp over the car and bungeed it down, and somehow f*xed the wiper arm so it's retarded now.

thanks!
-Matt
p.s. I'm willing to buy from a reputable online source as well.

wiccanferret · 08-24-2007, 09:06 AM

Borg-Warner is bad! That's the coil that I bought that died 48 hours later. I bought my coil from Autozone and it was great with some dialectric grease on the posts. As far as wires, cap, rotor, and plugs, I just grab whatever is cheap. I swap them out every 30k anyway. Wires come with the cap on these cars by the way.

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-24-2007, 01:12 PM

so they use only one coil? have a PN?

Kep · 08-24-2007, 01:26 PM

Far as I know, the 1988 uses just one coil, like my old '90. You will need to remove the air hose and the distributor cap to get access to the distributor. Remove the distributor (remember which way the rotor was pointing for when you reinstall and mark the distributor body relative to the engine so you don't have to time it again), rotor, dust cover, two contacts with three(?) wires, and 4 screws (holding the coil on). Watch out for the plastic cap on the temp sensor (remove it is easiest) on the engine.

Have you tested the coil yet? The manual gives you several static tests for the distributor and coil. Shame to buy a coil only to find out a vaccume hose slipped off a sensor.

Kep

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-24-2007, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kep

The manual gives you several static tests for the distributor and coil. Shame to buy a coil only to find out a vaccume hose slipped off a sensor.

Kep

it'd be nice to have a manual for it

it makes me totally dependent on you guys for know-how with this car.

so, knowing that I need just one coil (I went to autozone and found one for about $30) I guess it's time to dig in and see what I can find.
-Matt

monito · 08-25-2007, 03:00 AM

http://www.camrymanuals.com/

grab the 2nd generation manual

1883atlantics · 08-25-2007, 08:00 PM

i tried that and it didnt work. they just recently fixed it, according to the update notes on the lefthand side.
i just got all the manuals. that site rocks!

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-27-2007, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1883atlantics

i tried that and it didnt work. they just recently fixed it, according to the update notes on the lefthand side.
i just got all the manuals. that site rocks!

didn't work last week... now it's working good.

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-27-2007, 03:14 PM

UPDATE!!!

I put some dielectric grease on the wires (and the studs and the nut) on the coil, the coil-distributor contact on the coil, and the rotor in there had a crack and some black dust on it. I replaced the rotor with a new looking one from the trunk when I purchased it. The cap didn't look bad so I just replaced it. Noted some oil inside distributor. Strange...
I put some throttle body cleaner in the little passages and iac and into the intake itself, and attempted to clean out the egr (read edit 2).

Still bucks and won't rev past 4k even in 1st gear foot on floor. Try to remove coil... refer to the online toyota manual... 4 screws on bottom... can't get any of my screwdrivers to work... wtf... so what size/kind of screwdriver do ya need to remove the coil? btw it looks fairly new as well.

old rotor and inside of distributor

just pulled the rotor off

inside of cap that was on engine. Looks ok.

plugs seem to have white ash on electrodes... wierd. Probably since theyre ought-to-light plugs. <they work well in ford products, otherwise they suck

EDIT: crap! I didn't get a pic of the coil... looks like old urine in a little block with some wires visible through it.
EDIT2: engine seems to run marginally smoother, but as said above still idles @1500rpm and bucks, especially when coasting in gear. I'm starting to think 1)get NGK or denso plugs 2)coil 3)there's a vaccum leak somewhere 4)I could get the 2 bolts off the intake manifold for the EGR, but what about the hard line? There's a big bolt on that fitting, and I have a vise grip that'll fit it (I have no metric wrenches that big) but how do ya fit it in there and turn the bolt?

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-30-2007, 12:45 AM

this is a bit off topic, but the low oil psi light made a flash when I was taking a turn. Being late at night and almost 30 miles from a 24-hour store that sold motor oil, I made the drive with nothing on the dipstick.

two quarts later it registers below 'add' on the dipstick, but I was out of cash so I made it the three miles rest of the way home. I have a few quarts of oil stashed away for such an occasion.

wiccanferret · 08-30-2007, 08:41 AM

I dunno, nothing looks like it would cause the problems you're having. Get you some Densos and a coil and see what happens, as you said. The Duralast coil from Autozone was cheap and worked great for me. I've never messed with the EGR on any of my Yotas, but then I never had a problem like yours.

GrkBallaG · 08-30-2007, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChevelleSSLS6

this is a bit off topic, but the low oil psi light made a flash when I was taking a turn. Being late at night and almost 30 miles from a 24-hour store that sold motor oil, I made the drive with nothing on the dipstick.

two quarts later it registers below 'add' on the dipstick, but I was out of cash so I made it the three miles rest of the way home. I have a few quarts of oil stashed away for such an occasion.

Probably cause your distributor o-ring is pouring, you cant see that?

mk2-1jz · 08-30-2007, 02:12 PM

pretty sure the oil is seeping through the valve cover gasket and its collecting inside the distributor cap. its not a BIG problem but you might want to consider changing it. its not all that big of a job, just make sure you torque the valve cover bolts correctly after changing the gasket or you'll be dealing with same problem again. you can get the manuals off some of the posts on this site for the torque specs.

Jamie

Kep · 08-30-2007, 03:16 PM

Don't bother trying to change out the coil while the distributor is still on the engine. You take the coil off after removing the distributor body from the engine. Then you can see the 4 little screws (mine had philips heads). If you marke the position of the distributor body before you remove it and put it back on in the same position you won't need to re-time it. It only takes about 10 minutes after lifting the hood.

Please tone down on the "wtf". It is offensive.

Kep

ChevelleSSLS6 · 08-30-2007, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kep

Don't bother trying to change out the coil while the distributor is still on the engine. You take the coil off after removing the distributor body from the engine. Then you can see the 4 little screws (mine had philips heads). If you marke the position of the distributor body before you remove it and put it back on in the same position you won't need to re-time it. It only takes about 10 minutes after lifting the hood.

Please tone down on the "wtf". It is offensive.

Kep

I'll run a search on how-tos later after the weekend, and I can't do anything about acronyms in the thread titles, if a moderator could take that part out, it'd be appreciated.

Marking the postition of the distributor is a really good timesaver! I'll make sure to remember it.

Update to come in a few days.