Corolla Hesitating - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

arushforbarbie · 02-27-2009, 09:26 PM

I have a 1992 Toyota Corolla DX 1.6L Engine with a standard 5 speed transmission that has started to act very strange recently.

About a week ago it started to hesitate whenever the accelerater is pressed more than a quarter of the way to the floor, and it also idles down very low and kind of 'shutters' at times. My boyfriend has tried:
fuel injector cleaner
replacing the fuel filter
the PCV(?) valve
and has checked the plugs(though not the wires, he doesn't know how to check those without replacing them).

All of the above checks and replacements haven't yielded any results, and as time wears on the car seems to be getting worse and worse on gas. Does anyone have any other sugguestions?

~A.R.

eage8 · 02-27-2009, 09:51 PM

sounds like an o2 sensor.

does the check engine light come on?

have you tried checking the engine codes anyway?
you jumper the E1 and T ports on the diagnostic connector in the engine bay and it'll flash the codes with the check engine light. a long flash is +10 and a short flash is +1. a really long flash is the start of a new code.

post the codes and I'll tell you what they mean

hope this helps.

arushforbarbie · 03-01-2009, 12:19 PM

The Check Engine light isn't on, but we did try to pull the codes. No success, though: No codes flashed. The car has started making a sort of thumping sound in the engine compartment, near the exhaust pipe from the engine in the front, and we're now looking at about 150miles per FULL tank.

ae924d · 03-01-2009, 09:46 PM

damn thats shitty gas...if its the o2 it wont throw a catalyst code because catalyst codes require a dual o2 sensor system and the ae92 only has 1, which would be on the manifold. only way to make sure its not the o2 is to change it..

eage8 · 03-02-2009, 09:52 AM

yeah, with gas mileage like that the only thing I could think that would be wrong would be the o2 sensor.

but usually they do throw codes...

did your check engine like not come on at all when checking codes? it's supposed to just flash if there are no codes...

arushforbarbie · 03-02-2009, 08:50 PM

It did not blink at all. My boyfriend said he will check to see if he can get the codes again tomorrow. Also as an update my car has been parked till we can figure it out because we tracked at about 165miles per tank. He tried checking the O2 sensor on the intake and on the exhaust pipe, but whenever we disconnected them nothing changed (we thought maybe it would send the ECM into "Default" mode) and no check engine light came on.

CJCride · 03-02-2009, 08:57 PM

Had similar symptoms though not as severe on my 91 Corolla it was worn Platinum Plugs. Replace your Ignition Rotor.

CJCride · 03-02-2009, 09:00 PM

Also put in an Air Filter.

How many miles on it?

eage8 · 03-02-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arushforbarbie

It did not blink at all. My boyfriend said he will check to see if he can get the codes again tomorrow. Also as an update my car has been parked till we can figure it out because we tracked at about 165miles per tank. He tried checking the O2 sensor on the intake and on the exhaust pipe, but whenever we disconnected them nothing changed (we thought maybe it would send the ECM into "Default" mode) and no check engine light came on.

the ECU being in "default" mode would yield the same results... that's probably what it's doing right now. it sounds like the light on your check engine light might be out

does it turn on when you turn the key to the on position like all the other lights?

90 GP · 03-03-2009, 04:14 AM

Check the vac lines to see if any are disconnected or leaking. In particular check the vac line going to the map sensor which mounts in the middle of firewall. Here is a link that shows pic and diagnostics:

http://www.autozone.com/shopping/rep...00c1528006f235

arushforbarbie · 03-05-2009, 09:20 PM

The check engine light does come on when the car starts for a second, just like it always did, so the bulb is good.

My boyfriend installed a new air filter only about three months ago, but we did try buying a new one and installing it, still no change though

. He is going to check the VAC lines this weekend, and I will post the results here. Also if we do figure out what it is we'll post the results here just in case someone else has a similar problem.

CorollaGTS90 · 03-10-2009, 07:37 PM

does the car stop hesitating when you floor it?...it might be the throttle sensor....i'm having the same problem...starts hesitating at a certain point...then when i floor it it unblocks and its fine...the idle is a bit sketchy...the thing is, when i unplug my throttle sensor...the car works fine and doesnt hesitate anymore (it idles abit high but thats normal without the tps)...anyway i'm trying to find a place to buy one...try unplugging your tps to see what it does

arushforbarbie · 03-10-2009, 09:07 PM

We did try unplugging the TPS, but doing that had no effect

4dRcOrOlLA · 03-11-2009, 09:50 PM

check ur filter box for shit in thur maybe its preventin u to get the air it need wen acceleratin

Ghostyman · 03-11-2009, 10:29 PM

You can check the plug wires with a multimeter that can read resistance. Any cheap one should do and be less than $10. You can also pull the wires and hold them near a metal surface while the car is turning over -- make sure there is a spark jumping. Doesn't sound like a ignition problem to me though.

It's not the air filter. Definitely.

So from what I can gather, the car runs the same no matter if the O2 sensor or TPS are plugged in? I'm guessing one of those is the problem.

Does it hesitate when the throttle is floored or just when it's at partial throttle?

Try unplugging the ECU-B fuse for a minute and then putting it back in and see if the car feels the same afterwards. That should reset the ECU (disclaimer: I don't even know for sure if these have ECU-B fuses so if it doesn't, just unplug the battery for 20-30 minutes and try after that).