New here, with a generally stupid mistake bringing me a no crank problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Nissantruckfreak · 09-12-2009, 06:50 PM

Well my 89 SR5 corolla with the 4AF engine had a massive oil leak that i had been putting off for awhile due to work, and i decided to finally figure out where it was leaking from. Before i could see anything i had to get the nasty caked oil sludge off the outside so i sprayed tons of degreaser onto it and let it sit for about 2 minutes and hosed it off. (should have covered the distributor and intake hose... and afterwards i found out the air filter assembly was on kinda crooked and could have leaked into the carb aswell)

needless to say, i really should have paid more attention to what i was doing

anyways now it wont start (the engine turns over, but never actually starts)

pulled the plugs and while not pretty looking they were completely dry. took the distributor cap off, and it looked perfectly dry. there is a weird sensor/capacitor looking thing that mounts onto one of the bolts to the distributor cap just wondering what it is?

Also its been.... 6-7 hours since the wash and it still wont crank

Anyone have any other ideas to try? I am open to any suggestions

Nissantruckfreak · 09-12-2009, 09:41 PM

well I just did a resistance check on the primary and secondary coil. Secondary was 12.5 Kiliohms (specs are 10.2-13.8 kiliohms) primary kept jumping between 1.6-2.5 could never get it to settle no matter how still i held the contacts specs are 1.3-1.5 ohms, think this might be the problem? it just seems SO close to specs that i should atleast have SOME spark.

before i did the resistance check i did a spark plug test which yielded no spark. Im really not sure where else to go now.

90 GP · 09-13-2009, 05:16 AM

Might try leaving hood open and letting sun dry things up. Can try dab of silicone dielectric grease on wires where they attach to plugs and distrib cap. Also make sure distributor rotor is turning while cranking engine. It's happened before where by coincidence the timing belt breaks after engine cleanup.

Nissantruckfreak · 09-13-2009, 09:42 AM

rotor button is spinning, just checked. going to continue to let it dry out since its still not getting spark this morning

Ghostyman · 09-13-2009, 11:42 AM

Check for spark with both the coil wire and one of the spark plug wires. That'll narrow the problem down a little bit.

Nissantruckfreak · 09-13-2009, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghostyman

Check for spark with both the coil wire and one of the spark plug wires. That'll narrow the problem down a little bit.

im not sure im following what your saying, how would i go about checking for spark in the coil wire? i cant find anything about it in the hayes manual

i did check for spark in the plug wires and found nothing, but i also just got a replacement rotor, cap, wires, and plugs (figured i might aswell its been awhile since ive done it and i already had it all apart)

took a hair dryer to the distributor for a good 10 minutes careful not to get anything too hot.

freakinbox · 09-13-2009, 10:12 PM

the 4af/4afe had an internal coil. Where as the 4age's had an external one, no coil wire for us.

Nissantruckfreak · 09-15-2009, 04:29 PM

well I am getting voltage at both of the coils.

replaced the rotor, cap, wires, and plugs (since it was about time to anyways) still no start (wasnt planning on it starting but figured it was worth a try)

the only thing left is the ignitor (and the hayes manual doesnt say anything about it besides replacing it so i dont know how to check it)

also the old gasket for the distributor is in pieces, and autozone/advance/ect doesnt sell a gasket - can i use gasket maker?

also theres a weird looking thing mounted on one of the 3 bolt holes that kinda makes the distributor sit crooked ill attatch some images

90 GP · 09-15-2009, 04:44 PM

That piece in the pic is a condenser. All it does as far as I know is suppress static from being picked up on radio. Did you check the resistance of the pickup coil inside distributor? I haven't heard of to many ignitors failing.Also have you tried both a shot of starting fluid in intake and a jump start from another vehicle? All the cranking may have strained battery to the point that voltage is low enough to cause a diminished spark and a no start.

Nissantruckfreak · 09-15-2009, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90 GP

That piece in the pic is a condenser. All it does as far as I know is suppress static from being picked up on radio. Did you check the resistance of the pickup coil inside distributor? I haven't heard of to many ignitors failing.Also have you tried both a shot of starting fluid in intake and a jump start from another vehicle? All the cranking may have strained battery to the point that voltage is low enough to cause a diminished spark and a no start.

the pickup coil meaning the secondary/primary coils? if so yes

i tried starting fluid for the hell of it and nothing.

the battery voltage is 12.5 currently but as soon as my roommate gets home from work ill have him try cranking it while i read the battery voltage.

j2b4osan · 09-15-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nissantruckfreak

well I am getting voltage at both of the coils.

also theres a weird looking thing mounted on one of the 3 bolt holes that kinda makes the distributor sit crooked ill attatch some images

you should have that thing mounted on the outside of the cap or the underside of the bolt, not between the cap and the dizzy. not sure if that would create enough space to make the rotor loose contact with the cap though.

the primary may be to far out of spec to work properly, it is outside the factory spec.

you need a distributor gasket or the cap gasket? the cap gasket will usually come together with cap and rotor when sold as a package. if you mean the dizzy gasket you could make one out of gasket paper and gasket maker(rvt or something)

eage8 · 09-15-2009, 08:27 PM

I would do a compression test just to make sure you didn't get any water in the cylinders and blew something

90 GP · 09-16-2009, 04:37 AM

The pickup coil is the magnetic pole piece with two leads that gets it's pulse from the toothed ring on the shaft of distributor. Will need to check manual for specs on testing it. Check out the online repair manuals from Auto Zone website. Also check any ignition and ECM fuses in both the black fuse box underhood and one by driver kick panel. The Electronic Control UNit (ECM) processes info from pickup coil and fires ignitor so if that fuse is blown you would have the no spark issue.

90 GP · 09-16-2009, 04:45 AM

Looking at that pic I agree you might have the condenser mounted incorrectly. On my distrib (90 4AFE) fuel injected) the condenser bracket goes underneath the distibutor screw at the top not the bottom like it appears in pic. If yours is wedged between cap and distributor it isn't right.

eage8 · 09-16-2009, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90 GP

The pickup coil is the magnetic pole piece with two leads that gets it's pulse from the toothed ring on the shaft of distributor. Will need to check manual for specs on testing it. Check out the online repair manuals from Auto Zone website. Also check any ignition and ECM fuses in both the black fuse box underhood and one by driver kick panel. The Electronic Control UNit (ECM) processes info from pickup coil and fires ignitor so if that fuse is blown you would have the no spark issue.

checking fuses is a really good idea, I'm mad I didn't think of that :-P