Corolla 5F-AE - starting problem

[woodburyboy]

Hi, is there someone out there in Corolla land that may be able to help me?

I have a Corolla 5F-AE 1600cc GLI. Sine I have had the car (3yrs ago - 2nd hand) the car has been impecable at starting. Just rock the ignition and the engine fires.

Recently, and only on damp mornings, the engine will turn but it fails to fire, not even a hint.

I've had the roadside patrol out who have managed to get it going. The first said "need to check out your temperature sensors" which I admit I havent yet, whilst the second replaced the plugs and said that was the problem. So with new plugs, I went out this morning (raining and damp), and it is doing the same.

On both occasions the Patrol checked for a spark and said that was fine. There's certainly fuel there because I can smell it when I take a plug out. I have even taken the plugs out, heated them on the gas stove indoors, but it made no difference.

As I said, it only happens first thing in the morning, and when it's damp outside.

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Regards

Mark

[Flashmn]

I have a Corolla 5F-AE 1600cc GLI

Theres no such thing as a 5F-AE, its a 5A-FE and thats as far as I know a 1500cc.
Check the distributor cap for cracks, on damp days a crack will cause major ignition problems.

[woodburyboy]

Thanks for the reply - just checked, no crack in the distributer crack.

Does the temperature sensor embedded in the side of the air filter housing play any part in the engine management system at start up, or is it only once the engines's running?

[woodburyboy]

OK...I've been back and taken the distributer cap off this time to have a better look. No hair line cracks....BUT....what I did notice was the build up of deposit on the four HT contacts inside the cap. I scraped the deposit away with the tip of a screwdriver. What was left was four pins with a concave side to them where the rotor arm passes by. Now I've not seen inside a Corolla cap before so I'm not sure if there is meant to be a slight dishing to the edge of the contact, but I'm guessing that there should be little wear but any significant wear would effect starting.

The car has clocked about 225,000 kms (140,000 miles) and this has got to be the original cap.

Is the cap for the 1500 the same as the 1600? The reason I ask is that the 1500 never went on sale in the UK, only the 1600. This is an import from Hong Kong.

Regards

Mark

[Flashmn]

Change the cap, the rotor, the sparkplug wires, cracked wires will also cause ignition problems in damp weather. Is it a IIA distributor? if it is, chances are its the same with the 4A-FE.

[RedAE102]

Distributor cap and rotor are the same across the board for the early (E9 type) 4A-F, 4A-FE, 5A-F, and 5A-FE. All of the E10 type 4A, 5A, and 7A (UK only got that in the 1.8 GXi hatch) also share distributor caps and rotors.