1992 Celica GT won't start..Please Help!!!

[czycoot1318]

My girlfriend has a 1992 Toyota Celica GT Convertible w/170000 miles on it. We recently had a new head gasket, replaced all the seals in the motor, new radiator, tune up, oil change, and new clutch installed. Car has been running great with no signs of any problems. We had a bad rain storm the other night and found out the top is leaking pretty bad. Alpine radio stopped working and clock inside the car stopped working. Car still ran fine after the water leaked in. I have since fixed the radio, I just ran an separate wire to the battery for the Yellow constant 12V power wire, and it fixed that problem. Now earlier today she was driving it to work, and she told me it got hard to steer and the car died. She was unable to start it back up. I got home from work and tried to start it. Car turns over no problem, but won't start. I am guessing it is either air, fuel, or spark, but don't feel like taking it back to a shop to spend more money on it. As of right now we have invested $1600 in repairs in the car. I checked all the fluids and they are fine. I don't know where to start with the diagnosis, and don't know where a lot of the components are on the vehicle. I am resetting the ECU right now and will try that first. Please help with some suggestions, we really need this car to work right now. Thanks in advance.

[toyomoho]

The usual procedure is to determine if the engine has ignition spark and fuel flow. Remove the coil wire from the distributor cap, and check for spark when cranking. If no, check for power going to the coil, etc.

If yes, see if the engine is getting fuel. Pull one plug, crank engine and smell/listen for gas going into cylinder. You should also be able to hear the injectors clicking. Use a piece of rubber hose for a stethoscope.

Check all the fuel/air sensors for loose or pulled wires. Check all fuses.

If this car uses the 5SFE engine, go to Camry General Camry Thread’s section and find the link the Camry service manuals. The Camry used the same engine.

[czycoot1318]

Resetting the ECU did nothing, as I figured. I pulled all the spark plugs and tried to check them for spark, however I am working on this alone right now and cant properly ground it to see if it is sparking. I can smell fuel when I crank on the engine, so I think the fuel situation is okay. Should I just go buy a new distributor cap and see if that is the problem? Or is there something else cheap I can do myself before I give in and take it back to my mechanic?

[czycoot1318]

Engine is the 2.2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Which wire would be the coil wire? I see there are 4 wires on the distributor cap itself, and I would think there would be a fifth one there for the ignition coil. There is not. There is only 4 wires, so is it one of them or am I way off?

[czycoot1318]

I have now changed the distributor cap and rotor. The old one was worn badly and probably needed to be changed anyway. I checked the two plugs that plug into the outside of the distributor cap. The smaller of the two plugs has power coming out of it, but the larger one with 4 female ends has no power with the ignition on, or when turning over the car. Is there a problem somewhere in there causing this? I still can't get a spark plug to spark when it is removed and grounded to the engine block. Car is still just turning over, getting fuel (I can smell it). Somebody please help soon. Thanks

[czycoot1318]

anyone?