Celica girl with a problem...

[Shay1491]

I live in tampa fl.. Ill probably be asking a lot of questions because there is constantly something wrong with my car. I am a girl so dont really know much of anything but Im trying to learn. I have a 94 celica gt and a new problem... my radiator cracked and blew up everywhere and caused the engine to cease and smoke but I replaced that and now while im idling in drive it sounds like its about to stall but it doesnt. The engine shakes front to back and there is a backfire noise. Also when i accelerate it takes a minute and then it jumps into gear. Please let me know what you think. Thanks

[christine_lives!]

For starters, don't go selling yourself short because you happen to be a girl. I can guarantee you, being a girl in this forum, trying to fix a Celica yourself, is going to go a looooong way. It got my attention...

As for what was replaced, I am assuming that you replaced both the engine and the blown radiator. Do you recall what all was replaced when the work was done? I am also assuming your GT is an automatic. Just fill us in on some of that info. You've come to the right place.

[Shay1491]

Its an automatic unfortunately... But it was only the radiator we replaced. I wanted to try that first hoping it was a quick fix but that wasn't the case. I don't know what to do with everything different people are telling me.

[christine_lives!]

When my engine blew and my radiator went, I was still able to drive the car with a wicked shimmy. It took forever to change gears and it sounded really terrible. If your radiator went, I'm guessing your engine is toast. You can have someone do a compression test to let you know for sure.

For now you can try:

Start the engine cold, and look for smoke in the engine compartment.
Listen for chirping or popping sounds in the engine compartment. There should be a uniform clicking from the valves and not much else.
Check the spark plugs using the guide in the Haynes Manual.
Check for oil in the radiator by opening the cap and looking for it floating on the coolant.
Check the color of smoke from your exhaust. Blue is ok, white can be bad.
If you can get the engine warm, squeeze the radiator hoses to feel for coolant flow.
Right before the car stalls, does it shutter pretty violently?

See if you can find the answers or symptoms for those. And the automatic is cool, mine is an auto. It doesn't have to stay that way, Toyota made it easy to switch to manual. Goodluck and keep us updated!

[JoeBowHunter]

I dont know much but ill have to agree. when my uncles rx7's radiator went so did the engine =(, only way to fix that was a rebuild, or a new engine. Yet givin that its a cinlinder engine were talking about it could be diff.

[Shay1491]

So.. I took my car in for a diagnostic and they changed the spark plugs which helped a lot but its not completely fixed he said i need to replace the ignition coil inside the distributor or a whole new ignition control unit. While he had it the brakes started acting up and when you step on it the pedal sinks slowly to the floor... That wasnt happening before i left it so now i need a master cylinder... I dont think my car is worth all this even though I love it to death...

[WantMyCelicaBack]

if the plugs helped but not completely fixed, it could need cap and rotor on distributer. also new wires might help... but if it got hot then could possibly be your head gasket

[Shay1491]

yea thats what my boyfriend thinks.. Hes in town for a week so im going to have him check it out today... But honestly since i had everything tested i just left it alone and drove it to and from work and it seemed to get better not completely but its driveable, my ac also fixed itself... It wasnt working for a year+ and all of the sudden it works again. My car is crazy!

[WantMyCelicaBack]

a/c fixing itself? that is crazy. best of luck with gettin it right... keep us posted. would definately start with the cap, rotor, and plug wires though.