Hey my 94 celica gt will not start. here is what happened. i was on the freeway and my car just stop running light were on radio worked but engine just dead. my cousin suggested its got something to do with the motors internals slipping and messing up my heads. when i try to start it it almost reminds me of my old ford rangers starter being torn to shit. but really i dont know whats up with it. im going to throw a video up of under the hood and me trying to start it anyone think they could point me in the right direction. if that means new engine or what but i live in cali its a daily driver so smog is an issue so if i need to rebuild something or make a exsisting engine better for me. i need to know the rules of the smoged way. any help greatly appreciated. also this is a simple goal, i have the gay 5sfe pushing no more than 110 horses lame lame lame, so lets shoot for 150hp that sounds good.
Thats pretty vague.
Have you checked the battery/alternator?
Did the car over heat?
Have you checked the oil for coolant?
Checked the coolant for oil?
Does the engine crank at all?
CEL's ?
And if the engine does crank over, what does it sound like? Like normal, or something completely different from what you normally hear when you crank over the engine to start it?
Last edited by 93celicaconv; 03-14-2010 at 07:54 PM.
I highly doubt your friends idea. the 5SFE is non interference so unless something castastrophic (maining you hear BIG BOOM) your head is ok.
I second Jedi's list, and I think 93 may be thinking the same thing that I am. Does it almost sound like the starter is spinning faster?
if the oil, coolant, battery, and CEL check out, take off your distributor cap and have someone crank the engine real quick. If the rotor iside spins then you can rule out the timing belt as well.
Yep, RobMilkshakes, that is exactly where I was going. Is the timing belt still together yet? If not, that would make an engine sound a lot different when one tries to start it.
Glad these Toyota engines aren't interference type. I had a 99 VW Passat with the 2.8L 30V V6 (an interference engine). Had the timing belt, idlers, water pump, all shaft seals, etc., replaced at a VW dealer (it was a little more involved than what I was willing to do at the time). 30,000 miles later, one of the idler bearings went out, timing belt jumped a bunch of teeth. You should have heard what that engine soundled like afterwards, even though the camshafts were still turning. What a mess.
I can only imagine. I like VWs but things like that are what have always made me just a bit weary.
Yeah, I'm glad too, makes it a little earier to go about things when you dont know the service history of a vehicle. Also some toyota engines are interference actually, 4AGE, 3SG(T)E etc, so people, beware.
I didn't know the 4A-GE and 3S-GTE engines were interference type. Owners better keep the timing belt area in tip-top shape on those engines. Thanks for letting me know about these engines.
huh, really? whoops my bad. I know 4AGE is though.
I've had my MR2Turbo for 7 years or so, and until about 2 years ago, I thought the 3sgte was an interference motor too.
But when I blew the head gasket, I had to do alot of reading and found that out. I also had confirmation when I pulled the head and saw the pistons.
When i start it up it does not sound normal and the starter does not turn anything over but it makes noise like it wants to. so i should check my starter and my rotor?
I think if you run that video of what is happening under the hood when you try starting it, that would help a lot.
If the starter sounds like it is grinding away, then you may have a badly worn starter drive gear or the mechanism that throws the drive gear into the engine's flywheel gear is bad - either way, a new starter would take car of that. It's also possible something is wrong with the engine's flywheel gear to, and that would be a much bigger issue to fix.
Before I would do anything with the starter, though, I would check your oil level. Is there any on the dipstick?
I would then get a socket wrench and get under the car and try turning the crankshaft pulley with the socket wrench. While it normally won't turn freely, it will turn with moderate effort. If you can't turn the crankshaft pulley with a lot of force, somehow your engined seized up, and that usually is caused by oil starvation more than anything (hence, check your oil level first). If it doesn't turn, that would explain the noise your starter is making (trying to engage the flywheel, but the flywheel simply won't turn over due to the engine being seized). It would also explain why your engine stopped on the highway.
I agree. Mike did say that the starter doesn't turn anything over (by that, I'm assuming he means the engine isn't turning over at all), so a timing belt wouldn't cause that (5S-FE being a non-interference engine and all). And a starter coincidently failing at the same time an engine stops running at highway speed is highly unlikely also (but possible). A seized engine would account for both the engine stopping on the highway and the starter not being able to turn the engine over. And what would seize an engine? That's why I would check the oil level. If there isn't any on the dipstick, that is a very, very bad sign for the poor old 5S-FE.
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