FNG w/ oddball Toyota

[DR1665]

How's it going, everyone?

My dad called me up the other afternoon and told me he found this sweet little 81 Corolla for $700 and he wanted to know what I thought about it. Well, after some basic research, I got fairly excited that he had scored a rust-free 3T-C car. He told me he drove it and it was smooth, very nice for it's age and just a nice little car. I had visions of side-draft Webers and old school Toyota shenanigans, so I told him to go for it.

Upon seeing the car in person this afternoon, it turns out he was mistaken and bought an 81 Corona. Now, it's got the 22R in it and it's still a nice little car with, I'm sure, plenty of potential, but sure enough, it died on him the day he bought it "as is."

Could someone point me where to do my posting? I've tried to do some research, even ending up on CarDomain looking for other examples of this car, but I'm not having much luck. I know the 22R was a staple in the Toyota ranks for numerous years, being found in both the Celica and pickup/hilux (my dad even had an 88 Hiliux at one point). I just don't know where to begin with this guy. I, personally, drive a 97 Eagle Talon and 91 Mitsubishi Galant VR4, so this older, carureted job is a bit scary.

My problem, if anyone could make some suggestions, is that the car cranks, but will not turn over. I drove it earlier this afternoon and while winding it out to around 5000rpm (with the "orange line" on the tach being set at 5500rpm), it felt as if it fell flat on its face. Almost like fuel cut in a turbo car. There was a moment of hesitation right after letting the clutch out, but it pulled great up to around 5000rpm. Upon coasting off the main road, I popped the hood and looked for anything obvious - lost belt, fluids, smoke, gremlins hiding from the light - the usual, but saw nothing. Upon trying to start it up again, I remembered something about varying throttle during cranking or not applying any throttle at all in the interest of clearing a flood, and she fired right up.

Fast forward about three hours, my dad starts the car just fine and heads to work. He gets about a mile and a half down the road when he experiences the same symptoms - feels like hitting a brick wall (and he's driving like the 68 year old, semi-retired guy that he is, mind you) right before it dies on him.

I could not get it to start for love or money and my girlfriend towed me back to the fort with her Amigo. Now, it feels like all my DSM specifics are of no use to me with this old school Toyota, so I don't know if I'm supposed to hear a fuel pump prime with the key turn or how to check for fuel short of pulling the feed line off the rail and, wait. This thing has one of those big, round air filters on top. Now what?

Thanks for reading my long, semi-first post (I did some posting in the Corolla forum earlier when I thought I would be playing mechanic on a Corolla). I don't want to be one of those idiots who posts a vague tech question in the wrong forum, so any input on where to post about this car (and how to get it running again!) would be very much appreciated.

Here's to car guys around the world and across all platforms :cheers

[AZ29]

First thing I would do is replace the fuel filter. Sounds like slow fuel starvation. Also make sure the fuel cap does suck air when unscrewed. Might be a vacuum starvation situation in the air flow in/out of the gas tank? Good luck!

[DR1665]

Thanks, man.

Turns out, I have a neighbor who has a bit of experience rebuilding the 22R from back in his old Toyota days. He suggested the same thing. The fuel filter, which apparently is an opaque plastic cup on the firewall, looked to be about half full of a rather rusty-colored liquid. I doubt anything on this car will be expensive to replace (aside from the one mismatched turn signal in the front), so I'll see if I can find a new one tonight.

Thanks again. This is stil kinda fun. I mean, everything is so cheap for this car. I'm used to paying almost $500 for my cams. I see I can get a variety for only $150! LMAO! Awesome.

[DR1665]

Originally Posted by AZ29

First thing I would do is replace the fuel filter.

Word. That was the easiest thing to do, so I did it first. When it didn't fill with fuel upon cranking the engine, I new there was a fuel problem. Rather than take apart a fuel pump to inspect, I opened the trunk and shook the hell out of the car (it's so easy when they weigh nothing). Gauge said half a tank, but the tank was bone dry. Tested the theory with a shot glass of gas dribbled into the carb while cranking - which fired, then added the lawn mower gas can into the tank.

Car runs great when its got gas. Now I just need to find the sending unit for that gauge and replace it.

Thanks for the suggestion.