new cressida owner... please help me out...

[maddyvato]

hi. thankful to have a site to visit for my toyota cressida.

just bought a 1989 cressida (7m engine/4 door/automatic/6 cylinder) with 74k original miles. interior and exterior is immaculate. a very nice car. just a couple of things. in general, are you folks happy with this type of make/model? i'm aware that any car you buy has its share of problems, but among fellow owner, what pros/cons stand out most?

2. the only thing as of right now that needs attention is the fact that it runs a bit rough. it has very little acceleration, and is a bit choppy. rides a tad rough. my buddy who is very good with cars seems to think it has something to do with a sensor. besides the fact of giving it a complete tune-up, is a sensor problem notorious among the cressida?

i do appreciate the time you take reading this and thank you in advance for your assistance.

matt

[kamesama980]

Welcome. Just to get it in the open this kind of thing has been covered about 8000 times. most problems revolve around oil leaks, plain old age, and blowing the head gasket (which if your 7m never does so, you should play the lottery) before you even do a tune up, do a compression test. I'd put my money on the head gasket being blown.

as for sensor/electrical problems: those are usually the result of someone not being carefull and elbowing the sensor breaking the plug or an unscrupulous mechanic fiddling with the idle settings to get it to run without fixing things.

[maddyvato]

thanks for the reply... still going to do complete tune-up for gp purposes, as well as the compression test suggested by you... i sure hope it's not the HG, but if it is, well worth fixing.. everything is solid on this 74k mile cressida... i'm pumped!!

any advice, links and such in regards to fixing the HG??

[mkll/mx83]

If you planning on rebuilding the 7M, you will need a service manual. I have one for a 1989 Cressida. I've advertised it for $35 plus $7 shipping. Email me at rbodiot@att.net if your interested.
Thanks
R Bodiot

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by mkll/mx83

If you planning on rebuilding the 7M, you will need a service manual. I have one for a 1989 Cressida. I've advertised it for $35 plus $7 shipping. Email me at rbodiot@att.net if your interested.
Thanks
R Bodiot

GET IT!!!

[maddyvato]

thanks, but i'm gonna hold off on that manual for right now. if you have it down the line, great, but if not then i lose out...

changed the plugs, cap, wires and oil so far... still runs a bit rough...

i've heard timing belt, HG, carburetor, and sensors so far between this forum and friends...

our next move is the sensors... locate them and check them out... bought some 'sensor cleaner' so we'll see what happens...

any advice on what to look at ?? like i said, it runs choppy... as if its missing... on occassion, when it does run rough, puffy black smoke comes out of the tail pipe... acceleration is weak... when it does run good, it runs like a dream...

any and all advice from you cressida folks would be greatly appreciated...

thanks

[1jzdreamer]

check the ecu for stored codes. It may have a code but the light may not be on. It will be a bad sensor, either a broken wire or the sensor itself. Check the tps, the airflow meter, temperature sensors. A weak coil or ignitor, or a spurratic shorting plug wire could even be similar in symptoms.

[maddyvato]

thanks, i will do that... by the way, what is a tps? and where would the ecu be?

thanks a bunch!!

[mkll/mx83]

Your questions is the reason you need the service manual. It makes life so much easier. It will show locations and step by step instructions.
Just my $35 worth.Ha Ha
Thanks
R Bodiot

[kamesama980]

there are no sensors which can be cleaned. don't waste your time.
how the hell do you think I/we know so much? we read the book. cough up the 40 bucks for the book instead of wasting it on throwing parts at the car. it'll pay for itself in time/effort (both yours and ours) and money you didn't spend on parts you don't need (like sensor cleaner for an engine that doesn't have cleanable sensors)

TPS=throttle position sensor

You likely have a number of things wrong with the car. almost certainly some vacuum leaks, maybe a misaligned TPS, someone may have fiddled with the idle screws, and it's certainly not unlikely that it has BHG.

[Menace_121]

well chopy and not wanting to go wont be the HG, check the tps (throttle position) check and see if the voltage is correct and its getting power. find this online or in the manual, also check the MAF (mass air flow) these 2 usually cause this, im not gonna tel ya what to do but id prolly get a book i you havet worked on one of these, there not hard at all, but deffinatly helps havin a book, but be sure the MAF and tps are good then go from there

[aznstylez]

you can clean the throttle body, seafoam the engine, check the timing, check the 02 sensors.

[Menace_121]

ya start there i agree, deffinatley find a vacuum line and pour seafom while its running burn all that carbon FYI it will smoke white for like 5-10 mins haha but check the intake sensors, deffinatley check o2, and do a full tune up before you jump to a HG, im not disagreeing that it could be blown but from the symptoms you describer it dosent sound like it, this will at least cancel out a good amount of problems

[maddyvato]

thanks to everyone for the advice... i'll check back and let you know what we find out today...

[TRD-MX83]

I had some random hessitation in acceleration... some times it ran FINE, other times... not so good... guess what it was guys.... Kamesama980 knows his Cressidas...




BHG...