Hello all. What a fantastic site! Have enjoyed reading the posts.
I have a 1989 Tercel (3E) that until now has been almost maintenance free. The other day was driving home and the car acted very sluggish, like it was missing. Limped it home and started runing some tests... checking for fire at the cylinders and such. All the plugs were getting spark, so then I started the car and pulled the plug off each plug to see if I could tell a difference in the idle. The first plug changed the pitch and feel of the idle, so I figured that cylinder was ok (#1). Worked my way down the block and found that #2 did not change the idle whether the plug was firing or not. Cool! (Kinda, right?) I had replaced the dist. cap, wires and plugs about 6 months ago, and felt pretty sure they were still ok. Today, I ran a compression test to see what was really going on. Here are the results: 1-4. 100, 0, 110, 105. Looks like #2 has some probs. Based on what I've read, it's time to pull the valve cover and check to make sure the valves are all moving. I'd appreciate any thoughts before I fear what I'm going to be doing this weekend.... new head gasket.
If it didn't run hot you may be lucky and it only be a stuck valve. I'd pull the cover ASAP and check. If a valve is stuck pour some marvel mystery oil on it and work the rocker arm by hitting a hammer head with your palm driving the handle on top of the rocker.
Let us know what you find.
When is started acting up on you? Did it sound weird? Did it sound more like a Chopper Motorcycle, rather then a 4 can banger? If it has and my guess it did. Since you said it was sluggish. It signs that one of you cylinders died. When you said missing out, sound like the rest of the cylinders were picking up the slack, that would reduce power and make, chopper like popping sound. The reason for it....Beats me. I Mean is it original motor you got in there?. I assume you do. If I were you, I would not open it. Coz I am more then 100% u'll see something ugly in there. It is old, even for Toyota engine. My suggestion and I think everyone will agree get a new banger. By the sound of it will be cheaper for you to get one of the junk yard. For about $400 or less then to fix this one.
But if you really want to fix it, here is the list of things that might of gone wrong.
My guess one of your valves is shot.Or your piston burnt through. Your block cracked-unlikely. Most likely is your head is at fault. Springs, valves. Lobe on the cam got busted. Or may be it your piston arm snapped. But I am sure you know what I am saying already. If you manage to fix it. Some thing else will go wrong soon enough. Time to get another banger man.
Mine just hit 230k and it times for it to go. I am gathering all the possible info on a swap and the funds. Coz my oil pump gear just broke, and I am sure that is where the hell begins, so I will get another one rather then bringing this up.
Good luck to you
If it didn't run hot you may be lucky and it only be a stuck valve. I'd pull the cover ASAP and check. If a valve is stuck pour some marvel mystery oil on it and work the rocker arm by hitting a hammer head with your palm driving the handle on top of the rocker.
Let us know what you find.
OK... pulled the valve cover and observed the cam and valves turning. SAdly, all the valves are opening and closing without any signs of trouble. Looks like I'll be going a little deeper in the rabbit hole...
When is started acting up on you? Did it sound weird? Did it sound more like a Chopper Motorcycle, rather then a 4 can banger? If it has and my guess it did. Since you said it was sluggish. It signs that one of you cylinders died. When you said missing out, sound like the rest of the cylinders were picking up the slack, that would reduce power and make, chopper like popping sound. The reason for it....Beats me. I Mean is it original motor you got in there?. I assume you do. If I were you, I would not open it. Coz I am more then 100% u'll see something ugly in there. It is old, even for Toyota engine. My suggestion and I think everyone will agree get a new banger. By the sound of it will be cheaper for you to get one of the junk yard. For about $400 or less then to fix this one.
But if you really want to fix it, here is the list of things that might of gone wrong.
My guess one of your valves is shot.Or your piston burnt through. Your block cracked-unlikely. Most likely is your head is at fault. Springs, valves. Lobe on the cam got busted. Or may be it your piston arm snapped. But I am sure you know what I am saying already. If you manage to fix it. Some thing else will go wrong soon enough. Time to get another banger man.
Mine just hit 230k and it times for it to go. I am gathering all the possible info on a swap and the funds. Coz my oil pump gear just broke, and I am sure that is where the hell begins, so I will get another one rather then bringing this up.
Good luck to you
Let me specify a bit more about the engine... yes, original motor. 145,000 miles on it. It has been over the past few weeks been sluggish going up hills, but everytime I fill up, I've been checking the mpg... 35-40! I figured everything was alright. It didn't really get any louder in the engine compartment, which kinda sux for the head gasket analogy, right? Not sure if I'm ready to swap out a new/used engine... but then again...
Try to get a "leak-down" test done. It will tell if is the rings or the valves that aren't sealing.
It may be just a piece of carbon stuck on a valve seat ....... I hope.
__________________
'88 Corolla, AE92 SR-5, 7A-FE swap/GT-S suspension
'87 Corolla, AE82 FX-16, 4A-GZE swap (autocrosser)
'03 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab, (FX tow vehicle/Home Depot runner)
Modification: Changing something to what you thought it should have been from the start!
Try to get a "leak-down" test done. It will tell if is the rings or the valves that aren't sealing.
It may be just a piece of carbon stuck on a valve seat ....... I hope.
I'm not familiar with a leak down test... how do you do it? I agree with the valves or seals... sure would be nice if it was the valves! (wishful thinking!)
a leak check is when you out some squirts of oil in your cylinder, then do a compression check. the oil will temp seal your piston rings. if you get compression then its your rings...
a leak check is when you out some squirts of oil in your cylinder, then do a compression check. the oil will temp seal your piston rings. if you get compression then its your rings...
Oreo,
Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for! Getting lucky so far... picked up a complete set of gaskets for the head, intake... the whole kit for $12 off eBay, including shipping! I'll post more as I find out....
I scanned through that post in the link above but I didn't see anything about the "leak-down-test" so I'll try and describe it.
It is like a compression test, except you apply compressed air through the spark plug hole, with the piston at TDC, through a coupling with a lock off valve and a pressure gage. You set the desired pressure and time the leak down after you close the valve.
While you have the air on, you will hear any leak coming out of the intake, exhaust, or from the crank case, or all of the above. The one with the loudest leak will usually tell you which is worse.
You will always have some leak sound from the crank case, but it should not be too much. Any from the intake or exhaust, means a valve not sealing. Valves should seal 100%
__________________
'88 Corolla, AE92 SR-5, 7A-FE swap/GT-S suspension
'87 Corolla, AE82 FX-16, 4A-GZE swap (autocrosser)
'03 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab, (FX tow vehicle/Home Depot runner)
Modification: Changing something to what you thought it should have been from the start!
Before you get into this too far let me offer some ideas and suggestions. With that many miles on the car you're sure to have massive amounts of carbon buildup. Carbon on the pistons, especially in the ring grooves can act like glue and stick the rings to the piston.
Try this, pull the spark plug out the hole and look inside with a flashlight. Move the crank so you can see most of the piston top. If you don't see a hole or anything unusual you may consider trying this, get a bottle of sea-foam from walmart. Check your oil level. Pour a good bit(a few ounces) into the spark plug hole giving the trouble. Close the hood and let it sit overnight. Tomorrow spin the engine over with that plug out so the sea-foam that stayed in will spray out. Recheck the oil level to see if sea-foam slipped past the rings. Put the spark plug back in and run the engine if it will start. Let it run a good time, like 30 minutes. Recheck the compression on the dead cylinder. If it shows compression now you need to do a few sea-foam treatments and oil changes but your engine should be fine.
I performed the leak-drip test and observed no increase in pressure, which is good... kinda. It would indicate that my problem is leaning more towards a head gasket, or at least something on the top end. I did shine a flashlight down into the spark plug hole...yuck! How did that thing EVER run?
I seem to remember about 2 years ago the engine noise seemed to get a bit louder than normal. Perhaps that was the begining of the head gasket going and it has taken this long for it to completely fail? I don't know, but I am ready to tackle a pretty cool project. I haven't been a grease monkey like this since high school ('89), so this might be fun. The interesting part is that if I end up totally screwing it up, I can always get a new motor put in... or buy the wife a mini-van, which she wants and get my F150 back! Either way, it's going to be exciting!
I'll take pictures and post as I get more info...
Thank you so much for those who have posted to help me!
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