91 Tercel No Start Problem

[vwboci]

Hello
After driving in a snowstorm this past weekend my tercel now won't start.I got bottomed out in the snow few times and the cold has probably something to do with it. Also when I was trying to get out of the snow my car would stall sometimes and it would take few tries to start it up again, ( I believe this might be part of the problem that I have right now)

Anyway I drove it home at night and it seemed to be running okay.
The next morning I go to start it and it won't start, just cranks and it woudn't fire up.
So I have started do some checks.
I have fuel at the rail and the spark plugs get fuel fouled after cranking for few times.
I also have compression in the cylinders.
But when i grounded the spark plugs, the spark looked very weak.

So now I believe I have a ignition problem
I have cleaned my spark plugs, checked the dist.cap and wires, changed my dist. rotor and replaced my coil in the distributor but still it wont start and the spark is still weak.

What I havent tested/replaced is the ignition igniter.
Does anybody know how to test this igniter or what the problem could be.

[Boosted91]

Originally Posted by vwboci

Hello
After driving in a snowstorm this past weekend my tercel now won't start.I got bottomed out in the snow few times and the cold has probably something to do with it. Also when I was trying to get out of the snow my car would stall sometimes and it would take few tries to start it up again, ( I believe this might be part of the problem that I have right now)

Anyway I drove it home at night and it seemed to be running okay.
The next morning I go to start it and it won't start, just cranks and it woudn't fire up.
So I have started do some checks.
I have fuel at the rail and the spark plugs get fuel fouled after cranking for few times.
I also have compression in the cylinders.
But when i grounded the spark plugs, the spark looked very weak.

So now I believe I have a ignition problem
I have cleaned my spark plugs, checked the dist.cap and wires, changed my dist. rotor and replaced my coil in the distributor but still it wont start and the spark is still weak.

What I havent tested/replaced is the ignition igniter.
Does anybody know how to test this igniter or what the problem could be.

I am having a similar problem and have to pump the gas to get the car to start when it is cold. You can check my post about my 92 failing emissions bc it was running way to rich. I have to ask, how can I test my spark? I am starting to think I am not getting to much fuel, I just have an ignition problem that is keeping me from burning all the fuel and fouling the plugs.

[vwboci]

Originally Posted by Boosted91

I am having a similar problem and have to pump the gas to get the car to start when it is cold. You can check my post about my 92 failing emissions bc it was running way to rich. I have to ask, how can I test my spark? I am starting to think I am not getting to much fuel, I just have an ignition problem that is keeping me from burning all the fuel and fouling the plugs.

The way I checked my ignition spark is I took out each spark plug while still being connected to the spark plug wire(s) and grounded it to the vavle cover.Since my car doesn't start I had a friend crank the engines few times, so I could check if I have any spark. You should have a blue-ish spark cross the gap on the sparkplug.

Be very careful when doing this since there is high amount electricity going throught the spark plug wires and you can get electricuted.
Find some good insulated pliers and you should be good or you can just place the spark plug on top of the valve cover and look for the spark.

There is a more technical way of checking your ignition system but you will need some specific tools for that.

[Hajoca]

Did you change the distributor cap too? Your dist. cap may have a crack.
Take some water and mist the area of plug wires, and dist. cap to see if there is any current leak, or spray some ignition drier (Rust check red, wd 40??) and see if that is the problem.

Is the ignition coil connections good?

[vwboci]

Yeah I will double check the dist. cap and wires tomorrow, and no I haven't replaced the dist. cap.

The ignition coil i replaced with a used unit, and i believe i put it in correctly, since there is only two wires( plus and minus)going to it.

[vwboci]

Anybody ? I really need some help here

[Todem 76]

Try replacing the plugs with new ones. They can get saturated with gas to the point they will not fire in cold conditions. Happened to one of my vehicles so much that I carried extra plugs along with me. Only did it in the winter though.

[vwboci]

Today I changed my spark plugs and still no luck.
The spark across the gap is still weak and orange-sih and it takes kind of a long time between sparks.
Does anybody know where the igniter grounds or copuld this be ground related problem ?
Also can it be my ECU even though i get (weak) spark and fuel.?
Thanks

[vwboci]

Well today I have found out that my igniter is OK. Also my coil is OK
I checked the resistance(s) on it and they are within spec.
So far here is the list what I checked and replaced
-New NGK spark plugs gapped at 0.0043"
-Used Distributor Cap and Rotor and Wires, but are in good condition
-Used Coil -( used 3 different ones, and they work fine on a 94 Corolla )
-Igniter is OK ( I tried it on 94 Corolla and it works fine as well)
- EFI Relay is also OK - I get fuel and weak spark
I have checked all of my fuses and are all OK even the AM1 which is 50A fuse for ignition.
Also I have cleaned all the ground connections that I could find and really polished the metal bracket on the fire wall where the igniter gets grounded.

The only thing I havent checked is the air gap in the distributor and and the pick up coil inside the distributor.

I am really running out of ideas, could it be the distributor itself ?

PLEASE Help I need my car running so I can get to work on Monday.

Thanks

[Todem 76]

Did you by chance blow a timing belt? Pretty easy to check. pull the 4 bolts off the top cover and loosen the valve cover nuts and sneak the upper belt cover off. Turn the engine over and see if it's spinning the cam.

[Todem 76]

Any luck?