One option is to pay $25 for a two day subscription to the Toyota Technical Information website

https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti?_pageLabel=ti_whats_tis&_nfpb=true

 

One option is to pay $25 for a two day subscription to the Toyota Technical Information website

https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti?_pageLabel=ti_whats_tis&_nfpb=true

there 25$ on ebay. im not a mechanic who needs access to their whole catalog. thanks tho
Compression was checked too and its 155-165 psi on all 4, the battery was almost dead and getting jumped while doing it too. its fine

 

I found the numbers on another post testing the distributor with multimeter, am I doing this...
is this normal tho, with 2 readings one being in range and the other not for this? or is it a sign of something else.

 

What make/model of DVOM are you using? If it has an auto ranging function for resistance, are you using it? If you’re setting it manually, are you using the smallest scale over ~10 ohms while measuring the Primary? Have you zeroed your meter on the scale that you’re using, and does it display 0.0 ohms exactly? Or does it display a slightly larger resistance like 1.2 ohms or something similar? If it shows ANYTHING other than exactly 0.0 ohms you’ll have to add the meter/test lead resistance into the Primary winding resistance. After taking everything that I’ve mentioned into account, does the Primary winding resistance fall within the acceptable range?

What engine do you have? Is it the 4AF (carbureted), 4A-FE (fuel, injected), or the 4A-GE?

Finish your profile with all the pertinent details of your car so that we may get you the correct information.

 

it is the 4afe fuel injected, 1990 geo prizm. im using a digital multimeter, dont know the brand. im letting it do the autoranging. it shows 0 ohms when i turn it to ohms. i checked it twice and got 2.1-2.2, it did peak down to 2.0 and up and down mostly to 2.1 the first time.

 

To clarify, when you touched the black lead to the read lead (zeroing) before you read the primary winding, did the meter display 0.0 ohms exactly? I’m trying to ascertain any error in your meter due to the very low expected reading of the primary winding.

 

I didn't know anything about this. Mine says 000.5 ohm sign... oh boy guess I can send it back then if I don't need it. i measured between g1 and g- and got 256.6.. maybe 255.6. also its only been off for about 40 minutes since I came in.
So what about the air gap? do you ohm test that?

 

1991 Corolla 1.6L 4A-FE inspection:
Resistance (Cold) Primary: 1.28 - 1.56 ohms
Resistance (Cold) Secondary: 10.4 - 14.0 Kohms

1991 Toyota Corolla Repair Manual (FSM) Pub No RM196U - IGNITION SYSTEM p. IG-4, Check Resistance of Ignition Coil.

 

IGNITION SYSTEM - On-Vehicle Inspection (4A-FE)

INSPECT SIGNAL GENERATOR (PICKUP COIL)
RESISTANCE

Using an ohmmeter, measure the resistance between the terminals (G1 and G-, NE and G-).

Pickup coil resistance (Cold): 205 - 255 ohms

If the resistance is not as specified, replace the distributor housing.


(See procedure in Spark Test on page IG-4)

 

There is also an Air Gap inspection for both the NE Pickup and the G1 Pickup if you want to be completely thorough. Lemme know if you need those values.

 

high tension cords? i didnt see that in the manual.

AKA spark plug wires.

edit: Ooh look what i found searching those key terms for this exact 4afe motor and everything Igniter And Pick Up Coils For Toyota 4a-fe Distributors - Toyota Corolla E11 Workshop

Yes, exactly this is it! Good job!

since it was .5 higher and my reading was ~.5ohms higher on the primary.

This is insignificant as it’s within the margin of error of your meter, especially if it a no-name meter, and the resistance is also temperature sensitive. When it’s hotter, your values would be different than the cold(er) readings. So it would be different if the engine had not completely cooled down yet.

See my posted diagrams above, those are all the distributor checks for the 4A-FE 1.6L 1988-1992.

Without getting into too much detail about how important measuring accurate resistance on the primary winding of a transformer (your distributor coil) is, the very small resistance of 1.28 to 1.56 ohms doesn’t leave much room for error at all for a bad reading and might result in a mis-diagnosis. Any increase in resistance (ohms) above an ideal 1.42 ohm nominal reading would result in a larger Voltage Drop across the primary. This drop can affect the voltage supplied to the transformer (secondary winding) and consequently the output voltage on the secondary winding. The voltage drop is proportional to the current flowing through the winding and the resistance itself.

Transformers are designed to operate within a certain voltage regulation range. An increase in primary winding resistance can push the transformer's voltage regulation beyond acceptable limits, affecting its ability to maintain a stable output voltage under varying load conditions, ie; a reduced power transfer. Higher resistance in the primary winding reduces the power factor of the transformer. This means that even if the voltage and current are in phase, less real power is transferred from the primary to the secondary winding, resulting in reduced capacity. So the end result is a much weaker spark at the spark plug gap as the high voltage overcomes the fuel-air mixture and cylinder compression thus creating that spark, as the high voltage (25,000 to 30,000 volts) tries to find its ground. Less spark = shitty combustion or no combustion at all. Probably more than you’d ever want to know about ignition systems but sometimes understanding a circuit better helps in diagnosing exactly what is causing the symptoms that you’re observing. Good luck!

one connection on the plastic resin filled thing

That “thing” is your coil. The transformer. While you’re at it. Take a very close look at it as much as possible and check for cracks in the resin, a very common failure mode in these Camrys. Use of a flashlight will help.

 

these pictures on that site are kind of low quality, were exactly do i do this air gap measurement at?

 

Without getting into too much detail about how important measuring accurate resistance on the primary winding of a transformer (your distributor coil) is, the very small resistance of 1.28 to 1.56 ohms doesn’t leave much room for error at all for a bad reading and might result in a mis-diagnosis. Any increase in resistance (ohms) above an ideal 1.42 ohm nominal reading would result in a larger Voltage Drop across the primary. This drop can affect the voltage supplied to the transformer (secondary winding) and consequently the output voltage on the secondary winding. The voltage drop is proportional to the current flowing through the winding and the resistance itself.

Transformers are designed to operate within a certain voltage regulation range. An increase in primary winding resistance can push the transformer's voltage regulation beyond acceptable limits, affecting its ability to maintain a stable output voltage under varying load conditions, ie; a reduced power transfer. Higher resistance in the primary winding reduces the power factor of the transformer. This means that even if the voltage and current are in phase, less real power is transferred from the primary to the secondary winding, resulting in reduced capacity. So the end result is a much weaker spark at the spark plug gap as the high voltage overcomes the fuel-air mixture and cylinder compression thus creating that spark, as the high voltage (25,000 to 30,000 volts) tries to find its ground. Less spark = shitty combustion or no combustion at all. Probably more than you’d ever want to know about ignition systems but sometimes understanding a circuit better helps in diagnosing exactly what is causing the symptoms that you’re observing. Good luck!

ok so after 0'ing out my multimeter, my primary and secondary are within spec. .5ohms is what mine shows with red and black touching and 1.8(9)-2.1(2) (flashing back and forth between them taken 2 seperate times) have been my readings, - .5 makes them 1.4-1.6ish to seven. It seems i am pretty close, my meter when 0'd goes from .5-.6 flashing back and forth. Think those measurements are fine.

also i measured both from ne and g- and g to g- and got 228.2 ohms on both

also if this helps anyone, the red wire is NE and the green wire is G1 or the non -minus one. The only other thing I notice is the connection on top of the transformer is a little dirty and rusty.

 

ok i found the air gap. and it checks out as well..

 

If you think the igniter is bad I used to try this to confirm.
Wrap a wire around the coil wire (regular electrical wire) and the other end around the vehicles antenna.
Turn the radio to an AM station so you get static noise in the radio, set the volume to a tolerable level.
Now you have an audible ignition noise receiver.
Drive the car until the ignition noise drops off and stops altogether. If this coincides with your car stalling then you KNOW it is the module. Most module failures (in my experience) are directly related to the heat exposure to the distributor in the hot engine compartment.
We used to replace them on Nissans regularly. The part number was 22070P9701 for a 83 280 ZX. (from ancient memory)
Haven't sold one in 25 years.
OE only.
May no longer be available from Toyota. Low mileage used distributor is your best choice as you have already done.

 

what is the igniter, a part of the distributor? is there any other test for this?
coil wire by that do you mean the spark plug wire?
the car just runs with low power. i'll go back out and get some video of it and come back to show it in a minute

 

ok just found out, I must of messed this up while messing with the valve cover, the temperature sender connector is broke, wires are cut. have to get this repaired. anyone know how to pull out these pins by chance?

 

I found the little clip, in the open area underneath. nm.

 

ok, fixed that. runs a little better, but still runs with lower power at lower rpms. at high rpms its running smooth and also its consistent. Could this still be a distributor problem? can anyone explain what the igniter test was about?

 

ok I checked the spark with a spark plug tester, the kind that lights up, and they all looked good to me. no glitching in the firing. I took it out for a spin and one thing I notice, besides low power at low rpms, is that when I'm at middle rpms, the further I push the pedal, the worse the power seems to get. LIke im bogging it down doing that, until I hit a certain higher rpm then i can floor it at least pretty fairly consistently; it was a short run, and I get normal power out of the motor as I would expect.
Any reason I should suspect this now after just fixing a bad pulley, also replaced the fuel pump too becuase I was planning on doing that, and it did have a hard startup problem before, and then when it finally started after turning the key back and forth like 7 times to prime the fuel pump it would have low power for a minute. Now it starts up after the new fuel pump, first turn. but now it runs like with this issue I just described.

 

You might want to recheck the timing. I only say that as it doesn't sound like it's advancing. It might be a case of not having enough initial (base) timing which is why it seems better at mid range, but soft/dead at low end. That's why there are slots in the distributor base to allow adjustment.

 

i had just adjusted my timing on this distributor a little over a month ago, i checked it twice and it was dead on at 10 degrees. my idle may be a little low; dont have a rpm sensor, and after i adjusted the timing i had to lower the idle speed then a whole lot

 

it doesn't make sense; before i changed the fuel pump, i would have a hard start, and then when it did start, there was no power for the first minute hardly, but when it got going, it would go fine all night.
now it runs when i take it down the road okish. when i take off its most of the time but nto always, almost dying on me and has no power, and stumbles and like kicks.. until higher rpms. overall it sojmetimes runs smooth but most of the time it feels like its buckling and kicking with me.

 

let me ask a question. when i doublechecked my timing belt, the crankshaft pulley notch was on the 0, and the camshaft pulley hole was at the top, matching up with the hole on the block. there are little holes in the camshaft gears and im pretty sure when i did the timing the first time, the holes were right next to each other side by side on the two gears. when i looked at it the second time, the hole was im pretty sure not any on the side next to each ohter and I saw one at or near the top on the camshaft gears. I know (i think its) the top end turns twice for the bottoms 1 turns to do a revolution, is there anyway to get that out of sync with each other and have the crank ... well ok that doesn't sound right but I want to make for sure. any way they cant be come unsync'ed with each other?
ever since I got this new distributor(junkyard pull), I cant really remember to tell ya, I started having trouble once I timed it or maybe even before that, but not on the old distributor; it had an oil leak i tried spacing it over with paper gaskets and it broke. Seems I started having trouble when it started up. But, I don't remember if it happened with the old one, im kind of fairly sure it didn't. it got worse once it was timed, and I lowered the idle rpms once it was timed because they were way high, i have no tach gauge and im pretty sure its sort of low idle right now, but it dont quit. it having tro9uble when started was not troulbe starting, just it running poorly for the first minute after it was started, and it was getting worse and worse.
all I did was change the fuel pump and put a new timing belt on it.

 

Ok, so my CEL hadn't been working lately. When I tried to go and time it, your supposed to put it in limp mode and the CEL comes on to tell you for sure. So i went outsiide and tried to fix the bulb, Id just recently changed all the bulbs out in the cluster so I was thinking something else had happened, but. I replaced all those bulbs on that side of the cluster, and the CEL still will not come on.
WHen i cross the TE1 and E1 connectors on the diagnostics box, the car didnt when I timed it and doesnt now, really sound any much different. Since the CEL light wasnt even working then, I heard some weird sound coming from under my hood, which I thought I had remembered before when I would shut the key off when the engine was put into limp mode. So I figured it was in limp mode anyway and timed it as that. It stayed steady at 10 degrees and I called it timed.
Doesn't really make sense. IF it wasn't timed before, why would it come up now?! But my theory which seems like something else is going on, is that the car won't go into limp mode (when you cross te1 and e1) and I timed it incorrect. And as far as me ever getting it timed right on, the least I can do is to get it timed running with it running somewhat smoothly and I don tknow what is goijng on with this CEL or the limp mode thing.
Any thoughts? would my timing held steady at 10 degrees if it wasn't timed correctly? any way I can check it now by using a timing light to verify someway with the timing to see if it is in limp mode or not? besides this, Idk what kind of electrical problem would connect together with the CEL light and the car not running right.

 

I’d try to verify your vacuum system.

When part changes have no improvement, the issue is somewhere else.

 

im gonna to recheck the timing. my cel light doesnt work, checked the gauge fuse under the kickbox not blown. dont know if its in my cluster or ? elsewhere. if the engines not in limp mode when i check timing and is in check mode, there will be a difference correct? in the timing mark and how it behaves if its in limp mode or not. my cluster has other problems or ? the temp and fuel gauge side are both lower than they should be, also.

 

When you say you’re rechecking timing, is that the timing marks or with a timing gun? I believe timing should be 10 degrees before tdc.

Did you try adjusting your distributor and rotor?

 

I never touched the distributor the whole time, didnt remove it or loosen it. when i did the other night, i marked it with a pen and a knife to mark it on the block.
well, I went out and checked the timing with a timing light. made sure crankshaft mark was at 0, the exhaust cam was at the right place had took teh distributor back off and made sure #1 was at the right place, tdc or ? something i went through the book. made double sure, never took it off remember keep i n mind the whole time, that the marks on the distributor were also on the right place, reinstalled, set my marks on teh distributor and block were at the right place. put a paperclip in the limp mode and checked timing. it was below 0 on the crankshaft. I dont know HOW it got that far off. uggh. retimed it, and its back to good power, even better than before since I replaced the fuel pump.
Guess I can send that distributor back and don't have to test it with it, and lose any returns