[enerjohn]

Great Gobbley Goo!

I removed my spark plugs today and they were SUPER DUPER OIL FOULED. All kinds of nasty krud was stuck to the tips. THEN...I look in the spark plug hole and it looks worse than my one hitter. There are just huge amounts of **** in my cylinder head.
Anyone have any ideas on how to get that stuff out without a huge amount of work?
BTW the engine does not start.

 

[Tercel GTS]

Will it start with new plugs?

 

[enerjohn]

Will it start with new plugs?

Changed the plugs today to BOSCH Platinum +2
and still the same thing.

What would be the symptoms if my timing belt were to break?

And this may sound crazy but I don't think my engine is turning at ALL!!!
It's just the accessory belts for the A/C compressor, alternator ect. that are turning
but the engine don't crank with them.
Is that even possible?
Does that make any sense?

 

[89 tercel racer]

What would be the symptoms if my timing belt were to break?

And this may sound crazy but I don't think my engine is turning at ALL!!!
It's just the accessory belts for the A/C compressor, alternator ect. that are turning
but the engine don't crank with them.
Is that even possible?
Does that make any sense?[/quote]

If your timing belt breaks then only the bottom pulleys spin and the cam will not move and if you keep crankin there is a chance that the valves will bend. Also if the car cranks and the a/c powersteering belts and stuff dont move then the key on the crank maybe broken and that would make the car not start.

 

[NickR]

Symptoms of broken timing belt: zero compression (engine just spins over). On most cars (I don't know about the 89) the disty rotor won't move when you crank the engine. Best way to check: undo a couple of bolts on the timing belt cover, pull it back a little way, and have a look.

 

[Tercel GTS]

Take off the distributor cap and watch the rotor. After that remove a sparkplug and check compression.

 

[enerjohn]

Well I took off the valve cover and the no.2 timing belt cover and the timing belt looks fine
but there's a little scoring on the camshaft,
I just don't know what the issue could be.
The car still won't start.
Wish we could post audio clips like pics so you guys could hear it.

 

[NickR]

OK, so the car cranks (turns over) fine.

So the next step is to check for spark. Remove a spark plug, connect it to the wire, lay it on the block, and watch to see if it sparks when someone cranks the engine.

Let us know what the result is, and we will take it from there.

 

[Tercel GTS]

Wish we could post audio clips like pics so you guys could hear it.

You can. Host a .wav or .wma or evem mp3 somewhere and post a link.

Do you know how to check to see if it's firing?

 

[enerjohn]

Do you know how to check to see if it's firing?

I've just read the Haynes manual method but if you know an easier way,
I'd appreciate it.

 

[NickR]

Not sure what the Haynes manual says but: remove one spark plug, plug it into the spark plug wire (or just use a spare plug to save you removing one), then lay it on the engine block (so it has a good ground), then watch to see if it sparks while someone tries to start the engine.

 

[Tercel GTS]

^Agreed, make double sure it is grounded at the threads.

 

[enerjohn]

Well I bought one of those spark tester tools
and the good news is that there is spark coming from all 4 spark plug wires,
the bad news is that the engine still won't start.WTF?

There's spark coming in
There's fuel being delivered
There's oil in the engine
The Timing Belt is good and is turning the Camshaft when cranked (is still weak sounding when cranked) so I know the engine's NOT siezed
The only thing that I havn't had tested is the starter,
and thats my next step.
Stay Tuned.

 

[NickR]

No need to test the starter motor. If it cranks the engine, it's good.

You have spark and fuel. I would next test compression. To do that you need to buy a compression tester. I think you could buy a cheap but adequate one for around $40, IIRC.

Edit: Any chance that you put the plug wires on in the wrong order after you removed the plugs? Or did the car die while you were driving it?

 

[enerjohn]

Edit: Any chance that you put the plug wires on in the wrong order after you removed the plugs? Or did the car die while you were driving it?

Nah, the wires are numbered and no the car wasn't running. It was sitting overnight and in the morning, it would not start.

 

[NickR]

So the engine was running OK the night before, then it wouldn't start in the morning? Then you checked the plugs, and found lots of gunk in the cylinders? Give us the full details, and it may help us diagnose the problem.

Just a thought. It may just be flooded. Have you tried holding the gas pedal on the floor (don't pump it) and cranking the engine for about 15 seconds, to see if it clears?

 

[drehtwnftbl]

any symptoms known before the car died? like when you were driving it, was it acting up at all?

 

[enerjohn]

So the engine was running OK the night before, then it wouldn't start in the morning? Then you checked the plugs, and found lots of gunk in the cylinders? Give us the full details, and it may help us diagnose the problem.

Just a thought. It may just be flooded. Have you tried holding the gas pedal on the floor (don't pump it) and cranking the engine for about 15 seconds, to see if it clears?

Here's the original post...

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t110758.html

and i'll try what you said about the flooding, and if that don't work, I'll try the compression
tester I picked up today.

any symptoms known before the car died? like when you were driving it, was it acting up at all?

No, the car was in great shape.I had changed the spark plugs out about 2 weeks prior
with platinum + 4's, and every thing was running smoothly.

 

[NickR]

OK. I read your original post, where the engine wasn't cranking (turning over) on a very cold morning. Is there any chance the coolant may have frozen that morning? If so, it's bad news I'm afraid, because if water freezes, it expands, and breaks things, rather badly. If you had an insufficient mix of antifreeze in the coolant (too high a proportion of water), it would freeze when it gets cold enough. If you find really low compression when you do a compression test, then that is what I would suspect. You can also buy a $5 thing for testing the concentration of antifreeze in your coolant. Any chance this might have been the problem? Let's hope not.

 

[enerjohn]

On the compression test thing, the Haynes manual states that the engine has to be at normal operating temprature. But my engine is cold so wouldn't that be useless?