Hold a little throttle when starting, does it start fine then? Replace the coolant temp sensor just because they go bad.

 

what exactly do you mean by throttle it a little when starting? You'll have to excuse me...I'm a bit of a newbie with regards to cars.

 

step on the gas just a little, like 1/4-1/2 inch and hold it around 2000-1500 RPM for about 30 seconds then slowly release.

 

I went out to do just that...

But it started right up without me having to do that. I'm confused why, since it's rather cold out tonight and it was sitting for 4 hours. Usually it would have a hard time starting. Not this time for some reason.

I will mention that earlier today I had to tighten a the left battery terminal clamp...it was kind of loose. Could that have been the issue? And why would being cold affect it?

I will try again in the morning and see what it does, and if I get a chance to try your suggestion I will.

 

This is probably not what's causing the problem but if you're running 10-W30 oil, it'd be harder for the motor to start up in cold weather since the oil is thicker than the recommended 5-W30.

Just my 2 cents

 

It wouldn't take 30 minutes to start though...would it?

 

temp sensor. commonly reported problem.

-SP

 

OK , went out and started it. It wouldn't start. I throttled it a little, and the first time it attempted to fire up the throttle seemed to catch it and it started.

So it's the temp sensor...I will replace that and see how it does.

 

No, you can run 15w-40 and it would start, slowly.

 

Just a little update:

The problem has largely gone away recently since it's gotten to be quite warm outside; the last couple of days it's been in the lower 80s.

However, it still hesitates to start when I first try to start it up on a given day. Like, in the morning when I start it for the first time. It will do what I've already described, but it will start and then run fine the rest of the day.

A few hours ago I finally replaced the coolant temperature sensor, and then we waited for a bit to see how it would start. It did fine, but the real test will be how it starts in the morning.

It seems now that even when it's not cold, if it sits without being started for a while, it will hesitate to start, although I must stress that it's way worse when it's cold.

 

This morning it started up. My step father ended up using it before I did, but he said it had no problems starting. He did say though that he throttled it before starting, but only before, so I doubt that it made a difference. The sensor seems to have worked.

If it still has problems I'll let you all know so we can figure out what else it could be.

 

Bad news...I went to start it today and it wouldn't start up unless I throttled it, and this is after we had replaced the temp Sensor. The problem now is that it's not even cold outside.

Any more ideas?

 

Minimum airflow issue. You need to do a few things.

1. pull the throttle body off the car, remove the IAC. Clean the carbon off it, lube the bearings at either end. Clean the throttle plate and throttle bore till all clean, all passages too.
2. once it's all installed add a little throttle by adjusting the throttle stop slightly till it will start and idle without any help. Then you need to reset the TPS sensor to it's 'zero' point.

 

Bitter: Thanks a lot for the suggestion. However, I ended up getting fed up with the problem so I took it to a mechanic to sit over night, so that way he could scan it (I don't have a scanner) when it didn't want to start.

Error codes related that the distributor was at fault. The mechanic then proceeded to explain to me that moisture was somehow getting into the distributor when it was sitting, which is why it would sometimes not start when cold. I went home and did some research and it checks out. A lot of people have had similar issues with a bad distributor.

So I was wondering if you all could help out. I've been pricing them and they are all fairly pricey, but I did find this little deal on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-1997-1...essories&fits=Year:1997|Model:Corolla&hash=item337283be90&vxp=mtr#ht_7128wt_924

IT seems like a good deal and is what I need, I think. What do you think?

 

Hmm...I would have not guessed that. Sorry I was way off then.

Seems plausible though, did he say what part was getting wet inside? I'd do a water test just to make sure. Hows it look under the cap? You could mist water on it while the engine is warm and see what happens. Adding throttle though won't make a difference if you're missing spark from a distributor problem. Adding throttle would compensate for not getting enough air or having too much fuel. I'm not saying he's wrong, just airing some doubts.

 

I'm not entirely sure which part was at fault or what it looks like. I'm still pretty new to this. I do know that if I went out to check it right now it wouldn't have moisture since the engine is warm. How do you do a water test? I do know that when we changed the distributor cap a while back, my friend didn't notice anything particularly glaring with the distributor.

Also I must say that I'm still not completely sure the throttling did much. When it's warmer and has problems, it tends to take less time to start than when cold, and I didn't try throttling it until it had gotten warmer out. I wonder if it wouldn't have started up anyway even if I didn't throttle it. What I noticed once I started giving some gas is that when it was attempting to fire up it would "Catch" one of those attempts and the car would rev up a bit and start.

The mechanic I took it too told me I'd be well off just replacing the distributor completely. Could be just a ploy to sell a service/part to me but I told him before hand that I just wanted him to figure out what's wrong and that I'd be doing the part replacing myself.

 

Well if you let him replace it and that wasn't it then he's on the hook a bit since he was wrong.

What codes did he get? You said no check engine light.

 

True, but it would have cost me around $300-400 or so to have him do that. If I can get one for a little over $100 and have my friend install it, it's much better to do that if you ask me.

Gah! I should have asked what the codes were. He didn't say. In fact they might not have been codes, because he used the words "false readings form the distributor", I was just assuming they were codes since he used a scanner. So if there's not CEL on it won't give out a specific code?

At any rate he said that everything was pointing towards a faulty distributor. :disappoin

 

True, but it would have cost me around $300-400 or so to have him do that. If I can get one for a little over $100 and have my friend install it, it's much better to do that if you ask me.

Gah! I should have asked what the codes were. He didn't say. In fact they might not have been codes, because he used the words "false readings form the distributor", I was just assuming they were codes since he used a scanner. So if there's not CEL on it won't give out a specific code?

At any rate he said that everything was pointing towards a faulty distributor. :disappoin

swaffles,

I chased an engine miss for a couple of months when I first got my Prizm (it had 188K miles on it). Changed a few sensors when codes popped up, but finally took it to a competent mechanic who could scope it. The shop guru messed with it for a day or two and figured out it was a distributor problem. They tried 2 or 3 REMAN distributors and the problem continued. Finally purchased an OEM junkyard dizzy and it's running well a year later (218k miles).

REMAN = remanufactured (for $100 I'd bet dollars to donuts, that's a REMAN)

OEM = original equipment manufacturer

Just something to consider, good luck. I think I paid $125 for the JY dizzy.

Chris

 

Well go for it. Usually I see them fail to provide spark once the engine is hot though.

 

I think I'll do that and then report back...

If that wasn't the issue then I'll do that air flow thing.

 

You could try to make the distributor cold by using airdusters upside down.

 

I'm afraid you lost me again...what would doing that actually entail?

 

Buy a can of air duster, turn it upside down like it says not to, and spray the distributor area to make it cold, as if the whole engine were cold.

 

Also just a question.....Did you replace sensor or did somebody else? Do you know if it was the one wire or 2 wire sensor that was changed? The one wire is for the fan, 2 wire for the ECU. If they changed only the fan one it would continue with a strange air/fuel mixture making hard start and poor running until it warms up slightly.

I replaced 2 distributors in mine over the years. Factory lasted about 100k, first was junk yard and lasted 80k more, ebay one lasted until car was totaled about 40k later.

Mine just totally died though and it was oil in the distributor cap shorting all the electronics from leaking O ring on dist. shaft.

'97 has a separate crank (or is it cam) shaft sensor also correct? If that's failing it won't send correct signal telling when to fire spark. Not sure how temperature would effect that but correct ecu coolant sensor and crank sensor probably cheaper than dist.

Mechanic said "moisture" was that just condensation or maybe oil? Condensation/water "should" be pretty easy fix with a cap and new gasket where it seals to dist. body. Unless your spraying motor with water all the time, where is it coming from. I used to wash my motor a lot and rarely had water in by cap. If I did it missed one cylinder, ran rough until it dried off, then ran great and did not "return" the next day (unless I sprayed water at it again). Bad coolant sensor on the other hand, every morning when cold, sometimes when warmer until replaced.

 

Is there more than one temp sensor? I wasn't aware of a 1 vs. 2 wire sensor. Can you show me? Also if the crank shaft sensor isn't working correctly, would the starting problem be more constant or intermittent as it has been?

The mechanic said perhaps water moisture.

He also said it could be the ECU working incorrectly.

 

2 of them.
1 wire for gauge
2 wire for computer
2 wire for computer is what you were supposed to change.


Yes, a bad crank sensor could also cause problems. Check which coolant sensor was changed first.

 

This the sensor I replaced:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...N-91shd?filterByKeyWord=coolant+temperature+sensor+97+corolla&fromString=search


It isn't too far from the distributor, near the body where the spark plugs go in, although it's a bit deeper into the compartment.

 

That doesn't link. Does it have two wires or one?

 

The thing itself doesn't have any wires, but the connector that it hooks into has two wires. Is that what you meant?

 

Yes.

Fix the crank sensor problem, see how it does then.

Otherwise, try the procedure I outlined for the minimum airflow.

 

Wait a minute! Are you saying that the car cranks over slowly and has a hard time starting or does it crank over quickly and still doesn't start? Does it seem like it is having a hard time turning over or is it just a problem starting while it cranks?

 

It cranks normally. Sometimes tries to "fire up" but just gets intermittent rumbling. Sometimes it just cranks and nothing. When it sorta fires up, throttling it will help. But when it's just cranking, it doesn't do anything.

Usually when I attempt to start it and it doesn't start, after I stop cranking I will hear a sort of buzzing and then a click, which terminates the buzzing. I have noticed that sometimes when it cranks (and there's no "attempt" to start with the intermittent rumbling) and doesn't start, the buzzing and click don't happen.

It was working fine, but yesterday and today it took a few tries to start it again, since the temperature went back down to 40 degrees. Before hand it was warmer, and no problems.


Could it be my ECU or a fuse?