[JDAN]

Hey, my brother has a 1990 corolla SR5. Lately he has been having problems with starting. The engine turns over but it just won't start. The problem is intermittent however as it often only occurs every month or so. If the car is left off for about 10 mins or so and tried again it starts up just fine a runs normally. He says it has been happening every couple months or so but lately it has been getting more frequent. I was with him yesterday and the car was idleing then stalled with no warning (no sputtering or anything, just sounded like you turned off the engine) and wouldn't start up again. We were parked on a hill at the time so i told him to start rolling then drop into second right away to see if we could start the engine that way. Sure enough it started up and ran fine afterwards. He asked me if i knew what it could be but i don't know what to tell him. I know you guys are a knowledgable bunch on here so i thought i would ask you. I was thinking it could have something to do with the starter, but it sounds completely normal to me so i dont' know?electronics? Thank You.

 

[JDAN]

Come on, no one here can offer ANY advice??? i find that hard to believe, someone must know something about this??!

 

[Foolish86]

i think it is his starter....my brother's car did that for a while until it went out...and left us standed for a few hours.

 

[JDAN]

hmmm its possible....its just seems strange to me because the engine turns over fine and sounds fine when trying to start. It just never starts.. doesn't a faulty starter usually make abnormal sounds before it goes??

 

[deekay140]

if the car turns over, but just doesn't fire, then the starter is doing its job.
what else can u tell me, does this happen when car is hot, cold?
when its wet or humid out? when it stalled, was car in gear?
is it a manual or auto?

 

[JDAN]

Well there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. It seems to happen mostly when the car is hot. i.e. It happened to him a few times when he stopped at a red light. The car just stalled and then wouldn't start for about 15 mins. The humidity seems to make no difference. The area we live in is very dry most of the year as it is a semi-desert. It is a manual and he says it only happens when the car is in neutral. He says it has never died once the vehichle was moving. Thanks

 

[deekay140]

It sounds to me like the coil is going bad. If it stalls when he is coming to a stop, It may be egr valve sticking, but since he is stopped and sitting there, I would try to replace the coil.

 

[djx]

Same situation happened to me in my truck. Starter had to be replaced.

 

[REN69]

I don't think its the starter dude.. his car is already on when it stalls.

hmm.. maybe his idle is set too low. What's the idle speed when the car stalls? try to find the idle screw and turn it while the car is on, not too much though. I can't remember which way was to increase and which way to decrease. I think if you go to the right, you're lowering the idle. To the left you're increasing the idle. Keep it around 800-1000rpm

 

[JDAN]

I thought that the normal idle for this car was 700 rpm? I'm not sure on that though, that is just something that i read somewhere. deekay, what is the coil issue you are talking about?

 

[deekay140]

experience tells me a coil. they act strange when they get hot,, very common on certain models

 

[JDAN]

how hard would it be to replace??? could anyone possibly post some basic instructions?

 

[JDAN]

*bump*