give it gas but no responce

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xirdneh
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Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:38 am
My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

give it gas but no responce

Post by xirdneh »

my car has been running great
but today it did something odd
after driving about 10 miles i parked the car for 1 hour
i started the car and took off
went about 300 yards and then nothing happened when i pressed the gas pedal
i thought the engine died but it was idleing
after coasting a little ways the engine took off
then after a few hundred yards the same thing happened
after that it was fine till i got home (about 25 miles)
seems to me if it was ignition problem it would have backfired when engine took off
so i am thinking gas problem of some kind
could a fuel pump act that way?
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
Notmikeb
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Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:53 am
My tercel:: 85 Tercel 5dr FWD
Location: Laurel, MD

Re: give it gas but no responce

Post by Notmikeb »

Same symptoms have happened to me on my suburban when the fuel pump was going bad, or more recently, when I was almost out of gas and cornering. So it does sound like a fuel supply problem to me. Ignition is either igniting or not, right?
-------------
1985 Tercel 5dr Hatchback
2003 Chevy Suburban
2014 Ford Flex

"I don't get it! I've cut this thing FIVE times now and it's STILL too SHORT!"
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: give it gas but no responce

Post by dlb »

how long did the engine idle and refuse to do anything else? if it does it again and for long enough, i would remove the air filter lid, manually operate the throttle, and look for fuel squirting in the carb throat.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: give it gas but no responce

Post by Petros »

look for a leaky fuel line ahead of the fuel pump, it will suck air in instead of fuel, might be marginal fuel line. It may not leak fuel since it is on the suction side of the fuel pump. hard to believe a fuel pump could be intermittent, but anything is possible. You would have to check fuel pressure right when you have the problem.

ignition can also have an intermittent problem, but usually it would just die, not go to idle. It sound like you have an intermittent fuel blockage that allows enough fuel to get by to allow it idle. You might try replacing the fuel filter, they only cost a few dollars. Use the same year corolla filter,it costs less is is slightly larger, you only have to reverse the in/out fuel lines from the normal positions on the tercel filter.

It is possible some loose debris in the carb is floating around the bowl, intermittently blocking the main fuel jet, so the only fuel the engine gets is through the idle jet. That might explain this kind of behavior. I have actually seen this before on another type of car that also used a carb. Pull the top of the carb off and clean out the float bowl.

Good luck, let us know what you find.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
xirdneh
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Posts: 2121
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:38 am
My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: give it gas but no responce

Post by xirdneh »

I did recently swap carbs
The one I installed had sat in a car for a year
The gas had dried up so probably left debris
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
xirdneh
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 2121
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:38 am
My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: give it gas but no responce

Post by xirdneh »

Took carb off without tilting it so gas would stay in
Took two 14mm plugs off bottom front and let gas drain in clear plastic container
Their was a black blob about 1/4" diameter that disintegrated when I touched it
Kind of like pond scum
Sprayed carb cleaner into what the thin red tube would reach
We shall see if that cured it
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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