Once a month engine dies and wont restart

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xirdneh
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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

Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by xirdneh »

my friends tercel engine dies on him about once a month and will not restart until 5 plus hours have passed.
this started happening about two months ago
has new fuel pump (4 months) new fuel filter (one month) and rebuilt carb. (4 months)
i suggested next time it happens he drop some gas down throat of carb and see if it fires up. that would narrow it down to starving for fuel.
any other ideas?
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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splatterdog
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Re: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by splatterdog »

The ONLY time I've experienced a dead T4, it was the coil. First one was a cold start in the driveway without any previous warning signs. Second wouldn't start after gassing up, then started 20 minutes later and got me home. After a new coil, all was well..
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NWMO
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Re: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by NWMO »

xirdneh,

I would guess you are on the right track checking for fuel issues. I've not been in one of the Aisan carbs yet, but I assume there is a float/needle valve assembly for fuel inflow to the bowl. I've seen times (could easily happen with a rebuild) when the float will "rub" just enough to hang up once in a great while. Gravity finally wins out and fuel can flow again. Often times with intermittent fuel issues, I would consider debris or crud in the tank restricting flow, but that more often than not, shows itself during operation. Plus, with a new pump, filter, etc. I would expect that to have been checked pretty well.

After reading your post again, I would want to know if he has experienced this issue after longer trips or on short trips as well. A coil getting hot would act this way and then work fine when cooled down. But I would expect to see that behavior after longer periods of use and possibly not at all for short trips.

Chris
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irowiki
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Re: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by irowiki »

I'd say swap out with a known good distributor.
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xirdneh
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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: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by xirdneh »

on that coil
when it stops working how long does it usually take to recover?
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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Petros
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Re: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by Petros »

Here is the rule: it will not run because of either no fuel, or no spark.

I would guess loose/bad connection in the ignition systems, looses contact once hot, and than comes back into contact when it cools. Could be the coil, the igniter, or any of the contacts in the distributor.

Another possibility is that some large piece is floating around in the fuel tank, or in the carb for that matter, that will occasionally get lodged into the fuel supply intake, and it takes a while after it dies to float free.

when it happens, fuel into the throat as you suggest, or easier is to spray a puff of starter fluid down the airfilter housing inlet (I always carry a can of it this time of year, cold and dampness can make an old ignition system difficult sometimes). It it starts and dies, probably fuel starvation, but this will help a weak spark also get started, so you still want to check the spark as well. Also, with a flash light, check the sight glass on the front of the carb bowl to see the fuel level in the carb (clean it off now so it will be ready for you to look at when it does happen).

The other thing to do is to pull a spark plug wire, I shove a Phillips screw driver (any metal shaft will do) up the spark plug wire boot so it makes contact with the electrode, and than jam the screw driver in somewhere so there is about 1/4" gap between the screw driver and metal of the engine or frame. Or you can get some brave soul to hold it just right...if you hear an "owe!" when you crank it, you will get an audible signal that lets you know you have spark. When the engine is cranked you should see a fairly strong bluish-white spark jump the gap with a noticeable "snap, snap, snap". If no spark, than obviously it is some where in the electrical system.

If you have a known good spare distributor assembly, another "test" would be to swap it out (set the timing) and than see if it happens again.

just remember to always diagnose the problem before you try and fix it.

Good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
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splatterdog
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Re: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by splatterdog »

Love your alternate spark check method Petros. Thanks for elaborating on the subject, I didn't have much time.

My first coil was easy as it was stone dead. The second one checked out OK when I got home, but I didn't trust it. #2's engine had about the same mileage as #1 when it's coil died. Glad it was coils, ignitors are expensive!

Obviously diagnosis is the first thing. If you have a spare distributor, that would be an easy place to start.
kitchman
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Re: Once a month engine dies and wont restart

Post by kitchman »

The problem sounds very similar to the one I had: (see OEM carburetor issues), only in my case it would be more than once a month. When it doesn't start I would first check if fuel had pooled in intake manifold. Then pull a wire and check for spark. In my case the coil which tested faulty as per FSM would function intermittently when cold. Further examination revealed that the dissy. cap had a minute crack by the forward hold down bolt, at which area there was a whitish discoloration on the dissy's aluminum housing, apparently from arcing. After replacing the coil, rotor and cap, problem solved!
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