engine stops with climbing a hill

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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: engine stops with climbing a hill

Post by xirdneh »

there is a communication barrier here
i am having a hard time figuring out what you are trying to tell us

this is the best way to check timing that i know of
rotate crank pulley mark to the "O" mark on the plastic timing belt cover
remove #1 spark plug
insert screwdriver into hole, it should hit the top of the piston because piston should be up as high as it can go
remove screwdriver
using a short length of hose pressed tight over spark plug hole blow air into spark plug hole
if no air goes in your good, if air goes in then rotate the crank around one full turn (360 degrees) and try blowing air again
no air should go in
so assuming you have no air going in (that means valves are closed)
remove distributer cap and check the rotor to see where it is pointing, it should be pointing northwest
if it is not pointing NW you will have to pull distributer and reinsert to get it pointing NW

if you think the timing belt was installed wrong
remove the top plastic timing belt cover
rotate crank pulley mark to "0" on plastic cover
look thru hole (about 3/16" diameter) in center-top of upper timing belt pulley (gear) , it should line up with arrow mark on aluminium head
if it does not line up then the belt needs to be repositioned
there is a video on youtube for toyota tercel 4wd that shows how to do this
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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marlinh
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Posts: 1584
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:15 am
My tercel:: 'Everett' Blue 87 4WD Wagon (Rocky 86, recently retired)
Location: Kootenays

Re: engine stops with climbing a hill

Post by marlinh »

You should have been able to turn the camshaft by hand before the rockers were installed. It won't affect your other problem but may damage the bearing surface on the head the cam rides in.

The oil spilled on the belt wouldn't affect timing. Hopefully you tried to wipe off the excess oil. A bit spilled on a new belt wouldn't damage it, but a long term oil leak on the belt will soften it over time and it will fail.
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Dumindu
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Posts: 227
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:34 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Toyota tercle 4wd DX Wagon 1452CC
Location: Sri Lanka
Contact:

Re: engine stops with climbing a hill

Post by Dumindu »

Thank you for your valuable advice.
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Dumindu
Top Notch Member
Posts: 227
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:34 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Toyota tercle 4wd DX Wagon 1452CC
Location: Sri Lanka
Contact:

Re: engine stops with climbing a hill

Post by Dumindu »

Finally I found the problem.

The Distributor cap was a newly replaced one by the previous owner. It is not the one for Tercels and Corollas. Tercel 3A engine has a 1,3,4,2 firing order. This cap has a 1,2,4,3 firing order. Also the poles were not according to the Distributor assey cut marks.

Without having fine observations on rotating direction, I have connected the cables to plugs.

So it has caused a low power with misfires and a backfires.

After corrected that, now the car running fine.

Thanks for your help.
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: engine stops with climbing a hill

Post by xirdneh »

Without rockers installed cam should rotate easily without timing belt
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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