Car runs, dies, runs

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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

Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

My friends tercel dies after driving for 15 minutes then restarts after a few minutes. Then repeats. I am thinking distributor but what in the dist. would cause that and is there a quick test?
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
teranfirbt
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My tercel:: '86 SR5 4WD, 5AFE, lifted rear, 195/70/14 tires
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by teranfirbt »

Could be the igniter getting old and getting hot, the Celica guys have been having that issue pop up for awhile.
Easiest thing to do is swap in the distributor from a good running car and see if the problem goes away.
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irowiki
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Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by irowiki »

Yeah that's kind of what my 1981 Econoline was doing, it would run get hot and then die and I replace the ignition module and it was fine.
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dlb
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Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by dlb »

Agreed with the other gents. Marginal electronics tend to work fine when cold then act up once warm so I'd try swapping the dizzy with a known good one.
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: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

Swapped a good dist and had same problem. Loosend gas cap, same problem. I think it might be the fuel pump. So will be swapping that next.
I drove it and it reminded me of carb icing over so thats w hy i think its fuel related. Have installed a couple of new fuel pumps in the last couple of years that acted up similar to this.
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
teranfirbt
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My tercel:: '86 SR5 4WD, 5AFE, lifted rear, 195/70/14 tires
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by teranfirbt »

Does it die suddenly or slowly get worse and then is unable to run? Does it start immediately once it has sat for awhile? Is it able to go for the same period of time before it dies again? Does the fuel level in the tank matter? Are you able to see the float bowl window to verify that the carb has fuel just after it dies? When is the last time the fuel filter was replaced?
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splatterdog
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Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by splatterdog »

In my T4 experience, it's usually the coil when spark fails. I haven't seen an ignitor fail yet, which is pretty good considering the combined age/mileage of all my T4's. Old Fords, that's a different story. Tough to test on an intermittent though. Figure out if it's spark or fuel first. Observe the float window and get a cheap spark checker with a gator clamp gap adjuster.

Plugged filter or pick up tube sock could also be at fault if the pump itself checks out. If it can idle all day but dies when driving then this might apply. Maybe even internally collapsed 30+ year old fuel hose if fuel starvation is what's happening.
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Petros
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Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by Petros »

if it is not in the distributor than my next guess would be partly blocked fuel filter. it runs until it the build up blocks it off. but after it sits, the loose material falls away and allows limited amount of fuel to flow for a bit. after it stalls inspect the fuel level in the window on the carb.

fuel filter is cheap, and it likely needs one anyway. Seen the same thing with the simple screen on the fuel inlet in the fuel tank. but that is rather rare.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
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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: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

I am pretty sure it had a new fuel filter( less than 1500 miles) on it. when i drove it it did not totally die. I did not have to pull over and wait. It just went blahhh for a couple hundred feet then recovered for several hundred yards. Never backfired so that seems like fuel issue.
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

put a new fuel pump in the car and so far so good (about 100 miles)
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

Swapped distributor -- was not that
Swapped fuel pump. -- was not that
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: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

Well it was the fuel filter.
Never seen one with so much crud in it
It only had about 1000 miles on it so i did not suspect it
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by Petros »

Petros wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:40 pm if it is not in the distributor than my next guess would be partly blocked fuel filter. ...
as I suspected.

if it fills that quickly you may want to consider a fuel tank flush to clean out any debris or loose rust. sometimes you can get a bad gasoline from a discount gas station that will plug up the fuel system. when the fuel level is low you might remove the cover in the cargo compartment and than remove the fuel tank hatch and take a look inside to see if you can tell the sources of the crud.
'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
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: Car runs, dies, runs

Post by xirdneh »

I had replaced the tank on this car because old tank was pretty bad and even though i blew out the line i dont think it was effective.
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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