85' Runs then dies

xenogears_321 · Post by **xenogears_321** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:16 am

1985 sr5 wagon 4WD. The car has a new(rebuilt) motor and I have just put new plugs, wires, rotor, dist. cap, and last but not least Carb, which was from holley(aisin) and seems in tip top shape. So here's the prob. The car starts and runs fine when cold, but after it's driven for a short period the engine just cuts out when cruising along in say 4th. It's as if the spark is just stopped completely. It tries to come back to life with a stutter like the egnition is hooked to a dj's turntable. very violent. Do these coils go bad? Also can someone point me in the direction of an "emissions removal guide" my dad and I have an 85' 1st gen RX7 with all the epa shit removed and it runs beautifully. The tercel vac. lines look about as bad as the rx7 did(not condition, just complexity)Can the egr or pcvv system cause this? also it really hunts for an idle. please help

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:17 pm

It sounds like you have a bad igniter, they're a common failure item for the old Tercels. The symptoms of a bad one are just like you describe, the car will run fine till it warms up, the cut out intermittently, or just die altogether. There was a recall on them back in the 80s, and if you can find a cooperative service advisor at your local Toyota dealership, they can run your vin to see if it was replaced under the program. If not, they may replace it for free.

splatterdog · Post by **splatterdog** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:05 pm

Can't count out the coil yet either. Both my 84 and 86 coils went at 21 years of age. The 84 flat out failed at cold start. Lucky I was in the driveway. The 86 went a little slower. Somewhat like your condition. Didn't think I would make it home. Do an ohm check as per FSM.

I'm going to do a check on my vin's. I would die laughing getting a free part installed on my rusty "turds". I also wonder how many current Toy tech's have ever had their hands on one of these. haha

xenogears_321 · Post by **xenogears_321** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 5:00 pm

Thanks for the tips! I'll check this out and report back. It is saturday and we have snow and ice on the roads.

xenogears_321 · Post by **xenogears_321** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:36 pm

Ok I got the ignighter replaced at the dealership under a recall. Now the car does the same exact thing. It strarts runs fine I even let it idle in the driveway for about 30 min. before taking it out. Drives fine then out of no where the thing just dies. if I let it sit for a while it will start right back up no problem. whats the deal with the TPS? Does it have anything to do with this? Also what is this I hear about the carb and down/up shifting? Also my idle drops when I press the brake like a vac. problem. Could the ECU go bad or will it just go to failsafe in that case? I REALLY need this thing to run my J.O.B depends on it. Thanks in advance.

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:49 pm

Now that you have a new igniter, but the same symptoms, you probably have a bad coil. Once it goes bad, it'll shut down when it gets hot.

keith · Post by **keith** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:22 pm

You could also have a bad distributor shaft bushing. About the only fix is a reman distributor, its the cheapest way to go.