Flooded...choke set right?...TURTCEL

[TURTCEL]

So guys,

I went to start my car after work tonight (35 degrees outside)...pumped the gas 2 times, started and died. Pumped a few more times and died. Finally pumped it a few more times and got it running but was super boggy and flooded smelling. Couldn't get RPM's to go above 600 with pedal all the way to the floor.

It died again and wouldn't start for me again. I pulled the air cleaner cover off and the choke plate is completely closed. Is that correcrt when cold starting? Or is it supposed to be open just slightly? I slid a small screw driver between the carb barrel and choke flap to allow some air in. Got it running but it was a slow go to clear it out. Seemed to be ok after that but now it runs kinda boggy and doesn't want to accelerate very quickly anymore. Couldn't get it above 55 on the way home tonight.

Are my plugs fowled now and need cleaned or replaced? (they are new plugs) Running too rich? Is there a risk of oil in my gas now from maybe getting past the rings?

Any thoughts would be awesome. I am leaving on a 12 hour trip to Oregon tomorrow morn and the car is already packed. But, now this. Better here than on the road though.

Peace

[marlinh]

Did you check to see if the choke is opening after it is warmed up? Sounds like there is something wrong with the choke.

[TURTCEL]

Fully opens when warm.

Peace

[marlinh]

Vacuum leak then. Your plugs should clean up after it runs for a few minutes.

[TURTCEL]

Yeah, I can't seem to find any. I have not had any probs until this one time tonight. Im gonna pull my plugs tomorrow and check them. I will also make sure the timing is correct.

Peace

[TURTCEL]

Any chance someone thinks it could be a clogged cat convertor? The car has always seemed to have a little less power than I would think. My friend's '85 Terc has 40k more miles than mine and has been neglected badly but it accelerates super quick compared to mine.

Peace

[tercel4wdrules]

I had a plugged catalytic on one of my Tercels. It wasn't noticeable at lower rpms, but when I would wind it out past 4,000 rpms it felt like it hit a wall. You can use a vacuum gauge to determine if you have excessive exhaust back pressure. The one I replaced had what looked to be a line of the honeycomb that had melted down and was blocking the exhaust stream. Perhaps your friend has dialed in more timing advance than yours, it makes a noticeable difference in acceleration and response.

[TURTCEL]

My advance is set at 9 degrees BTDC...it runs the best there. My friends is stock 5 degrees BTDC.

Peace

[DiNka]

IS there sort of a miss while giving full power in 3 or 4th gear ?

[TURTCEL]

No miss. I talked with a friend and with the freezing air and snow with moisture that we had that day he thinks it is an icing up carb. Is there a way to check the heat spacer plate to see if it i working? My friend said his Yota did the same thing with the right conditions.

Does ths sound like a possibility?

Peace

[marlinh]

If the carb ices up the car should stall. You would see ice formed in the barrel of the carb if you pulled the air cleaner cover off as soon as it stalls, and looked down the barrel. That happened to me once when I had an old 69 Datsun pick up. It will restart after the ice melts. I don't think that is what happened to you.

[TURTCEL]

So it was a weird end to my wonders. I had the timing belt replaced 2 months ago from a shop as well as the idler and tensioner spring. I noticed a little knocking sound from behind the timing belt cover.

Turns out the tensioner was not set properly and the timing belt was slightly loose of tension. The mechanic fixed the issue and tensioned the timing belt. He did say it was loose and that could cause the cam timing to have shifted around.

Turns out my timing was off, well below the 0 degree mark so I reset it to 8 degrees BTDC (where TURTCEL runs best) and the car ran fine....this was right before taking it back to the shop to have it fixed. I wasn't sure how the timing could have jumped like that. Timing belt jump? Bad dizzy? I was stumped

Today is the first day I will be driving it again since getting back in town, I will let you guys know if this seems to have solved my problem.

Peace

[Petros]

I hoped he verified the timing belt did not skip on the cam sprocket before he tightened it. yes, if the timing belt had jumped it will mess up the spark timing and the cam timing too. Even if just loose it will affect the spark timing. I would check with him that he verified the cam timing was check and corrected, if it was loose it likely jumped a few teeth on the sprocket. If he did not force him to remove the belt cover and verify the cam timing is correct. Tell him it is either that, or when the engine suffers severe damage due to his carelessness, than he can replace the whole engine for you for free later.

And I would never go back to that mechanic again. this is so basic that he could have done severe damage to the engine, let a lone the trouble he caused you. This is why I do all of my own work.

[TURTCEL]

He did verify that the marks were correct before he set the tension correctly.

I would have never had a shop do this job for me had it not been right when my son was born and my free time then was gone. It needed a belt so that is why the shop did it.

I usually do all my own work but sometimes circumstancs come up.

The Terc seems to be fine now and no more noise behind the timing cover.

Peace

[Petros]

That is the way they usually run; other than checking fluid levels I hardly ever have to mess with anything under the hood. when major maintenance items come along of course it is a different issue, but when it is put back together properly it will keep running without any attention at all for a very long time. I think it has been two years since I messed with my carburetor, and even longer since I set the timing.