cuts out and dies at temp

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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

Today I gave a short tow to a woman out of gas just a hundred feet or so. After I left her at the gas station I noticed that my idle started to surge up and down. Ten miles down the road the car started to cut out all together and die. After calling a friend to tow me back home I found a couple of bad plug wires so I swaped them out and car ran fine until it came up to temperature then same symptoms. Towed it home again and swapped the carb for a known good one and car ran good again until I get up to temp then she cuts out all over again. I am stumped any advice would be gerat. It is so frustrating it seems to run great until I'm heading down the road with a load on the motor. Again this started after I put a big load on motor towing another car.
c_j
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My tercel:: T4WD#4: '86 SR5 6-speed, original Barto lift & steel bumpers & winch, also 95Amp alternator
Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by c_j »

If you have a spare distributor, I would swap it out. If we pick ignition as the problem over fuel, there are three electronic things inside the dizzy: The pickup, the igniter (ignition module), and the coil. The distributor pickup is my guess for a temp related problem, based on experience with other vehicles (not Tercels). In my experience, the igniter seems to just die and that's it, and the coil, well, I've never had one die on me yet.

You should be able to test it with an ohm-meter. I've got a working used pickup that reads 158 ohms, both connected to the igniter and disconnected.

(pickup at top, igniter at bottom - you must remove a plastic cover to expose those screws, and they are super tight - also you need a torx bit to disassemble and it is a pain in the ass to work with that aluminum coil mounting post sticking right in your way)
distributor_pickup_158_ohms.JPG
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Last edited by c_j on Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

I do have another dizzy I will give it a try tommrow it does have one less vac line on it though. I hate to mess with vac stuff on these t4s. Thanks for the suggestion
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by dlb »

Gottolovem wrote:I do have another dizzy I will give it a try tommrow it does have one less vac line on it though. I hate to mess with vac stuff on these t4s.
you can easily swap the vac advance units on your dizzy's. just remove the one screw that holds it in place and pop the arm off the peg that it hooks on to.
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

photo of snow plow for the member that wanted to see it
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c_j
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My tercel:: T4WD#4: '86 SR5 6-speed, original Barto lift & steel bumpers & winch, also 95Amp alternator
Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by c_j »

Now that is awesome. What method is used for adjusting height? And it detaches and leaves that small rectangular frame in the center of the bumper?

I've got an ATV plow sitting right next to my Terc right now, except it's not mine. I may just have to repossess it.
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

The plow doesn't really have a way to adjust the height there is a chain to hold it up when not in use or it sits on the ground with little skid plates to prevent the blade from digging in to the ground. It does detach from the bumper i will try to post more pics on how it was mounted soon but the car is on loan until i can figure out to fix the car i started this thread about.
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

Still no luck changed out the dizzy and still cuts out when under load. Pulled fuel line off and turned over plenty of fuel. :x
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dlb
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Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by dlb »

is it still only happening when hot? how do your spark plugs look?

i also wonder if one of the fuel cut off solenoids could be faulty.
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marlinh
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Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by marlinh »

Does it fail hot or cold? Have you checked the accelerator pump in the carb?
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

So far i have changed out dizzy,plug wires, entire carb, alternator, and relays with known good ones off another running car. The plugs are just about all that's left on the electrical side and i will do those when i get home.
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marlinh
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Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by marlinh »

Sorry, I missed the fact that you already tried another carb. It's probably a bad spark plug.
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by Gottolovem »

:?: :?: So it's not on the electric side it has to be fuel. Car runs fine until it comes up to temp then starts to cut out and will only idle. The car revs up just fine when I spray starter fluid down its throat. I know the carb is good and getting fuel but it's starving when engine is hot. :evil:
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by dlb »

you said you checked the fuel output but didn't mention when. i would check it both when cold AND hot to verify it is a fuel issue. the only heat-based fuel problem i can think of is vapor lock but with your current temps in reno i can't imagine that being it.
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ARCHINSTL
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Re: cuts out and dies at temp

Post by ARCHINSTL »

This is prob farfetched, but you never know...
How about the rubber fuel lines getting overheated and closing up? It would certainly be cheap enough to renew them. For that matter, are the vac hoses OE still?
Poss some of the hoses are crumbling on the inside.
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