spark knocking anytime you give the car gas and no power.

donaldc · Post by **donaldc** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:20 am

I have an 83 toyota tercel wagon 4wd that for some reason just started spark knocking really, really bad. This even happens when I rev it up at idle. I have checked the timing and it's within specs. If you try to take off it has no power and it seems like you're trying to take off in 3rd gear. If you blip the throttle at idle it spark knocks bad, but if you slowly raise the rpm at idle it is smooth. I am considering replacing the distributor but looking for some other ideas before I do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you,

Oh yeah, it just started doing this driving out the interstate. It was running fine and all of a sudden this started happening. Thanks again,

shogun · Post by **shogun** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:08 am

maybe something heated up so bad it burned try with another distribuitor, or see if the wires going to it are ok

donaldc · Post by **donaldc** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:58 pm

Well, I have narrowed it down to cylinder #3. I can pull the plug wire on #3 and it quits detonating, but when I hook it back up, it does it again. I have changed the plugs and wires with no luck. If anyone has had a similar problem and knows what it could be please let me know. I'm checking the valves and doing a compression test tomorrow or as soon as I get a chance.

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:09 pm

Be sure to check your cam timing; it's possible that your timing belt has slipped a couple notches.

takza · Post by **takza** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:16 am

I guess no 3 is the lean cylinder? Maybe carbon buildup? Try the Seafoam or oil/water mix cleaning?

donaldc · Post by **donaldc** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:10 pm

Well I finally got a chance to do a compression test and they results were crazy. So, I repeated the test several times with the same results.

Cylinder 1 was 160psi
Cylinder 2 was 180psi
Cylinder 3 was 40psi
Cylinder 4 was 60psi

I have a thought that carbon build up on 1 and 2 was reason for the extremely high #'s. Cylinders 3 and 4 were really low and so, I'm wondering if I might have intake valve issues. I know this doesn't explain cylinder 4. But, if the intake valve wasn't fully closing on #3, could the detonation sound of #3 be coming from the firing of the cylinder with the explosion escaping through the leaking intake valve? Just a thought.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:37 pm

I'd suspect either valve issues, or maybe more likely, blown head gasket. Valve issues could be caused by excessive carbon on the valve backs. Try our de-carboning methods (takza and mine I mean) and see if it helps at all. Might allow for proper clearance. Just a thought.

takza · Post by **takza** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:01 am

Valve job time? Supposed to be the DIFFERENCE between cylinders that's most important?

You have a chance to port and polish...and maybe get the groove thing on...even lynes....