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Hey everyone, Newbie here! I suppose ill start with an intro and back story before I get to the problem. The name is Ian. Im 23 and live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I recently bought a 88 Toyota pickup for $600. The engine had a rod knock but still drove decent. I drove it for about a week before the motor finally gave out. I purchased an used motor with ~100k on it and replaced just about everything on the outside of the motor. I got it started and it runs strong.
My issue is while im driving. It feels like it has no power! I cant get the truck above 30-35 mph. I floor it and it goes no where! It is throwing a CEL but I cant find the check connector anywhere! I set the timing with a light and by ear since I couldn't find the connect to jump it. Im sure the timing is off a bit but I don't think that is the issue. I feel like its a vacuum issue. Below are pics of the engine bay so someone can find this connector or point out any noticeable issues. I know it looks like a cluster of crap but that's how I got it. I need to get this running right before I start rerouting stuff and cleaning it up.
You need a copy of the FSM. it will show you how to pull codes and set timing. Now Take an aluminum can and make a block off plate for the egr at the back of the plenum. With that in place EGR cannot cause you a problem. Next the distributor could have a bad coil in it. Only brand to get is Rich-Porter, any other is asking for issues. Mine died at 350k so it is probably Ok, but stranger things have happened. Have you checked compression, and looked at your spark plugs?
The major thing I immediately noticed is the battery and the connections, they look terrible. Replace that Positive battery terminal and cable very soon. From the looks of it you're just short of a dead battery, towing bill, battery replacement, and or alternator replacement.
The Negative cable looks like it's bolted to the fenderwell?
As the previous owner found out it can be done like that, but it's not exactly the optimal route to take.
I'd bolt that directly to the block so the starter gets a good ground and then have a smaller 10-8 awg bolted from the battery to the fenderwell.
That yellow butt connector coming off the Negative battery cable doesn't look (could be the angle) like it has a cable coming out of it. Normally that's where you'd have the 10-8 awg wire coming out of and connected to the fenderwell for the body grounds to run off of.
From the looks of it I'd say you probably need to locate all your ground wires and clean them up or replace some of them. This is stuff that's essential to making the engine start, charge the battery, communicate with the ECU, get proper fuel metering, and receive good ignition signal and strength.
One by one make sure all the wires are there and are in top condition. Simply being there isn't enough, looking at it while it's bolted together isn't enough either. Often times corrosion is hiding underneath. When the connections or wires are old, crusty, and nasty they don't send enough voltage for the electronics to function how they are designed to and it causes major problems.
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Both the connectors and what they're connected to need to be shiny metal for them to function well.
1. Purchase a small brass wire brush and clean the ground wire connectors up and don't leave out the area they're connected to.
2. Get a big tube of Dielectric grease and apply some to each of the connectors to keep the corrosion process from returning. It won't 100% prevent it but it helps a great deal.
Also, your spark plug wires look nasty. I'd definitely check out their resistance because they look like they've been through hell and back!
I bet some of them will fail the test. It makes me wonder what's under that distributor cap.
NEVER zip tie spark plug wires together like that! There's simply to big of a chance for spark to crossover and cause an erratic miss.
Even brand new heavily shielded wires should't have that done to them.
If you need new wires get the OEM Toyota wires that come with the looms. It looks like you'll need to go to a salvage yard to get the mounting brackets though.
Thank you wyoming9!
Excuse the mess, it's shortly before I yanked off the valve-cover, set the valves, and cleaned it up.
I'd also be suspicious of air leaks at the rubber hoses between the throttle body and AFM. They look abit old and crusty. They may be hardened up and allowing air leaks which throws off the metering.
I had the same problem last week with my 94. I fooled with it for four days. Ended up being 2 injectors not working. My injectors are flamethrowers with less than 2000 miles on them. My guess is I have crud in the lines.
A quick check to see if you are getting enough fuel is to pull the Return line from the back of the fuel rail and see if it will fill a quart jar in a minute or so. It is a crude test but works for me.
Not trying to criticize you but under your hood just looks terrible and gives an idea of what the previous owner may have done. He has fuel filters on your wiper hoses? Wiring looks bad and you are missing Vacuum Switches. The one on the very rear controls your Fuel Pressure Regulator. There is ways to keep vacuum on it but I would take it all back to factory.
Get your VSV and some vacuum line and PM me when you have them and I can help with getting them connected right as I have an 88.
One Vacuum Switching Valve you are missing.
Two more that you are missing. The very back one controls your Fuel Pressure Regulator. It will run with it not hooked up or hooked up correctly but runs terrible.
I appreciate all the help and advice!! I know the engine bay looks terrible!!! I purchased the truck pretty much as it sits. When I swapped the engines, I put everything back the way it was because I knew it ran being like that. I know I have a lot of work cut out for me and a lot of hacked up, half a$$ed wiring to fix. I will be going through and cleaning up everything that was recommended!!
My biggest concern is that check connector. It should be next to the fuse box, correct? If I find that, then I know I can set the timing the correct way to eliminate that as a possible issue. Also, to figure what codes are being thrown and go from there.
I understand the process and how to check the codes. My problem is that the check connector is non-existent or cant be found, at least. If you look at the pictures, you can see that it is not where its suppose to be.
I dont see it either. So I checked your drivers fender thinking that it may be an 86 model as it is round plugs on that side and still not seeing it. I will follow my wiring harness in the morning and get a picture of it and see where it should be. I hope the PO didnt just cut it off.
Later...
I got home and looked at my truck. The Diag port harness starts about a foot from where the harness is attached to the Intake Manifold. See if there is any cut wires in that section. Also can you find the 3 plugs that go to your VSV's? I see these harnesses butchered all the time. You may want to start looking for an Injector harness. It is easily swapped. Being an 88, you will need to find an 88 harness, not just any 22re harness.
Also the blue and yellow wire in your 3rd picture, it should be really close to those wires.
The second generation truck like yours came with 3 different injectors. 85-87 are white. 88 is a one year only injector and is red, the 89-95 trucks have red injectors as well but are different. They have fool proof tabs to keep them from getting switched but I have seen them swapped 3 or 4 times. (89 was a different body style but used the red injectors and could of gotten used in yours).
You are correct that it should be attached to the Fusebox or atleast laying near by it.
UPDATE!!
Ive finally found some time to mess with the truck more. In doing so, I replaced the ignition coil, distributor cap and rotor, spark plugs and wires. I also went through and located all the grounds. Three of them weren't connected at all, so I cleaned them up and connected them. The truck starts with ease now and has a little more pickup to it but is still very sluggish. Upon checking CEL codes, I found that my ecu is out of an 85 Celica! Could this be the reason why the truck is acting up? I know the 88 is a year like none other so that is what im assuming. Can someone clarify this and point me in the right direction for the right ecu?
88 is like no other and having an 85 ecu spells big trouble for your injectors. That's why you have no power. The resistance for the 88 model is different. I'm hoping the 85 ecu is putting out insufficient power to drive them, so you injectors will be Ok. It looks like the resistor pack is there on the fender well. So you must look and positively identify the color code of your installed injectors to be sure they really are 88 models or some other year. Yes; this is combat critical on your truck. If there is any doubt post pictures.
Also did you get the battery negative cable down onto the engine block?
88 is like no other and having an 85 ecu spells big trouble for your injectors. That's why you have no power. The resistance for the 88 model is different. I'm hoping the 85 ecu is putting out insufficient power to drive them, so you injectors will be Ok. It looks like the resistor pack is there on the fender well. So you must look and positively identify the color code of your installed injectors to be sure they really are 88 models or some other year. Yes; this is combat critical on your truck. If there is any doubt post pictures.
Also did you get the battery negative cable down onto the engine block?
What exactly am I looking for to identify which injectors I have?
I did move the negative battery cable to the block and ran a cable from the yellow connector to the fender with a clean contact point.
with the lack of throttle response/acceleration, i would check fuel pressure. i recently had a pump (about 1 year old) that was only putting out about 19 psi (should have been around 33). symptoms were very similar.
it ran, because the pump was functioning, but it ran poorly, because the fuel pressure was only 2/3 of what it should have been. fuel starvation.
04-11-2015, 09:19 AM
