Tommy T.

Owning this Toyota has, thus far, been a nightmare of biblical proportions!

I finally started making some headway due to some great help here, but now, the b*tch won't start.

I know there have been countless threads on this. I'm sorry to add another. Reading the other threads has not really helped any. Not the ones I found.

What I have:
About five weeks I bought this 88 Pickup, 4WD, 22RE rebuilt with 100K on rebuild. Test drive went fine. Trip home started surging and loosing power.

Replaced: Plugs, wires, dist cap and rotor. Ran much better after that.

Two days ago I changed oil, filter, air filter, fuses (the bad ones). Won't start. Turns over, won't catch.

Had a mobile mechanic out this morning. Spark is good, pump is good, fuel pressure is good. Would not start. Changed fuel filter, started right up!

Paid dude and he left. I had to work on the horn, got it fixed and went to start and no go!

Back to what I had. Turn, turn, turn, turn . . . nothing.

Have a Haynes Manual that has been basically useless thus far.

I'm pissed, the wife is pissed, we are all pissed!

I'm begging for help here.

Gevo

your frustrations are very understandable, but just relax and I'm sure you will work it out.

Other than moral support, I will say that you should check/test your air flow meter (search and you'll find how on yotatech). Does the ECU have any codes?

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

So your back to a cranks but does not start??

Did you cause any thing to short while working on the horn??

Perhaps check the fuses are tight in the sockets .

COR or EFI relays not pulling in or contacts corroded from sitting.

My big feet would always be kicking the fuse block getting in or out at times It was good for causing the crank but no start condition.

We all get these once in a while sometimes takes some time to get every thing worked out.

grumpin

After checking the above suggestions, you might check and clean the ECU connector. Also, if you have spark and fuel, maybe time for a compression check.

Gargoyle_Runner

Look for an FSM on here as well. There is a guy that has a link to an 88 FSM under his signature, can't think of who it is. I asked for help finding an 86 FSM and he chimed in. The 88 is a pretty specific year for a lot of the electrical components so you really want that particular FSM.

If it turns over and you have spark and fuel pressure than something is not letting those to get together. Could be injectors? You said you swapped the fuel filter and that helped. Could be crude in the injectors. Also the injectors might not be opening. The wiring for your injectors is just crimped together and has been a failure point for a lot of us, myself included. After turning it over a bit pop out some plugs and see if there wet. You can also run 12v to each injector and listen for the click.

Another thing to check is the tube from the air filter box/ARM to the throttle body. If that has holes in it then the ECU doesn't get a proper read on the airflow and won't allow for the correct fuel mixture. I chased that one for a bit myself. My fan was scrapping the bottom of the tube and wore through it and I couldn't get it to start either. I would spray starter fluid into the throttle and it would fire right up then bog down and quit.

Tommy T

Thanks for for the feedback. Very good suggestions!

Yeah, it looks like I'll be doing the old jumper-wire-code dance tomorrow as well.

Yeeehaaaa!

Tommy T.

Have one. No help. Previous owner has the wiring jacked-up. Trying to fix that too.

Injectors click.

Don't think this is an issue. Truck will start with a starter fluid squirt and run fine. But, wait a day and it's back to not catching.

I replaced the fuel pressure regulator today and still no catch.

So now, I'm throwing in the towel and getting it towed tomorrow. I can only hope it's not going to cost a crap-ton.

Shady Cadence

When working on the horn, were you under the dash? Did you perhaps affect the ground between the fuse block and the door opening?

Gargoyle_Runner

When my tube had a leak it started very small and the truck would start and run with starter fluid. After the starter fluid burned out it would bog and die. The grooved bends dry and get cracks in them also.

Tommy T.

Good thought. Checked it out and looks good.

Tommy T.

Well, I don't know how long it takes the starter fluid to burn off. Last run was a week ago and it idled for quite awhile. Didn't die until shut off and then would crank and run on its own for that day only.

Shady Cadence

They ALL look good. Get the truck started, reach underneath and wiggle those two brown ground wires. If the truck even twitches, AT ALL, replace that connector.

grumpin

These grounds are all over this forum lately it seems. Yesterday I pulled the instrument cluster to clean and check the screws for the flexible PCB, because my temp gauge did not read right. It was the way Duffdog did his. They seemed fine and after loosening them and cleaning with contact cleaner and tightening the screws, put it back together and the gauge went to it's usual spot, almost half way up. He recommended checking that ground. Didn't look bad, but cleaned everything up and so far the gauge is working good. Cleaned the ground on the right fender while I was at it. And next I'm cleaning the ground on the intake manifold. Bad grounds will mess things up. Before I was retired from working on aircraft we used these to clean up grounds, stick them in a drill and clean up the area where the bolt goes.
http://www.yardstore.com/browse.cfm/4,4911.html

Shady Cadence

If it starts to act up again, cut the ground connector off and replace it with a new one. The sneaky issue is the contact goes lousy INSIDE the crimp, the connector itself looks clean.

I'm the one pushing the ground issue since replacing that ONE, LITTLE CONNECTOR flat-out ELIMINATED a brutally hard sub-zero start, a long cranking time during any start, lack of power, any resemblance of fuel economy and a noisy ign signal so bad it tripped the rev limiter function before 2000 rpm on my 94 3.0 4runner.

It's freaking amazing. Takes 5 minutes and costs 35 cents.

grumpin

That's great! I definitely will replace it if need be. I will have to replace the ground on the intake manifold.

grumpin

Well my gauge didn't work as well as I thought. Took the cluster apart as in the sticky. The little wires were fine, but the nuts that come off to get to the gauge were loose. Now it seems to be working good. But I did get the big wobbly speedometer, had to take it back apart to get it in correctly.

Shady Cadence

Swap out that ground connector yet?

Don't tell me "it looked fine".

Odin

Unfortunately unless it's growing white or green stuff it seems like that's the standard response when dealing with electrical connections.

I think I'm going to start referring to this as the "Shady" Mod
Better not, nobody will want to try it.

Shady Cadence

That's what makes it such a nasty blanker to track down, aside from a slight bit of crust on the tips of the wires coming out of the crimp, mine looked 100% AOK, good to go, no issues here man ,blah, blah, blah.
But it damn sure had a perverse effect on the engine, more than I ever would have thought. I figured I had five or six issues to deal with.

Nope. ALL caused by that one little ground connector.

grumpin

"It looked fine!"