joey_quest

Hey Fellas,

I just bought an 89 Toyota 4Cyl 4x4 Pickup and it won't start. It cranks fine but just won't catch. A couple weeks ago I was checking the air filter and accidently knocked the ignition coil wire out and this is exactly what it sounds like now. However, I checked the ignition coil and the spark plug wires and they seem to be fine. It was running great yesterday. It rained last night, if that makes a difference. This is my first truck so any suggestions would be immensely appreciated. Could my distributor be 180 out? If so, how do I check and fix it?

Thanks,

Joe

SCYOTA

If it was running fine yesterday then your distributor would not be 180 out. My guess is that the moister from the rain last night is causing your problem. You should check to see if you have spark to all plugs. If you don't, or it is a weak spark I would start by checking your distributor. Remove the two screws on the distributor cap and see if it is wet inside.

joey_quest

Thanks, SCYOTA

I'll check it out. If it is wet inside, should I get a new distributor? Plugs and wires? Any way to avoid the moisture getting inside?

Thanks again,

Joe

SCYOTA

If it is wet inside you will need is a new o-ring that goes between the distributor body and cap. It's only like $2 form Toyota. While you are at it to may want to replace your distributor cap and rotor if they haven't been replaced recently. Again that's only about $15 at an auto parts store.

joey_quest

Awesome,

Like I said, I only bought it about a month ago, so I have no idea when the cap and rotor were last replaced. I'll try that and see what happens.

Thanks,
Joe

joey_quest

Well, before I went to buy a new distributor cap, rotor, plugs and wires, I tried to start the truck again. Same thing, it cranked fine, except after about 7-8 seconds of cranking, it caught for a few seconds, sputtered like it was trying to start, then died. It's raining today worse than yesterday. Anyone know how I can at least get it started to move it? I think I'm going to clean the throttle body tomorrow.

Thanks,
Joe

b.miller123

if you haven't replaced/checked the dist cap and rotor yet, spray some wd-40 on all of the contacts under there, it will displace any water that is on them,

the only thing that happened was that it rained?

stupid question but : does it have gas in it?

oh, and use dielectric grease on the connections for the plug wires, it help to keep out water also, which can corrode those on there and make them hard to pull,

to get it started, first check and make sure that you have spark going to all the cylinders, if you do, then that isn't your problem, so spray some starter fluid in there before you put the plugs back in, and you should get it to start, as long as you've got gas too

joey_quest

Thanks B,

I'll try that. Forgive my ignorance, but should I take the cap off and spray it with WD-40? Same with the plugs, take them out and put stater fluid in the holes?

Thanks again,

Joe

joey_quest

Oh, by the way, it has lots of gas in it.

CyMoN

check all of your ground wires and clean them

1989turbo

you may have fuel fouled plugs if you fuel foul a plug you will not get any fire. try replacing you plugs i would just buy some cheapy plugs to try this out if it work you can put whatever king of plug you want

bigt

my truck did this and i changed the sdpark plugs for 15 bucks and it ran great.. there easy to get at

b.miller123

yeah, you just remove the dist cap and spray the little metal parts that the rotor makes contact with, and the rotor head too, let it dry out a little and put it back on,

this is probably an unlikely situation, as you would most likely have water in the if your truck went swimming or in you went through some big puddles but it's an easy thing to check,

check the plugs like stated above, if they look bad at all just replace them, you can get the cheapy ones first and see if that works, if you don't want to spend alot up front, and you only have to do four plugs so that makes it cheaper too,

About the starter fluid, you can either pull the plugs and spray some into each cylinder, put the plugs back in, and fired it up, or you can pull your air filter and spray it in there (just be careful not to spray it right on the MAF sensor, I'm not sure but it probably wouldn't be good)

Usually I only use starter fluid if I'm trying to get a truck started that has been sitting for a few months, or if I'm afraid the battery is going to die before I can get it started, (I did this when I let my 87 4runner sit for six months AFTER I threw a rod, I finally got the money to have a shop replace the motor, so I started it up and ran it on three cylinders for about ten miles to the shop god it was loud......)

Oh, and you can use the WD-40 instead of the starter fluid, I'm not sure how big the difference is, but it will work and is plenty flammable

rowdy235

yea sometimes I use starter fluid when my truck sits for 3-4 weeks. Something just bugs me about cranking it over for 5-10 sec. Anwyay, I would probably replace the rotor, caps, wires, and plugs. If there is water in the dist. (under the cap). I'd also replace the O-ring.

Hope this helps.