We were doing what I thought was basic maintenance on our 86 Celica. While draining and changing the antifreeze, my husband felt this was the good time to change out the thermostat. However, to remove that he had to remove the distributor cap. Now we can't get it to restart.
He went to the local autopart shop to find out what the dwell angle is for an 86 Celica. They told him he just has to keep turning the shaft for the distributor cap leading to the engine. He worked on that for at least a half hour -- taking if off, rotating it and putting back on with no luck.
Is there some other way to do this? (Sure seems like hit or miss.)
Sure appreciate it if you have any suggestions.
(Just a little more background: everything has been running fine until we tried to do this. A new starter was put in the vehicle roughly 6 months ago and no problems since then.)
Bridget

 

make sure it wasnt rotated.... sounds a lot like you lost timing.... set it to 0 degrees and put the distributor back in.... i nkow exactly how t odo this on a 22r, but have no clue about a celica

 

Yes, that is what my husband figured he lost the timing, and he said that's why he wanted to know what the dwell angle is, but he's been told there isn't any for the 86 celica. When you say "set it to 0 degrees", what is "0" in reference too?

 

im guessing its a 4 cylinder? if it is it might be similar to my truck... 0 degrees is when the crankshaft on its indicator lines up to 0* and the number 1 cylinder should be at the top of its stroke