Corolla 1.6 vvti 2005 ignition coils 2 and 4 pressure loss

[daddyfrank42]

Hello, all 

I hope you are well, and wanted to ask of anyone has had the following issue or could offer some tips.

The car is in the garage :o( where they have done a head skim and gasket set replacement then rebuild. On starting, it runs fine for a short time, then cylinders 2 and 4 report loss of pressure. The mechanic has chased the wire which, I am told looks ok. Swapping coils from 1 and 3 makes no difference. He's worked on it for some days now and although very experienced, says he's never seen anything like this before. The clip on the connector on coil 1 was damaged and kept shaking loose so I think he's replaced that now. Been without the car since the start of October now, so I'd really like to try and help him find an answer if I can, if you experts can. The only thing i can think of is it is the cylinders? or spark plugs? in 2 and 4, but I would assume he's thought of that already.

Thank you very much in advance for any help.

All the best

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Cannot really help with your problem, though some of what you say does sound unusual ?

Wonder what is the reason for such a "Rebuild",    a blown head gasket   or anything to do with the valve gear / oil burning /smoke ?

Also no idea how a loss of pressure in the cylinders is "reported" , by the ECU as an error code , or what that "wire" is ?

Would be a bit concerened about the time and cost factors on such an old car, good though these old Corollas generally seem to be.

 

[APS]

11 hours ago, daddyfrank42 said:

cylinders 2 and 4 report loss of pressure

What pressure is this referring to? - fuel pressure? cylinder compression? Is there a specific error code?

[AisinW]

It is unclear without saying which pressure and error code.  Pressure test does not need injector or fuel to be in, just full 12 V Battery and crank it up. you need pressure gauge that is installed on the sparkplugs tube. If the compression is low or deviation is more than 30 psi, the engine  is practically gone. If it is the fuel pressure, usually it will be all cylinder give troubles.  

[daddyfrank42]

@oldcodger

@APS

@AisinW

I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and thank you all for coming back so quickly, and my sincere apologies for the delay in my reply, I was waiting for an email notification, but guess I don't have that set. I don't have the details of the error code, but can see if I can get it. The root-cause of the rebuild was, I have been told, a failed water pump, which then blew the head gasket. I was assured that it was only 2 and 4 reporting the fault. I agree that the cost is outweighing the material value of the machine, but 11 years of ownership makes it a bit of a tough parting, especially under such circumstances. 

I'll try to get some more info. thanks again

 

[flash22]

Injector issue ? i take it, It's had a new intake gasket/o-ring if the head has got overly hot it may have warped the intake if it's plastic - when the plastic heats up it deforms just enough to lean out the mixture

change the intake gasket - 17171-0D030

i would also check the injector insulators, these go rock hard with age

[oldcodger]

No resolution to your engine problem yet ?

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[AisinW]

My plastic return pipe from the thermostat cracked and blew all the coolant. I did not know but the AC suddenly off and the temperature gauge was drop to minimum, because no more coolant on my 3.3 L engine, 188k miles. Fortunately,  l cought it on time and stop the car. The engine was not overheating yet and 5k miles later, no coolant nor oil consumption. 

Yes, it is very important to check the basics (coolant, oil, brake fluid, etc) whenever we noticed any weird things even without any error code show up. 

No coolant sometimes shows the opposite on the temperature gauge. Without any coolant, the temperature sensor cannot read anything. 

[daddyfrank42]

@flash22, hi

thanks. New seals? again, I assume so. I couldn't find a new 'head gasket set' myself with the correct OEM mach,  but was assured by the mechanic that he had a good source so I can only go by that. I dd notice that the injector seals were gone when I tried taking it apart myself, and managed to get a set of those (90301-07030) and handed them over at least. 

@oldcodger, hi

thanks, I had all but the top 2 'automatically...' ticked so I'll get those set

@AisinW, hi

thanks, I did lose all the coolant on the way down south . that is what started this whole thing I think. the EMS light was on, and I had the car booked in back in October, but thought "I'll just get one more trip out of it" - bad idea. when I drained the coolant, I maybe got 1/2 litre of very rusty liquid, not the 6.4 litres I was expecting (from the Haynes). 

The garage is closed until the new Year I guess, but I will print out all of your very kind suggestions and tips and take them in, in case they help. And if it does get fixed, I'll let you know in case someone else reports the same problem.

thank you 

[flash22]

A headset doesn't usually come with an intake gasket*, the insulators sit between the head and injector 23291-22010

As for a headset - Victor Reinz

you could have warped the block, and it needs to be decked

 

Has it had new plugs ? They could be failing under heat/load

 

[daddyfrank42]

@flash22, 

Quote

you could have warped the block, and it needs to be decked

it did get sent away for a 'skim' which I believe was to do with a warped head. on coming back, the mechanic put it all back together, got it starting ( which was already one step forward) and it ran fine apparently, but it then just 'cuts out after a few minutes'. He tried swapping injectors 1 and 3 for those on 2 and 4 but same issue. The sparkplugs looked fine to me when I first took them out, really quite surprisingly clean considering. Maybe it is the insulators as you say. I'll let him know that as an option too when he gets back after the break. 

thank you

[daddyfrank42]

All, hi

I have just got the car back after it having sat on a side street untouched by the mechanic since the the start of December. It does not work, the Battery is flat (<6v) so I will try to charge it up and see if I can get something out of the OBDII. Looks like I will need to sell it as a non-runner :o(

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Assume you have another car with the Corolla being off the road for so long ?

Can you find another garage to fix it, or is it really just no longer worth the trouble ?

As you say, selling it as a non runner might still get a decent amount as S/hand prices are high at the moment.

[daddyfrank42]

 

so I got the recharged Battery back in. it turns over but won't start. No OBDII codes with the reader Auto XS reader I bought from Aldi ( which surprised me tbh). On further inspection I noticed so much new stuff wrong with it that I really don't think I can do anything myself. The Battery I bought a few years ago has been replaced by a smaller cheaper one. I cannot get the Battery clamped in as half of the battery clamp is now missing. The cover for the fuse box in the engine bay is missing, the clip that holds the bonnet stay is busted. The driver's side engine mounting bracket is not attached (though I was given the bolts in an envelope); I can't line the holes up to put them back as I can't get the engine lifted and 'juggled' into place. One of the sensors has not been remounted to...wherever it goes. There's more, but..... *sigh!*

The one saving grace, I guess, is that I was able to put the last wheel bolt in which had just been left off.

 @50p, thanks. yes very☹️ with a certain amount of 😠

@oldcodger, hi

I do have another car since I'm a patient man, but being the family taxi I need wheels.

Realistically, I don't think it is worth fixing it up for myself. I know that there's probably  many thousands of miles still in it (even though it's currently at just over 108K), and had I the space and 'me time' I'd hang on to it as a tinkerer for myself and my boys. Now I need to look around for the best place to pass it on to someone who can actually devote some time to it - any tips (local or national)?

thanks

[oldcodger]

If thats the state the car has been left in its says nothing for the guy who was working on it,  was it really a proper garage or just a diy mate  ?

Perhaps it is savable, but you have not idea if any of that head work has been done properly or the camshaft / timing chain is in the correct position so it all needs rechecking to be sure, a lot of work.

Might be better to cut your losses now and move on,  plus its going to be too cold for some time to work on a car unless you have a large heated garage,  -8c last night !

[daddyfrank42]

It's a proper garage, long years of good service in the town - I don't wan't to go trashing them here, you understand. I was told it got to the point of everything back together and then he just couldn't work out why it kept cutting out, but I know exactly what you mean. I personally can't even get it started, but it has been sitting out on that windy side street for 6 weeks. Maybe it just gave up :O(

14 minutes ago, oldcodger said:

Might be better to cut your losses now and move on,  plus its going to be too cold for some time to work on a car unless you have a large heated garage,  -8c last night !

Brrr, yeah I agree. There's a few sites I've got prices from with a 'sell my non runner' google search, just need to see how much I can get now to cut into the cost of the hire cars I had to get since November and the replacement motor.

thank you again everyone who contributed here. All the best for a great 2023 and beyond