Corolla Wont Start...

[SlyckTom]

Hi all,

I have a 1993 Toyota Corolla, 1.8 L, 7A-FE engine. The car has 227,000 miles.

The bottom line: The car will rotate from the starter, but will not start.

About 5 days ago, when the weather got hot here in the east, I drove to a parking lot and shut the engine off, when I returned and tried to start the car, it would just rotate but start. After waiting a few minutes it started and ran just fine. Yesterday, the same thing happened except now the engine won't start.

Troubleshooting so far: I tried opening the intake manifold and shot in some starter fluid. My rational was, that would separate the problem from either an electrical issue or a fuel issue. So I shot some in, and the engine would turn over for a few seconds. It wouldn't run long, but it indeed turned over briefly. That seemed to me that it was likely a gas issue, not electrical.

From there I opened the fuel line to the filter, and had a friend crank the engine - nothing. So I figured at that point it could have been the pump. I took the rear seat off and the access panel and turned the ignition to "On". There was no sound coming from the pump. I then connected 12 volts to the pump leads, and it started pumping. But when we cranked the engine, again it didn't start.

I then decided to revisit the electrical issue. I pulled the #1 and #4 plugs and had a friend crank the engine with the plugs grounded. Surprisingly, there was NO spark from either plug. That was odd, I thought, because it would turn over for a few seconds when I sprayed starter fluid into the in take.

From there, I trouble shot the ignition coil and the pick up coil. All resistance is within specs. There is voltage getting to the ignition coil.

There's two issues that I see here: 1) There's no electricity getting to the fuel pump and 2) There's no spark getting to the plugs.

The cap, rotor, and wires are less than 2 years old and are in good shape. All the fuses look OK. I should also note that I am unable to pull trouble codes from the computer (not that I'm technically incompetent, it's just not letting me for some reason ;) ) I'm a bit lost from here. It could be the igniter or the computer, I don't know. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

[4afte]

have you tried using contact cleaner on all the plug point (ie spark plug, rotor, fuel pump plug) it may be a mixture of age and corrosion causing an erratic tolerence within the circuit. i know it sounds a little far fetched but worth a try. Also how many miles have the plugs covered they might be worth replacing.

[RedNeck 92 Gti-16]

Hey, i recently had a similar problem with my '89 Gti-16. Did the trouble shooting on everything, and found out some interesting things along the way. Like the fuel pump, it only works intermitently under normal conditions, not full time! Another is the quality of the ignition circuit components i.e. Ignitor/coil, etc. Its unlikely that any of the parts will ever break, i know that sounds like an outlandish claim, but the ignition circuit really is strong. The only weak links are the leads and plugs which wear, Oh and perhaps, the wiring. My problem turned out to be a broken wire from the coil. It was the last thing i checked!!

After two weeks reading fault codes, doing component swaps and cheking wiring. Marvelling about Toyota's clever build quality and in general standing around looking lost. I put the car on a trailer and bombed over to see Mr T. Whoa!! He's expensive. At this point, my 'rolla's brains were plugged into the workshop motherships computer via 'The Diagnosis Port'. Nano seconds later, it was declared that the signal from one of the wire's on the coil was breaking down.

The diagnosis port is the place to start looking. In there, you can fire up the fuel pump at will. Check the fault codes, all that. You need is a strip of wire to jump the particular terminals. Look up fault code diagnosis. Even better. Get a workshop manual like Haynes :D

[Beachbuggy]

:)

It was the last thing i checked!!

You know I have to quote this,

You sure you didn't keep looking for the problem after you found it here :D

[SlyckTom]

Yeah I have the Haynes manual and have tried just about everything under the sun. All the distributor components checked out OK.

Now as far as the trouble codes go, I am NOT getting any codes - not even the "all systems OK" code. I'm not sure what's going on, but it seems that the computer is not generating any codes...

In either case, the point I'm trying to make is that the fuel pump isn't receiving power, and the ignition system isn't sparking. What's the common bond between the two? That's the million dollar question that no one seems to have an answer for...

Edit: I should also point out that I cannot pull the trouble codes from the ECU...the check engine light won't come on at all....

[SlyckTom]

Problem solved...

Turned out to be the EFI relay...

[cone]

Great thats the same problem i had with my 4afe anyway check out my blog to have more info Autopartswarehouse

[gunnshot]

hey I have 1999 corolla I had it started once blew 15A feul pump fuse under hood can't put a new one in blows as soon you push it in I can't find EFI relay where did find yours

Thanks