1992 Tercel :: Lots Of Problems - Please Help!

[bernto]

I just purchased a '92, 2 door, 1.5 L, v4, 351,000 KM, Tercel for $450 CAD. I knew what I was getting into when I bought it. The body is in brutal condition, but the engine was running great when I took it for a test run.

I had to drive an hour from where I purchased it to get home. There was confusion, and long story short, when I got home there wasn't a drop of oil in the engine. The engine doesn't leak either, but seems to burn oil fairly quickly. Also, I drove the car fairly hard on the highway just to see if the thing would quit (hindsight 20/20, not a great decision). Since then, the engine has been shaking and sputtering quite bad. It has yet to stall because of it, but I do have trouble starting it up. I need to give it some gas now for it to fire up.

I thought the shaking could have been a loose mount. So while I was changing the oil, oil filter, air filter, and adding an anti-sludge additive, I took a look around underneath (I have very little auto mechanic experience, so I was just grabbing and pulling on things lightly to see if they were lose).

The only thing I found was one bolt missing from the mount that holds the exhaust to the engine. So I took the bolt off to see what size it was, and when I went to put the bolt back in, it snapped off inside the hole. [ENTER CURSE WORD HERE]! I got another bolt, and it's holding the mount in place, so nothing has really changed there yet. Going to get a reverse drill bit on the week-end to take a crack at er, but I'm not too worried since I don't really think that's the problem.

Also, when I filled my tank with supreme, I added some (cheap) fuel injector cleaner to see if that would help things, but I've seen no signs of it yet; although, I'm not even 1/4 through the tank.

So over the week-end, I plan on doing some more work that my roomate is going to help me with. He said we should change the spark plugs and wires (I read that I should use NGK plugs. Could someone confirm?) for starters. Hopefully that will help the sputtering and/or the starting issue. If not, I'm not sure what to do next. I read online that it could be the fuel filter (cap & rotor - I have no clue what that means, so if someone could explain that as well), the coil (I have absolutely no clue what that means), or the fuel injector (which made the most sense to me because I have to give it gas to get it to start up). Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

Also, when I shut off my car, all the electrical shuts down. Meaning, the interior light will not work etc. I have no clue what this is.

And this morning on my way to work, I was stopped on a ramp waiting to merge. When I accelerated, all the electrical turned off and back on really quickly, and then I smelled something burning so I pulled over. When I pulled into the parking lot the car turned off completely. The extra power supply (that was added by the previous owner that went to the amp, which is no longer there, for the stereo in the trunk) had melted. I disconnected what I could. While I was doing that I could hear that the power in the car (the sound that comes on when the door is open and the keys are in the ignition) was turning off and on. So maybe it's a loose connection. I won't know for sure until I get to remove the extra power supply completely, but why would the electrical for the car turn off like that? I drove my car 2 more KM to work after I disconnected what I could.

SUMMARY

- Shaking/Sputtering: Possible diagnosis?

- Removing broken bolt: Take to a professional?

- Recommendation for fuel injector cleaner: Any recommendations for what I should use/stay away from? Or does it matter?

- Spark plugs: Should I use the recommended NGK plgs? If no, what should I use?

- If plugs don't fix the problems, what should my next move be?

- Definition of "fuel filter - cap and rotor"

- Definition of "coil"

- Fuel injector: What brand should I buy?

- Electrical shut down: Diagnosis? What should I do

Any help is muchly appreciated! If I wasn't clear about something, please ask. Thanks in advance!