Totally stumped - won't get spark out of a car that's been sitting for 4 years

[Thermactor]

Well, I'm completely stumped.

I came across ownership of an '85 Toyota Tercel for a few bucks. Problem is, it's been sitting in a parking lot for the past 4 years! Anyhow, I put a few gallons of gas in it with 1/2 a bottle of Gumout Regane, drained the oil and filled it with Chevron Delo 15-40 with an oversize SuperTech ST8A filter, put on a set of new spark plugs, and tried to fire her up. She won't fire!

I am not getting any spark. This stumps me because I went through an online ignition system diagnostic and did everything short of measuring the air gap on the signal rotor (because i don't have any non-ferrous feeler gauges), to diagnose the issue. All of the parts seem to be within specification.

I am getting +12v at the ignition wire. Check.
The timing belt does turn the camshafts- I can see the distributor rotor turn with the cap off when I crank the engine. Check.
The ignition coil's primary and secondary resistances are within specification. Check.

The distributor cap and rotor had a bit of buildup on them, but not enough to stop all spark from occurring... they were installed recently before the car was mothballed. I cleaned them anyway. Still no spark. The spark plug wires are also newer.

Any ideas on what else would stop a car that's been sitting this time to stop from sparking? This is driving me nuts!

 

[Schmoe]

Check the spark plug wires themselves for resistance. Timing belt could be out of sync.

 

[Quest]

Check spark plug wires, distributor caps and rotors for proper orientation and/or moisture seepage (causing spark leak).

Also: don't be surprised if it needs a new ignition module if the car has reached that age.

 

[mechtech]

Good call, G.A.!

 

[TxGreaseMonkey]

I suspect the coil. Primary and secondary coil resistances can check out, but the coil can still be bad. Coils can be destroyed by improperly maintained ignition systems. High voltage has to go somewhere, if rotors, plugs, and wire sets are not regularly changed. The resulting high resistance causes the coil's voltage to re-enter the coil. Excess heat is generated and it ultimately kills the coil. Spark testing is still the best way to tell the overall condition of a coil.

Go ahead and hook up an inductive timing light and see if it blinks. It might indicate that the igniter is bad and you have no dwell. In other words, the igniter is not opening and closing the primary coil field to generate high voltage in the secondary. You could also try and hook up a dwell meter to the Blue wire coming out of the distributor.

 

[Gary Allan]

Manually interupt the ground (on and off) to the coil yourself. If you get spark out of the coil wire ..you need whatever it uses for a trigger .....or it needs adjustment.

 

[kc8adu]

a coil with a crack in the tower could draw plenty of moisture in 4 years.might be making a fine spark....inside the coil!

 

[Thermactor]

well, I put a new coil in the distributor and it ran!

but after it got hot, it wouldn't run without pressing the gas pedal, and eventually it died again and wouldn't start.

 

[Papa Bear]

You gotta find out why it was left in the parking lot 4 yrs ago..

P.B.

 

[Thermactor]

second update? sorry if i'm sounding like a broken record. anyhow, the car didn't have a working battery so I bought a new one at Wal-Mart (which was a big nightmare in and of itself.) and it did fire up, it just took a LOT of coaxing of the gas pedal. Gee... Well, I'll guess that it runs so rough because of the old gas in the tank that I'm trying to burn off.

 

[55Test]

I imagine the entire fuel system is gummed up from sitting for 4 years. I wonder if some Seafoam through the carb (they weren't FI in 85 were they?) and some in the gastank would help any.

 

[Thermactor]

quote:

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Originally posted by 55:
I imagine the entire fuel system is gummed up from sitting for 4 years. I wonder if some Seafoam through the carb (they weren't FI in 85 were they?) and some in the gastank would help any.

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I did stream 1/3 cup of b-12 chemtool into the carburetor, maybe I should put some in the gas tank, good call. i thought the gumout regane would do the trick, but I guess it'll take a bit more than that

 

[Gary Allan]

I say its water. If you have to continually rev the pedal to keep it running ...and it's like it's not anywhere in phase with your foot (not just that it can't hold an idle) ..then throw a bottle of some alcohol product in the tank. I've used isopropal and it's been effective.

 

[jsharp]

I really want to know why it's been sitting in the parking lot for 4 years...

 

[Jim 5]

If it is water, then methyl hydrate is the Rx for your tank. It's sold as "gas line antifreeze" here in Canada. It's also sold as the fuel for fondue pots. Try about 6-12 oz in your tank. It converts the water to something else and enables your car to burn it off.

 

[Lumberg]

actually I would recommend isopropanol over methenol as isopropanol will cause the water to dissolve into the gas. The methanol just dissolves in the water, giving you extremely watery methanol that doesn't burn well but won't freeze.

 

[Thermactor]

All right. Well, it's run through the bad gas by now. Unfortunately, it's still running really rough. Pulling spark plug wires while the car ran shows that cylinder number 1 is not firing. There was no change in running, whereas pulling any other wire out made the car die immediately. I pulled the spark plug out and it's wet, unlike the number 2 plug, which is dry. There is definitely spark being produced, because the plugs themselves are new and there are arcs of spark coming off the wire when I pull it off and hold it to a ground.

Gosh. The engine's #1 cylinder must be low compression. I'll go play with the timing on the distributor, but that probably won't help.

 

[m2200b]

#1 wet with fuel or coolant? Was the spark plug white like it had a coolant leak as it died. Usually its a headgasket or blown head 4 years ago and that $1000 cost that caused the past owner to dump or abandon it. Dump enough coolant on your sensor and cat and it'll be run rough. Also good chance of vaccum leaks or carb base leaks on these carb toyotas sitting in the sun.

 

[Thermactor]

quote:

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Originally posted by m2200b:
#1 wet with fuel or coolant? Was the spark plug white like it had a coolant leak as it died. Usually its a headgasket or blown head 4 years ago and that $1000 cost that caused the past owner to dump or abandon it. Dump enough coolant on your sensor and cat and it'll be run rough. Also good chance of vaccum leaks or carb base leaks on these carb toyotas sitting in the sun.

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I don't know what it was wet with, I assumed fuel! Also, would vacuum leaks cause a cylinder to not fire?

 

[Gary Allan]

Was there any delay in starting it up?? The only reason that I ask is that you may find that next time, a different plug is soaked. Let's say that the carb leaks. Number 1 cylinder may have just had the valve left open and the carb emptied the bowl into it. After you cranked enough to fill it up again, the other three cylinders fired.

Just projecting possibilities without question and answer tag

Take a match to it next time to confirm that it's fuel (your nose should work too).