What could this be?

[DonS1mpson]

Hello there again people

The basic gist is I'm looking for another project car, and this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1990-TOYOTA-S...ryZ18290QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) has caught my interest somewhat.

It has got an electrical fault of some sort as described below:

I had a low mileage engine fitted back in May 2005 which cost me £781.38 for the engine.

The reason she is currently not running is due to the electrics, she was runnig fine, turned on the fog lights and it completely killed her, would not start all the auxiliary worked but just no spark I chased all the wireing everything seemes to be in order ocasionly she would start again but as soon as you turn the engine off then try restarting their would be no life again.

I have had an engineer come look at it and believes their is loose wiring in the drivers footwell . The turbo gauge is also continuously registiring partial boost even at tick over when she is running So I am beginning to wonder if the engine has been fitted correctly.

I know the info is a bit vague, but I wondering if anybody had any bright ideas as to what the problem could be before I commit to it. The owner goes on to mention that the battery is dead - Any hope it could be something as simple as that?

Any thoughts people?

Thanks

Josh

 

[GrimJack]

It would be awfully funny if the wiring to his CPS was shot. That's a 20 minute fix by anyone who can solder...

And it's a pretty common problem.

 

[s383mmber1]

It would be awfully funny if the wiring to his CPS was shot. That's a 20 minute fix by anyone who can solder...

And it's a pretty common problem.

Seems to match up with most of the symptoms that are occuring.

I wonder how to car runs when it does turn on....

 

[DonS1mpson]

But would turning on the foglights have caused such a problem?

Come on guys, I'm liking this car A LOT, I just don't want to spend the majority of my ownership of this vehicle fixing up someone else's screw ups (I had enough fun doing that on my last supra...)

 

[GrimJack]

There's no reason to assume that both problems are connected. LOTS of people rewire the fogs, and a significant number of those screw it up.

I'd check the wiring on the foglights yourself.

 

[jetjock]

^ What he said. I'd go for it. As amusing as some may find it the truth is electrical issues are among the easiest types of car problems to solve. After all the diagrams show exactly how everything works. No other aspect of car repair offers that sort of solution. In this case the only downside for me would be dealing with someone who constantly refers to a car in the female vernacular. Such people creep me out...

 

[GrimJack]

Oh, I think cars are DEFINITELY female. Seriously, my car is super jealous - if I spend some money on something else, my car breaks something in a fit of rage that requires me to spend an equal or greater amount of money on the car. If that's not female, I dunno what is!

 

[DonS1mpson]

Right-o gentlemen, I asked what the car behaved like when he did manage to get it to run and got this reply -

when it is working started straight away tick over was fine, taken it for drive round village will drive fine not jolty or anything but doesnt seem to want to boost properly, but soon as i park up and turn it off wont start again

 

[GrimJack]

Off the top of my head, cars that won't boost properly usually suffer from one of two things... boost gauge disconnected or boost leaks from big cracks in the old, hard, brittle intercooler pipe couplers.

Cars that don't want to start when hot... hmmm... might have the fuel pressure regulator VSV hooked up incorrectly or bypassed entirely...

Pull codes from the ECU and see if you can get any more tips.

 

[DonS1mpson]

So you're thinking the hot start, cold start, boosting and foglights issues are all separate things? Is there anything that would link together the first three issues?

The more I hear about this car, the more I think it's going to be a nightmare to get it running again.

 

[GrimJack]

Ya, the CPS would affect starting hot or cold, and can randomly kill the engine while driving.

No boost is a really common problem, and the usual cause for it is massive leaks due to big cracks in the IC piping. This is usually a very trivial fix.

If this car were here, and I was in the market, I'd do this:
- Check if the IC rubber couplers are hard. If they are, I'd be willing to risk broken / cracked piping / couplers being the issue with no boost.
- Pull the foglight switch and see if the wires on it have been cut or spliced. If they have, I'd be willing to risk assuming it's been done wrong and fixing it will be simple, if a bit tight to work under the dash.
- Pull off the housing from the wire harness leading to the CPS and check the condition of the wires. If they are hard and brittle, or cracked, I'd assume the start / run problem is related to this - again, and easy, cheap fix.

If these assumptions proved correct for at least 2 items, I'd buy that car. I'd be very much surprised if it took more than a day and $200 to get it back up and running properly if it was all three.

 

[HommerSimpson]

prob would not hurt to make sure turbo spins free... imho

 

[GrimJack]

Agreed, but you'll need more than a couple minutes with the car to find that out.

 

[HommerSimpson]

Agreed, but you'll need more than a couple minutes with the car to find that out.

I was thinkin just pull according hose and stick finger in there :}and flashlight make sure turbin wheel good... :}

 

[DonS1mpson]

Well to be honest with you guys, I'm not going to get anytime with this car unless I'm it's new owner - It's either I buy blind or don't buy at all.

Given what you have already read, would you buy this car without being able to do the checks Grimjack has descried?

 

[GrimJack]

It's not quite that simple on a stock engine... that air filter box is a pain to deal with, and most of the hoses are likely to be so stiff you can't bend them. Probably need to pull the upper intercooler pipe as well...

 

[GrimJack]

Well to be honest with you guys, I'm not going to get anytime with this car unless I'm it's new owner - It's either I buy blind or don't buy at all.

Given what you have already read, would you buy this car without being able to do the checks Grimjack has descried?

No. I wouldn't buy any car blind.